jdaly@heraldsun.com
Dec 18, 2008
CHAPEL HILL -- After Tyler Hansbrough breaks Phil Ford's career scoring record at North Carolina, Bobby Frasor guesses Hansbrough will celebrate by having a protein shake and maybe heading to bed early.That would be the normal pattern for the perfectionist Hansbrough, who said Tuesday his favorite thing about playing at UNC was the fact the Smith Center was open 24 hours a day to players. So when Hansbrough gets the urge to work on free throws at midnight, he knows where to go.
But Frasor's selling his roommate and good friend short on this one: Hansbrough realizes that the magnitude of his impending accomplishment calls for a celebration of some sort.
Phil Ford's 2,290 career points have stood atop the UNC scoring list for 30 years and have withstood the likes of Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison, Sam Perkins and countless others.
So the protein shakes can wait.
"I'll probably do something -- I'm not sure it'll be a protein shake," Hansbrough said with a laugh on Tuesday. "But I'll do something -- maybe go out with my friends after the game."
UNC's senior center is expected to pass Ford tonight when the top-ranked Tar Heels (9-0) host Evansville at the Smith Center (7 p.m., ESPN). Ford will be on hand to see if Hansbrough can score the nine points needed to move ahead of him on the scoring list.
If (when?) Hansbrough scores his ninth point of the game, UNC officials will stop the game for a brief ceremony. Ford and UNC coach Roy Williams will say a few words and present him with a game ball. Hansbrough may or may not take the microphone, and there will be a video montage after the game.
Considering that Hansbrough has scored in double figures 107 of his 113 career games, it likely is a safe bet that all these plans won't be in vain.
"It would be pretty bad if I didn't get the record tomorrow [with] all this anticipation," Hansbrough said.
Not surprisingly, there's a large part of the reticent Hansbrough that'll be happy when all the hoopla is finished.
"It seems like everybody wants to talk about the scoring record, which is a pretty good accomplishment," Hansbrough said. "But once it is over, I'll be glad to focus on some other things. It's hard to stay away from this because I do think it's a big accomplishment and I realize all the Carolina great players and for me to be up there is a really special to me."If Hansbrough is reluctant to gush over his accomplishments, his teammates and coaches will pick up the slack.
"I said before the season started that when he made that decision that he was going to come back that when he stops playing here, every one of the coaches and fans for North Carolina should step back and think how lucky we are," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "And the coaches we play against should step back and feel that there's a guy that said something about it's OK for [a] college basketball [player] to play all four years."
Added Deon Thompson: "He's basically a legend."
Of the 2,282 points Hansbrough has scored in his UNC career, three stand out as his favorite -- the 3-pointer he hit against Duke his freshman year at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Hansbrough scored 27 points in that game, as the Tar Heels surprised the top-ranked Blue Devils in the final game of the regular season.
By that point, it was pretty clear that Hansbrough was going to be a special player. In a season in which the Tar Heels were expected to struggle to reach the NCAA Tournament with a freshman-laden roster, Hansbrough averaged 18.9 points and helped lead UNC to a No. 3 seed.
Three years later, Hansbrough's the face of a UNC program that could be one of the more dominant college basketball teams in recent memory.
And he's about to become the player who stands above all the Tar Heel players of yesteryear.
That calls for a celebration.
"It's amazing," Frasor said.
TYLER HANSBROUGH BY THE NUMBERS* Has scored 2,282 points in 113 career games
* Has scored in double figures in 107 of 113 games, including each of the past 45 games (most recent game in single figures was 5 points vs. Southern California in the 2007 NCAA Sweet 16)
* Has made 743 two-point field goals, five 3-point field goals and 781 free throws
* Is eighth in NCAA history in free throws made (No. 1 in UNC and ACC history)
* Has scored at least 20 points 60 times (a UNC record)
* Has scored at least 25 points 30 times
* Has scored at least 30 points six times
* Has scored at least 40 points once (40 vs. Georgia Tech on February 15, 2006)
* Has played against 53 different teams (11 ACC, 42 non-conference)
* Has scored at least 20 points in six of 11 NCAA Tournament games
Most Points Against a Team
N.C. State 141
Duke 127
Boston College 118
Florida State 110
Virginia Tech 110
Most Points Against a non-ACC Opponent
Michigan State 58 in two games (33 and 25)
UNC Asheville 52 in three games
UC Santa Barbara 49 in three games
Penn 48 in two games
Gardner-Webb 39 in two games
Highest Scoring Average Against ACC Opponents
Georgia Tech 26.8 in four games (40-24-16-27)
Miami 26.8 in four games (25-25-22-35)
Virginia Tech 22.0 in five games
Duke 21.2 in six games
N.C. State 20.1 in seven games
Most Points in a Game
40 vs. Georgia Tech, Feb. 15, 2006 (win)
39 vs. Clemson, Feb. 10, 2008 (win)
35 at Miami, Jan. 23, 2008 (win)
34 vs. Notre Dame, Nov. 26, 2008 in Maui (win)
33 vs. Michigan State, March 17, 2007 in Winston-Salem (win)
32 at N.C. State, Feb. 20, 2008 (win)
Source -- UNC athletics
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