The New York Daily News
UNC's Hansbrough a battered winner
Fans are mortified as UNC's Tyler Hansbrough goes down with bloody nose, but can celebrate win over Duke at day's end.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina sophomore Tyler Hansbrough will never forget yesterday's convincing 86-72 victory over Duke, and not just because of the longstanding rivalry between the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils.
Hansbrough scored 26 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds in a dominant, Sean May-like performance as the eighth-ranked Tar Heels (25-6, 11-5) won a share of the ACC regular-season championship with Virginia and the top seed for this week's conference tournament.
But it was what happened at the end of the game that will stick with Hansbrough and stoke the fires of this always-contentious neighborhood feud. Hansbrough, who shot 10-for-18, grabbed an offensive rebound and went up for a putback with 15 seconds to play when he was fouled by Steve Johnson, who trying to strip the ball away, then caught a forearm to the face from Duke's 6-4 freshman Gerald Henderson, who was attempting to block the shot from the other side. The incident left Hansbrough with a bloody nose and mouth.
The 6-9 Hansbrough was livid and had to be restrained when he got up. He left the court with blood all over his face and jersey, but returned later with gauze stuffed up both nostrils to help cut down one net as the Tar Heels celebrated.
"It's not like a prize fight where you say, 'But you should see how the other guy looked,' " said Carolina coach Roy Williams, who earned his 100th win for his alma mater. "Tyler looked pretty bad. It's not broken."
UNC's Roy Williams cuts down the net after beating Duke and claiming a share of the ACC regular season title.
Hansbrough, who has been pounded all year, did not meet with the media afterward because he was being treated by the team doctors.
Henderson was ejected by the officials after a review of the play for a flagrant, combative and confrontational foul and automatically will be suspended for Duke's next game under NCAA rules. The 14th-ranked Blue Devils (22-9), who finished an uncharacteristic 8-8 in conference play, will be the No. 7 seed in the ACC tournament and play 10th-seeded N.C. State at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Tampa, Fla.
"Guys got caught up in the air and I just came down on him," Henderson said. "I was not intentionally trying to hurt anybody. Obviously, it was a foul. I was not trying to hurt or hit the kid.
"I've seen blood before and it's a physical game."
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who watched the tape, strongly defended his player, who has no history of violence.
"We'll take all the responsibility," he said, "but if there's any way Gerald did that intentionally, that's crazy. It's crazy. He's moving away from him, he's going up to block, he's not even seeing how he hit him. Now, he hit him and it should be a foul, but that's not the way he plays and the way we play."
Krzyzewski went on to suggest the ACC should review the play one more time before passing judgment.
Then, Krzyzewski created some more controversy when he questioned why either team had key personnel on the floor with the game already decided. "There were 20 seconds left," he said. "I'm not blaming anybody. I'm just saying it's unfortunate they (Hansbrough and Henderson) were in there. We both should have had our walk-ons in there."
When Williams first heard that, he refused comment. Then, he couldn't resist. "I don't understand that," he said. "I mean, both teams had them in. I was sitting in the stands as a high school coach when we beat Duke and we were down by eight with 17 seconds to play.
"In fact, we had a substitute up because I was trying to get Tyler out of the game at the time. It's not my fault Tyler got the offensive rebound and somebody else missed the sucker. But that's enough said about that junk."
Hansbrough - the most effective low post player in the conference - and 6-9 freshman Brandan Wright, who shot 5-for-6 and scored 10 points, were just too strong for the smaller Blue Devils. Duke, which started three guards, got a combined nine points and 12 rebounds from its starting forwards, Josh McRoberts and David McClure, while Henderson added 16 points and six boards.
Originally published on March 5, 2007
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