East Region – Second Round: Despite its vaunted depth, only three of No. 1 North Carolina’s players accounted for 67 of the Tar Heels’ 81 points in an 81-67 victory against No. 9 Michigan State. Sophomore Tyler Hansbrough had a monster game — sans mask — with 33 points and nine rebounds. Freshman point guard Ty Lawson was nearly as productive with 20 points and eight assists. And senior leader Reyshawn Terry added 14. Those three helped the Tar Heels overcome a determined Spartan upset effort, led by junior Drew Neitzel and his 26 points and five assists. The Spartans took the lead midway through the second half before North Carolina rallied and pulled away in the final minutes.
As usual, No. 2 Georgetown won a hard-fought battle with superior defense in the Hoyas’ 62-55 win vs. No. 7 Boston College. Juniors Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green accounted for seven blocks, including a critical one by Green in the final minutes against senior Sean Marshall. Hibbert led the Hoyas offensively with 17 points, clearly taking advantage of the smaller Eagles interior. Boston College led by four at the break and was close throughout the second half until the final minute. Sophomore Tyrese Rice led the Eagles with 22 points, and senior Jared Dudley added 22. Dudley, Marshall and Rice all played 40 minutes for Boston College.
No. 6 Vanderbilt pulled off a 78-74 double overtime upset against No. 3 Washington State in what might be the best game of the tournament so far. Senior Derrick Byars led the Commodores with 27 points and junior Shan Foster added 20 points. Byars hit five three-pointers in the second half and overtime to help Vanderbilt rally from a double-digit hole in the second half to force overtime, twice. Byars also blocked a driving layup in the closing seconds to force overtime when Washington State looked like it had an opportunity to win the game in regulation. Junior Derrick Low was impressive for the Cougars, scoring 21 points and hitting several critical three-pointers to match Vanderbilt’s pace until the end. [3/17/07]
