Ty Lawson

Ty Lawson

Tywon "Ty" Ronell Lawson (born November 3, 1987 in Clinton, Maryland) is an American college basketball player for the University of North Carolina. As of mid-January 2009, he is widely considered to be a top 2009 NBA Draft point guard prospect.

Ty was named the ACC Player of the Year, the first time a point guard had won the ACC's highest honor since fellow Tar Heel Phil Ford won the award in 1978.

Lawson began playing for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2006-07 season. In 38 games, he led the Tar Heels with 5.6 assists per game and was fourth with 10.2 points per game, during which time he helped the Tar Heels win a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title, as well as the ACC Tournament. During his sophomore year he had 12.7 ppg and 5.3 assists per game, although he saw much less playing time due to an ankle sprain that kept him out much of the season. In spite of this nagging injury, he eventually returned to help Carolina repeat as both ACC regular season and tournament champions and ultimately earn a berth to the Final Four.

He was charged with driving after drinking on June 6, 2008 by a police officer who felt that Lawson's music was too loud. He was not charged with a DWI because he was below the legal limit of .08 BAC, but still received misdemeanors due to state law prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 from driving after drinking any amount of alcohol. He was also charged for driving with a suspended license.

On the day of the deadline to withdraw from the June 16, 2008 NBA Draft, Lawson decided to return to North Carolina for his junior season, along with Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and All-American Tyler Hansbrough, who all spurned the NBA draft to return to UNC, leaving the starters for the 2007-2008 season intact for the 2008-2009 season.

Lawson was voted to the All-ACC First Team his junior year and was named the ACC Player of the Year, the first time a point guard had won the ACC's highest honor since fellow Tar Heel Phil Ford won the award in 1978. Lawson was also a consensus second team all american as a junior, which makes him eligible to have his jersey honored in the rafters of the Smith Center at the conclusion of his college career. In 2009, Lawson also won the Bob Cousy Award that honors the best collegiate point guard.

Lawson attended Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland from 2003-2004. He later transferred to and graduated from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, where he was a first team USA Today All-American. He participated in the McDonald's All-American Game, Jordan Classic and Nike Hoop Summit.

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2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament is a tournament involving 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2008–09 basketball season. It began on March 17, 2009, and concludes with the championship game on April 6 (9:21 p.m. ET) at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, marking the first time a Final Four will have a minimum seating capacity of 70,000. University of Detroit Mercy hosts this 71st annual Division I Men's Basketball Championship tournament. For the first time since seeding began, all #1-#3 seeds made it into the Sweet 16, and for the third consecutive time, all #1 seeds made the elite eight.

Sixty-five teams will enter the tournament. Thirty of the teams will earn automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a postseason tournament, will go to its regular-season champion. The remaining 34 teams will be granted "at-large" bids by the NCAA Selection Committee.

Two teams will play an opening-round game, popularly called the "play-in game." The winner of that game will advance to the main draw of the tournament as a 16 seed and play a top seed in one of the regionals. The 2009 game will be played on Tuesday, March 17, at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, as it has since its inception in 2001.

All 64 teams were seeded 1 to 16 within their regions. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65. SEC commissioner Mike Slive is serving his last year as chairman of the committee, and UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero will take over in 2010.

Regional winners will advance to the Final Four, hosted at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan by the University of Detriot Mercy on April 4 (semifinals) and 6 (National Championship).

All times in U.S. EDT.

Winner advances to 16th seed in Midwest Regional vs. (1) Louisville.

Goran Suton was the Midwest regional most outstanding player. He was joined by teammates Kalin Lucas and Travis Walton, Louisville's Earl Clark and Kansas's Cole Aldrich on the NCAA Tournament All-Midwest Regional team.

To play top seeded Louisville Cardinals in the first round, Morehead State defeated Alabama State 58-43, keeping the Hornets without a lead the entire game. This marked the first time either team had played in the tournament in five years; the Eagles had not played since 1984. Morehead State fell to Louisville 74-54, the 100th time a 1 seed beat a 16 seed in the tournament since seeding began. However, the Eagles managed to keep the game close until halftime, when Louisville led by only 2 points. In the second half, the Cardinals began to apply their signature fullcourt pressure, forcing turnovers and outscoring Morehead State 22-6 at the beginning of the half. Leon Buchanan's 17 points for the Eagles were not enough to upset Louisville, whose top scorers, Samardo Samuels and Terrence Williams, scored a combined 28 points. Morehead State has not beaten Louisville in 52 years.

In two overtimes, the Siena Saints beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 74-72. Ohio State had the advantage of playing an hour from their campus and Evan Turner's 25 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists. The Saints made 6 out of 23 3-pointers and had 22 turnovers. Accordingly, Siena trailed for most of the game, though scored the last four points in regulation to force overtime. At the end of the first overtime, Siena's Ronald Moore drained his first 3-pointer to force a second overtime. With 3.9 seconds left in that overtime, he hit a second three from the same location to give the Saints a late 2-point lead. To send the game into a third overtime, Turner shot a 15-footer immediately afterwards, though he missed it. This was Siena's fifth appearance in the tournament, after beating Vanderbilt University in 2008 as a 13 seed.

The Arizona-Utah matchup was not as close. Fifth-seeded Utah Utes were upsetted by twelfth-seeded Arizona Wildcats, one of the last teams to make it in the tournament, by a score of 84-71. The Utes closed the lead to two with roughly five minutes left in the game, though the Wildcats' answer was a 10-1 run. Utah's Luke Nevill, normally one of the team's leaders, contributed two fouls less than four minutes into the game and scored only 12 points. Nic Wise of Arizona, meanwhile, led the team with 29 points, with 21 in the second half.

The Cleveland State-Wake Forest game was an even larger upset. In their second bid in the tournament, the Cleveland State Vikings shocked the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 84-69. This 15-point win ties for third-greatest victory margin for a 13 seed over a 4 seed. Wake Forest, once ranked first in the U.S., had 16 turnovers in the matchup, compared to six for the Vikings. James Johnson of the Demon Deacons scored 22 points, although this could not compensate for a substandard offense. Their scoring leader, Jeff Teague, finished with 10 points, half his average. For these reasons, Wake Forest never obtained a lead, while Cleveland State sank three consecutive 3-pointers in the early minutes of the game.

For the first time in 19 years, Dayton advanced to the second round of the tournament with a win over West Virginia 68-60. This also had the consequence of ending West Virginia's winning streak in the first round, lasting since 1992. Chris Wright led the Dayton Flyers with 27 points, a career high, while also chalking up 10 rebounds. Charles Little also aided the Flyers with 18 points. Darryl Bryant, who led West Virginia with 21 points, shot two consecutive three pointers to bring Dayton's lead to 48-47 with 11:02 minutes left in the game. However, that was the closest the Mountaineers had to a lead outside the beginning of the game.

In their first eligible year, North Dakota State appeared in the tournament, facing defending champion Kansas. The three-seeded Kansas Jayhawks staved off the fourteenth-seeded Bison's upset bid with a 84-74 victory. Ben Woodside shined with 37 points for the Bison, his sixth game with at least 30 points. However, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich proved too much for North Dakota State, accounting for 65 percent of the Jayhawks' points with 32 and 23 respectively.

The tenth-seeded USC Trojans demolished the seventh-seeded Boston College Eagles by a score of 72-55, helped by Taj Gibson's 10 for 10 shooting from the field, tied for second best NCAA tournament field goal shots. He led the team with 24 points and put up six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. Dwight Lewis also added 20 points for the Trojans. Despite leading 34-30 at halfime, the Eagles put up a single field goal during one 13-minute stretch. This can be credited to a 23.1 shooting percentage in the second half.

Robert Morris, the region's 15 seed, was blown away by second seeded Michigan State 77-62. The game was tied with 4:44 left in the first half, but then the Colonials went almost 20 minutes without scoring a single point. The Spartans took advantage of this for a 21-0 run that sealed the game in their favor. The Colonials' Jeremy Chappell was the only team member to score doubale digit points with 11 and also led the team with six rebounds, two steals, and three blocks. Raymar Morgan was the Spartans' leading scorer with 16 points.

Ninth-seeded Siena faced off top seed Louisville, with the Cardinals emerging victorious 79-72. Terrence Williams, long known as the most carefree player on the Cardinals, saved his team with 24 points, 15 rebounds, two steals, and four assists. The Saints came back from a 12-point deficit with left in the game deficit to snatch the lead around the 9 minute mark.

A.J. Price was named MVP of the West Regional. He was joined by teammate Kemba Walker, Missouri's DeMarre Carroll and J.T. Tiller and Memphis' Tyreke Evans on the NCAA West All-regional team.

Scottie Reynolds was named Regional most outstanding player. He was joined by teammates Dwayne Anderson and Dante Cunningham, Panthers Sam Young and DeJuan Blair on the NCAA East All-Regional team.

Ty Lawson was the South regional MVP and he was joined on the All-regional team by teammates Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough as well as Blake Griffin and Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn.

The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, Ivy, MAC, MEAC, MVC, NEC, Patriot, Southland, SoCon, SWAC, Summit, and WAC conferences all went 0–1.

The columns R32, S16, E8, F4, and CG respectively stand for the Round of 32, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and Championship Game.

Once again, except for the play-in game, which was telecast on ESPN, CBS and CBS College Sports Network will serve as broadcasters on television for the tournament. The only change from past years at the Final Four will be that Jim Nantz will be working with Clark Kellogg in the color commentary position instead of Billy Packer, who left CBS in July 2008.

For the Play-In Game in Dayton, ESPN had Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin and Erin Andrews working as the announcers.

Westwood One once again is the radio home for the tournament.

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2008–09 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season

The 2008–09 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season was the 56th season for the league.

On October 26, for the second-straight year North Carolina was the unanimous choice to finish first atop the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball race in voting by 40 media members at the league’s annual Basketball Media Day. Duke was picked for second, while Wake Forest was voted third. Miami was fourth, followed by Clemson (fifth) and Virginia Tech (sixth).

Tyler Hansbrough was selected as pre-season ACC Player of the Year. Hansbrough averaged 22.6 points and 10.2 rebounds during the 2008-09 while earning first-team All-America honors for a third-straight year and consensus National Player of the Year honors. Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu was the media’s choice for the ACC pre-season Rookie of the Year.

Hansbrough and Boston College’s Tyrese Rice were unanimous selections for the pre-season All-ACC team. Also named to the pre-season team were Miami’s Jack McClinton, North Carolina’s Ty Lawson and Gerald Henderson from Duke.

On November 13, the Los Angeles Athletic Club released their annual pre-season John R. Wooden Award watch list. The list is composed of 50 student athletes who, based on 2007-08's individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball's most coveted trophy. These top 50 candidates are returning players. Transfers, freshmen, and medical red-shirts are not eligible for this preseason list, but will be evaluated and considered for both the Midseason Top 30 list and the National Ballot. The ACC was represented by Boston College's Tyrese Rice, Duke's Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler, Miami’s Jack McClinton, North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson and Wake Forest’s James Johnson. In the 2007-08 season, North Carolina’s Hansbrough became the 12th ACC Player to earn Wooden National Player of the Year Award.

November In November, nine ACC teams participated in eight regular season tournaments across the United States. Four ACC teams claimed championships.

On November 11, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski moved into fifth place on the NCAA’s all-time win list with his 805th career victory, a 97-54 win over Georgia Southern. On November 16, Virginia’s Sylven Landesberg has 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Cavaliers beat Virginia Military Institute 107- 97. Landesberg’s 28 points tied the second-highest total by an ACC freshman in his college debut. On November 21, With Maryland’s 89-74 overtime win over Vermont, Gary Williams became only the third coach in league history to reach 400 career victories while coaching in the ACC. On November 21, Virginia’s Sylven Landesberg netted a game-high 22 points in the Cavaliers’ 68-66 win over Radford and became only the second freshman in ACC history to score 20 points in each of his first three games. Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson scored 20 or more points in each of his first six games as a freshman in 1989-90. On November 30, Ty Lawson had 22 points as #1 North Carolina beat UNC-Asheville 116-48. The 68-point win margin was the largest in the ACC since a 75-point Maryland win over North Texas State (132-57) on Dec. 23, 1998, and tied for the seventh largest margin ever in ACC history.

December On Wednesday, December 3, The ACC won it's 10th-straight ACC–Big Ten Challenge by winning six of the eleven matchups. The series was highlighted by the 98-63 victory of #1 North Carolina over #12 Michigan State at Ford Field in what was dubbed as "Basketbowl II". On December 23, Boston College’s Corey Raji was a perfect 12-for-12 from the field and scored a career-high 26 points in a 99-61 win over Maine. Raji’s performance tied him for the second-best single game performance in ACC history. UNC’s Brad Daugherty holds the ACC single-game field proficiency mark making all 13 of his shots versus UCLA back on Nov. 24, 1985. On December 30, NC State sophomore Tracy Smith came off the bench to score a career-high 31 points in the Wolfpack’s 88-68 win over visiting Towson. Smith’s 31 points set a school record and tied for the third-highest point total by a non-starter in ACC history.

January On January 3, Jeff Teague had a game-high 30 points and James Johnson adds 22 points and 15 rebounds as sixth ranked Wake Forest snapped the nation’s longest home court winning streak at 53 with a 94-87 win at BYU before a crowd of 26,096. On January 19, 16-0 Wake Forest took over the #1 spot in the AP poll and became the second ACC team to be ranked #1 in both the writers and coaches’ polls. With the Deacons assuming the top spot in his 46th game as a head coach, Dino Gaudio became the third-fastest ACC head coach to have his team voted #1. On January 26, 18-1 Duke became the third ACC team this season to be ranked #1 in the AP poll, marking the second time in ACC annals and the fourth time in AP poll history that three different teams from the same conference have been ranked #1 in the same season. On January 31, In only the second-ever meeting between brothers in an ACC game, the Aminu brothers (Alade and Al-Farouq) combine for 27 points and 24 rebounds as Georgia Tech upsets No. 4 Wake Forest 76-74 in Atlanta. Al-Farouq had 17 points, 11 rebounds and five steals for the Deacons while Alade had 10 points, 13 rebounds for the Jackets.

February On February 5, midway through the 2009 college basketball season, the Los Angeles Athletic Club's John R. Wooden Award Committee selected the top 30 candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, the nation's most coveted college basketball honor. The list is composed of the players who will compete for this season's player of the year award, the midseason list is based on individual player performance and team records during the first half of the season. The ACC was represent by North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Duke's Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler and Wake Forest's Jeff Teague. Teague is one of nine players who were selected for the midseason list who were not selected in the preseason.

On February 15, Ty Lawson had 21 points and four assists and Wayne Ellington added 15 points and 10 rebounds in North Carolina’s 69-65 win at Miami. With the win, UNC’s Roy Williams’ became the winningest coach through his first 200 games at an ACC school. On February 21, Greivis Vasquez posted Maryland’s first triple-double since 1987 as the Terps overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to beat #3 North Carolina 88-85 in overtime, ending the Tar Heels’ 10-game win streak. In posting Maryland’s third ever triple double, Vasquez had a career-high 35 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Vasquez’s 35 points set a record for the most ever by an ACC player recording a triple-double.

On February 22, In North Carolina’s 104-74 win over Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels’ Tyler Hansbrough made all eight of his ] and became the NCAA career leader in free throws made with 907. Hansbrough broke Wake Forest's Dickie Hemric's record set in 1955 with his 906th free throw with 14:54 to play in the second half.

March On March 7, Miami’s Jack McClinton was a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line and scored a game-high 24 points as the Hurricanes overcame a nine-point halftime deficit enroute to a 72-64 win over visiting NC State. McClinton’s 16-for-16 effort tied for the fourth-best single-game mark in league history.

The third-seeded Duke Blue Devils defeated fourth-seeded Florida State 79-69 in the title ACC Championship game on Sunday, March 15, giving Duke its ninth ACC crown in 12 years. Duke also tied North Carolina for most tournament championships with 17. Duke's Jon Scheyer was named the tournament MVP.

Ty Lawson was the South regional MVP and he was joined on the All-regional team by teammates Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough.

ACC Players of the week Throughout the conference season, the ACC offices name a player and rookie of the week. The MVP of the ACC Tournament is the automatic winner of the final ACC player of the week of each season.

Honorable Mention: Ty Lawson - North Carolina, Gani Lawal - Georgia Tech, Courtney Fells - NC State, Gerald Henderson - Duke All-ACC Academic team To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career. Four players - McClinton, Paulus, Duke's Brian Zoubek and Virginia's Jerome Meyinsse - are repeaters from previous league all-academic teams. McClinton and Paulus were named to the team for the third time in their careers, while Zoubek and Meyinsse are two-time selections.

On March 5, the National Association of Basketball Coaches announced their Division I All‐District teams, recognizing the nation’s best men’s collegiate basketball student-athletes. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, 240 student-athletes, from 24 districts were chosen. The selection on this list are then eligible for the State Farm Coaches’ Division I All-America teams to be announced at the 2009 NABC Convention in Detroit. The following list represents the ACC players chosen to the list. All ACC schools are within District 2.

On March 10, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association released its 2008-09 Men's All-District Teams, based on voting from its national membership. There are nine regions from coast to coast and a player and coach of the year are selected in each. The following is each ACC player selected within their respective regions.

On February 5, 2009, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and ESPN the Magazine selected their Academic All-Americans from throughout college basketball. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games at the position listed on the nomination form (where applicable). No student-athlete is eligible until he has completed one full calendar year at his current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility. In the cases of transfers, graduate students and two-year college graduates, the student-athlete must have completed one full calendar year at the nominating institution to be eligible. Nominees in graduate school must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better both as an undergrad and in grad school. The ACC had two players selected from District III as first-team Academic All-District selections: Greg Paulus and Brian Zoubek, both from Duke. Greg Paulus was also selected overall by the CoSIDA as a third-team Academic All-American.

To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, the USBWA, The Sporting News and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

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2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball season. It began on March 18, 2008, and concluded as the Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Memphis Tigers 75-68 in overtime on April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, to win their third national championship. The host institution was the University of Texas at San Antonio. For the first time in tournament history since seeding began, the top seeded team from each of the four regionals made it to the final four: Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, and UCLA.

American University, UMBC, Texas-Arlington, and Portland State all entered the tournament for the first time in their school's history. Another school, Coppin State became the first 20-loss school ever to enter the tournament by winning the MEAC Tournament. The first round of the tournament featured some unprecedented upsets, with four upsets in all four games played in Tampa. The surprise of the tournament was tenth-seeded Davidson, who advanced to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual champion Kansas 59-57, each team's closest game of the tournament.

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four.

A total of 31 teams received automatic bids for winning their conference tournament championship. Since the Ivy League does not hold a tournament, its regular season champion received the automatic bid. This left 34 at-large bids to be decided from the rest of the field by the NCAA Selection Committee. The at-large bids, along with the seeding for each team in the tournament, were announced on Sunday, March 16. Coppin State was the first team to make the tournament with 20 losses. Maryland-Baltimore County, American, Texas-Arlington, and Portland State all received their first tournament bids in school history. Three other teams returned after absences from the NCAA Tournament of 20 years or more—Drake (last appearing in 1971), Cal State Fullerton (1978), Cornell (1988), and Baylor (1988).

Winner advances to 16th seed in East Regional vs. (1) North Carolina.

Top seed North Carolina defeated the play-in game winner Mount St. Mary's 113-74. Their high scoring tied the mark for second most in North Carolina tournament history, aided by Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson's 21 points each. They met Arkansas in the second round, a ninth seed who defeated eighth-seed Indiana 86-72. Indiana had struggled with several tough losses late in the season after a coaching scandal and were unable to stop Sonny Weems' career-high 31 points despite having two AP All-Americans, D.J. White and Eric Gordon, on their team.. Fifth seed Notre Dame advanced to the second round with a 68-50 win over 12th seed George Mason. George Mason had two starters from the 2006 final four team, but were unable to come back after a surge by the Irish early in the first half. In the same pod, fourth seeded Washington State defeated 13th-seed Winthrop 71-40, holding them to 11 points in the second half and leaving them far behind after a 25-1 run. In Birmingham, Alabama, the sixth seed Oklahoma defeated 11-th seeded St. Joseph's 72-64, led by David Godbold, a senior not normally known as a team leader who surprised many with his 25 points. Later in the evening, third seeded Louisville defeated WAC champion and 14th seed Boise State 79-61, sending the Broncos home for the second straight time. They had defeated Boise St. in the 1994 tournament as well, the last time the WAC team came to the tournament. In the afternoon session at Birmingham, seventh seeded Butler defeated 10th seed South Alabama in an 81-61 blowout, setting a school record for 30 wins in one season, and number two seed Tennessee survived a brief scare at the hands of 15th-seeded American, 72-57. American's star player, Garrison Carr, led his team with 26 points, tying the game at 40 with 11 minutes to go before Tennessee went on a 10-0 run to score the win.

Washington State, the region's fourth seed, was first to earn a spot in the Charlotte, North Carolina East Regional by handily beating fifth-seeded Notre Dame, 61-41 in Denver, Colorado. The rout came as a shock to many sportscasters, who expected Notre Dame's offense, which was averaging about 80 points a game, to outdo the Cougars. Instead, Notre Dame shot 24% from the field, their worst offensive effort since 1983 and the fifth-worst in the history of the NCAA tournament's opening rounds. Washington State's win brought them to their first-ever trip to the Sweet 16. Top-seeded North Carolina will challenge the Cougars after defeating Arkansas, the ninth seed, 108-77. The win marked only the third time the Tar Heels had won their first two tournament games by more than 20 points. The other two UNC teams to do this, in 1993 and 2005, went on to win the championship. With the win, North Carolina also set a school record for wins in a season, with 34. Second-seeded Tennessee survived an upset bid from number seven seed Butler, winning in overtime 76-71. Butler was behind throughout regulation, but managed to keep the game close and bring it to overtime, where they gained their first lead, 68-66, about 2 minutes into overtime. Some key defensive stands and free throws by the Volunteers, however, pulled them ahead. They will play third seed Louisville, who beat sixth seed Oklahoma, 78-48. Sooner star Blake Griffin had trouble scoring against Louisville's double-teams, and Louisville's 30-point win was the school's best tournament win since 1968.

Top-seeded North Carolina defeated fourth seeded Washington State 68-47. Washington State was held to 47 points, the least allowed by a Tar Heel team in the tournament since 1946. Tyler Hansbrough struggled in the first half, but North Carolina's other players stepped to give the team a 14-point lead a halftime. In the second half, he led the team with 16 points, contributing to what was at one point in the half a 26-point lead. Third-seeded Louisville went on to face the Tar Heels in the East finals after defeating the second-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, 79-60. Earl Clark scored 17 points, 13 of them coming in the second half, and had 12 rebounds to lead the Cardinals. The Volunteers were held to 34% shooting and Louisville coach Rick Pitino improved to 8-0 in Regional semifinal games.

In the East Regional finals in their home state, against third-seed Louisville, Tyler Hansbrough of the top-seeded Tar Heels carried the team with a 28-point performance, including five straight points after the Cardinals tied UNC midway through the second half to lead UNC to a 83-73 win. The Cardinals came close as the game neared its end, but a Ty Lawson 3 broke a 59-59 tie. Defensive stands combined with 8 for 8 free throw shooting down the stretch gave the Tar Heels the victory. Hansbrough was named the East Region's Tournament MVP.

The Midwest Region featured upsets knocking off the fourth through seventh seeds. Among these was the first upset of the tournament with 11th seed Kansas State's win over the sixth seeded Southern California Trojans 80-67 in Omaha, Nebraska. The media had focused a lot of attention on the freshman stars of both teams, the Wildcats' Michael Beasley and the Trojans' O. J. Mayo. In reality, while Beasley and Mayo did well, it was the other K-State players who made the difference, applying a strong defense to the Men of Troy's attack and coming up with the school's first tournament win since 1988. Also in the Midwest Region, #10 seed Davidson defeated seventh seeded Gonzaga 82-76 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Stephen Curry led the Wildcats with 40 points, 30 of them in the second half. His 40 points are the fifth most in NCAA tournament history, and gave Davidson their first tournament win since 1969. In the same region, 13th seed Siena upset fourth seed Vanderbilt 83-62 in Tampa, Florida. The Saints never trailed in the game and became the first MAAC team to advance since 2004. The Midwest's first-round play ended with 12th seed Villanova's upset of fifth seed Clemson, 75-69, also in Tampa. Behind by eighteen late in the first half, the Wildcats came back, taking the lead at about the twelve minute mark and holding it for the win. The Wildcats have won more games as an underdog in the tournament since seedings began in 1979 than any other team. With Villanova's win, the Forum saw a tournament record four upsets in one day. Earlier in the day, Western Kentucky, San Diego, and Siena defeated Drake, UConn, and Vanderbilt, to set the record.

Earlier that day in Omaha, ninth seed Kent State tied an NCAA Tournament record for scoring lows with their 10 points in one half against UNLV. Eighth-seed UNLV won the game 71-58. Top seed Kansas defeated 16th seed Portland State 85-61, thoroughly dominating both inside and outside with the win. Second-seed Georgetown defeated fifteenth seed Maryland-Baltimore County 66-47 in their first round game, holding them to 31% shooting as compared to their 51%, and third seed Wisconsin stopped an upset threat from 14th seed Cal State Fullerton. The Titans' Josh Akognon scored 31 points, tying a career high, and Fullerton held the lead early in the second half, but were unable hold the lead under the Badgers' offensive pressure.

The third-seeded Badgers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison defeated Kansas State, 72-55 to become the first school to advance to Detroit, Michigan and the Midwest Regional. KSU freshman star Michael Beasley was again dominant with 23 points and 14 rebounds, though he struggled in the second half with only six points due to the Badger defense. Top-seeded Kansas also advanced to the Sweet 16 by defeating eighth seed UNLV 75-56. Four Jayhawks scored in double figures and the team shot 58% from the field while holding the Rebels to 26.7%. On the following afternoon, the 12th-seeded Villanova Wildcats defeated the 13th-seeded Siena Saints in a 12-seed versus 13-seed Cinderella match-up by a score of 84-72 to reach their third Sweet 16 in four years. The Wildcats took an early lead and never trailed the entire game. Tenth-seeded Davidson became the second double-digit seed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen hours after Villanova's victory, ousting second-seeded Georgetown 74-70, and played Wisconsin in the other semifinal. Davidson won on the back of another tour-de-force performance in the second half by Stephen Curry. Curry singlehandedly outscored the Hoyas over the final 14:24, putting up 25 points to Georgetown's 22.

Stephen Curry scored 33 points to lead Davidson to a 73-56 victory over Wisconsin. Davidson, the 10-seed, advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since the 1969 tournament. Curry became only the fourth player in history to score 30 or more points in his first three tournament games. The Wisconsin defense, best in the nation at points allowed with 53.9, remained close until early in the second half, when some key steals and Davidson threes pulled the Wildcats far ahead. Prior to the game, Wisconsin guard Michael Flowers had said of Curry, "At the end of the game I want him to be breathless and remember what team he played against and how hard he worked." Curry would score 33 and cause Flowers' quote to completely backfire.

In the night game, top-seeded Kansas defeated # 12 Villanova, 72-57. The Jayhawks went on a 14-2 run early and never faltered—Villanova never getting within six. Brandon Rush, Russell Robinson, and Mario Chalmers each scored 16, 15, and 14 points, respectively.

Kansas completed the first all top-seeded Final Four in NCAA Tournament history as they defeated 10th seeded Davidson 59-57. The outcome remained in doubt down to the final seconds. Kansas' Sherron Collins missed a shot with 21 seconds left, giving Davidson the final shot. Sophomore star Stephen Curry was double teamed, couldn't find a shot, and passed to Jason Richards, whose shot missed. It was head coach Bill Self's first regional final win. The Wildcats' 25-game winning streak, the longest in the nation, was broken with the loss. Davidson's Stephen Curry scored 25 points and was chosen as the Midwest Region's Most Outstanding Player.

Top seed Memphis took on Texas-Arlington, the region's 16th seed, and went on to win their opening round contest, 87-63, in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Memphis went on to meet Mississippi State, a eight seed which came back from 13-down early in the second half against Oregon to rally for the win, 76-69. Fifth-seed Michigan State handily defeated # 12 Temple, 72-61, and fourth-seed Pittsburgh defeated 13th seed Oral Roberts 82-63, leaving the Golden Eagles behind after an 18-0 run in the first half. Sixth-seeded Marquette won its first tournament game since 2003 with a 74-66 win over #11 Kentucky in Anaheim. Kentucky got to within two points with 22 seconds remaining, but two Marquette free throws and a late steal handed the Wildcats an early tournament loss. They met third seed Stanford in the next round, who handily defeated 14th seeded Cornell 77-53, never trailing the entire game, and never allowing the Big Red to get closer than 18 points in the second half. Miami (Florida), the seventh seed, defeated 10th seed Saint Mary's (California) 78-64, led by Jack McClinton and his 38 points. Their next opponent was second seed Texas, who never trailed in their 74-54 win over 15th seed Austin Peay, a game with four Longhorns scoring in double-figures.

Third-seeded Stanford saw Brook Lopez make the difference in overtime with a basket with 1.3 seconds left to beat Marquette 82-81 and advance to Houston, Texas. Stanford coach Trent Johnson was ejected in the first half, and Stanford had to fight a six-point deficit at halftime to come back for the win. Michigan State became the first lower seed to win in the region, with a 65-54 victory over Pittsburgh. The game was extremely physical and hard-fought, with the Panther coming back from 10 down to take the lead in the middle of the second half, only to see it vanish in the final minutes with help from eight straight points from the Spartan's Drew Neitzel. The Spartans would go on to play Memphis, the region's top seed after the Tigers beat eighth seed Mississippi State, 77-74. In their game, Memphis had four players scoring in double figures in what was a physical, defensive game—unlike what the games the Tigers were used to playing. Mississippi State gave them a late scare by coming to within two with four seconds left, but a free throw by Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis followed by a missed three on Mississippi's end gave the Tigers the win. Texas, the second seed, will play the Cardinal in their home state after a 75-72 victory over seventh-seed Miami (Florida). Leading 66-50 with 4:15 left in the game, the Longhorns saw their lead melt in the face of a strong Hurricane rally and a hostile Arkansas crowd. Two key free throws by A. J. Abrams with 9.5 seconds left carried them to a three point lead which held to the end of regulation.

Tens of thousands of Texas fans turned out to Reliant Stadium in Houston and saw the second seeded Longhorns defeat the number three seeded Stanford Cardinal, 82-62. The unlikely defensive star of the game was Texas' Dexter Pittman. Normally not even a starter, Pittman was effective on the court, throwing his size against the tall Lopez twins, high-scorers at Stanford. On the offensive end, D.J. Augustin scored twenty-three points to combine with Damion James' 18 for the win. Stanford made things close at about the 13 minute mark of the second half, bringing it to within one at 52-51, but Texas went on a 16-2 run and turned the game into a rout. Later in the day, top-seeded Memphis defeated fifth seed Michigan State, 92-74. Memphis entered the game as a bit of an underdog, with many predicting them the top seed most likely to lose. Instead, the Tigers went into halftime with a 30-point lead. Derrick Rose lead his team with 27 points, and Chris Douglas-Roberts followed with 25, while Spartan star Drew Neitzel was held to just six.

Top seeded Memphis defeated the Texas Longhorns to earn the third pass into the Final Four for the first time in 23 years with a convincing 85-67 win. Memphis spread the floor and used every man on the field to win. Texas star D J Augustin scored 16 points, but struggled with four turnovers in the second half. Derrick Rose won the Region's Most Outstanding Player award.

In the West Region, with a pod in Tampa as well, Western Kentucky entering as the 12th seed, defeated fifth seeded Drake in overtime 101-99. Drake had come back from sixteen down in the final eight minutes, bringing the game to overtime, and were ahead with 5.7 seconds left. Ty Rogers' three-pointer at the buzzer, the NCAA record-setting 30th three-point basket gave the Hilltoppers the walk-off victory. Also in the West, 13th seeded San Diego upset fourth seed Connecticut 70-69 in another overtime game. The Huskies struggled throughout the game, compounded by the loss of leading scorer A.J. Price to a torn ACL, and De'Jon Jackson's long jumper with 1.2 seconds remaining in the bonus period pulled the Toreros ahead for their first-ever tournament victory, and handed UConn their earliest egress from the tournament since 1979 as well as the first under coach Jim Calhoun. As regards to close games and record-breakers, West Region 15th seed Belmont nearly upset second-seeded Duke in Washington, D.C., but a Gerald Henderson layup with 11.9 seconds left, together with a steal off the inbounds by DeMarcus Nelson in the final seconds, lifted the Blue Devils to victory. This would have been only the fifth time a 15 seed beat a 2 seed. The top seeded UCLA Bruins set several records in their win against 16th-seeded Mississippi Valley State at Anaheim, California, holding them to 29 points in a 70-29 victory. This was the lowest score in the first round in tournament history, and the lowest overall since 1946, before the shot clock rule was introduced. The Delta Devils' 19.7% shooting set another record for lowest shooting percentage in a game in tournament history.

Elsewhere in the West, third seed Xavier avoided an upset by 14th-seeded Georgia, coming back from nine down at the half to win 73-61. They were to play sixth-seeded Purdue next, who scored their 10th-straight first-round win by defeating the 11th seeded Baylor 90-79. Brigham Young, an eighth seed, lost to ninth-seeded Texas A&M 67-62. The Cougars suffered early, not scoring until about the 14-minute mark, but managed to bring the game to a tie at the half. Twenty-six points by Aggie forward Josh Carter, however, made the difference in Texas A&M's win. Lastly, West Virginia, seventh seed in the region, defeated 10th seed Arizona 75-65, scoring 11 three-point shots. With the win, the Mountaineers broke Arizona's streak of twenty straight 20-win seasons, previously the longest streak in the nation.

Seventh-seeded West Virginia began the second round of the tournament by defeating Duke, the second seed, 73-67. The Mountaineers trailed until about eight minutes into the second half, when they took a 43-40 lead. They outrebounded the Blue Devils 47-27, which, combined with several three-point shots, aided in the win. This loss marks Duke's second consecutive loss before the Sweet Sixteen round. West Virginia's Sweet Sixteen opposition in Phoenix, Arizona was #3 Xavier, who defeated Purdue, 85-78. Xavier trailed as late as the 5:30 mark of the second half, but a widespread showing of talent from the Musketeers proved too difficult to stop, as four Xavier players scored in double figures, with two more tied at eight points each. Later that day, the top-seeded UCLA Bruins defeated ninth-seeded Texas A&M, 51-49. The Bruins trailed by as much as ten early in the first half, but slowly chipped away at the lead as the half progressed. The winning basket was scored with 9.5 seconds left on a lay-up by Darren Collison. Texas A&M had one final chance to tie it, but Donald Sloan's drive to the basket was stopped by two UCLA players (pictures show that they both appear to be grabbing Sloan, in what could have been a foul called on UCLA). The ensuing dunk by UCLA's Russell Westbrook was later waived off by officials as occurring after time had expired, making the final score 51-49. The Bruins then played Western Kentucky, a #12 seed who beat #13 seed San Diego by a 73-62 score. San Diego trailed by as much as 15 in the second half, but an 18-2 run gave them a one point lead with 6-and-a-half minutes remaining. Western Kentucky, however, managed to pull ahead once again for the win, making this tournament only the third in history to feature at least two 12-or-lower seeds in the Sweet 16.

Xavier, the third seed in the West, defeated seventh seed West Virginia, 79-75 in overtime thanks to two B.J. Raymond three-pointers in the final 78 seconds. Raymond scored all eight of his points in the bonus round after being held scoreless in regulation, and poor free-throw shooting by the Mountaineers, missing four out of six free throws, sealed the victory. Josh Duncan led the Musketeers in scoring with a career high 26 points, followed by Joe Alexander's 18 points and 10 rebounds. Xavier led by as much as much as 18 during the game, but trailed six late in OT, counting on Raymond's threes to give them the victory. Number one seed UCLA would play the Musketeers in the final, after outlasting 12th seeded Western Kentucky, 88-78. WKU came to within four late in the game, taking advantage of several sloppy Bruin mistakes. Kevin Love led UCLA with 29 points and 14 rebounds, aided by James Keefe's 18 points and 12 rebounds and Russell Westbrooks' 14 and 11. Trailing 41-20 at the half, WKU came out of the locker room determined to win, as evidenced by Hilltopper star Tyrone Brazelton's 31 points, 25 of which came in the second half. A. J. Slaughter missed a crucial three-point shot that would have brought them to within one, and a UCLA run left them nine points behind only two minutes later.

UCLA was the first team to advance to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, the third straight year and the 18th time in school history they have done it, with a 76-57 victory over Xavier. Kevin Love led the Bruins with 19 points and ten rebounds, tied as high scorer with Darren Collison. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds. Derrick Brown led the Musketeers with 13 points. Overall, Xavier was held to 36% shooting from the floor while UCLA shot 56.8%. Love was picked as the West Region's MOP.

For the first time since the current seeding system started in 1979, all four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four.

Memphis became the first team ever to win 38 games in one season by defeating UCLA 78-63. Chris Douglas-Roberts, who scored a game-high of 28 points, combined with Derrick Rose to score a total of 53 of Memphis' 78 points. UCLA star Kevin Love was held to 12 points, and the Bruins lost their third straight Final Four game. Memphis had lost to Ohio State in the Alamodome in the 2007 tournament, and had made it a goal to win in the arena in this year's playoff.

The second semifinal game could be divided up as if it were three different games. The Jayhawks took a 40-12 lead in the first 15 minutes. North Carolina narrowed the deficit to 17 at halftime and opened the second half on a 23-10 run to close to within 4 points with 11 minutes to play. After the teams traded baskets for a few minutes, Kansas pulled away, closing on a 20-7 run for a 84-66 victory over the tournament's #1 overall seed. Brandon Rush led the Jayhawks with 25 points. Kansas' defense held the AP Player of the Year, Tyler Hansbrough, to 17 points and 9 rebounds, slightly below his season averages. The Tar Heels were led by Wayne Ellington's 18 points.

The National Championship Game pitted Memphis against Kansas. Neither team's head coach (KU's Bill Self and Memphis' John Calipari) had garnered a national championship during their head coaching careers, either. Memphis guard Chris Douglas-Roberts had been the leading scorer in the tournament, averaging 23.6 points per game. Memphis became the first team currently from a conference other than the six majors to play in the championship game since 1998. Utah advanced to the championship game in 1998, and UNLV was the last team from a non-major conference to win the national title in 1990.

On the day of the game, the betting lines set by Las Vegas casinos Las Vegas Hilton, Station Casinos, and The Mirage made Memphis the favorite by a spread of 2 points.

After a back-and-forth first half, Kansas led 33-28 at halftime, the first second-half deficit that Memphis faced in the entire tournament. Memphis scored the first five points of the second half to tie the score at 33 with 18:57 left in regulation. The two teams traded the lead until Memphis used a 10-0 run to build a seven-point lead with 5:10 remaining and increased it to nine points with 2:12 remaining in regulation.

Kansas strategically fouled Memphis, which missed four of its final five free throws in regulation while Kansas furiously scored 12 points in the final two minutes of regulation. During that stretch Kansas made 100% of their shots going 2 for 2 from 2 point range, 2 for 2 from 3 point range and 2 for 2 from the free throw line. Kansas guard Mario Chalmers hit a three-point basket with 2.1 seconds remaining to tie the game at 63, and the game went into overtime. It is now immortalized as Mario's Miracle.

In overtime, Kansas scored the first six points en route to a 75-68 win. They continued the blistering stretch they started in regulation, going 4 of 6 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line in overtime. It was Kansas's fifth national championship overall and third championship since the NCAA began the modern tournament in 1939. It was also the first national championship for the program since the 1988 team.

This was the 7th overtime National Championship Game in NCAA Division I tournament history. It also represented the first national title for a school representing the Big 12 Conference.

Sixteen conferences — America East Conference, Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big South Conference, Big West Conference, Colonial Athletic Association, Ivy League, MAC, MEAC, Missouri Valley Conference, Ohio Valley Conference, Patriot League, Southland, SWAC, Summit League and WAC — went 0-1.

For the 27th consecutive year, CBS Sports telecast the tournament, and for the 18th consecutive year, broadcast every game in the main bracket from the first round to the championship, as Jim Nantz and Billy Packer called the Final Four. ESPN carried the 64th-seed Opening Round game between Coppin State and Mount St. Mary's on March 18th, with Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin and Erin Andrews serving as the announcing team, as the network has done the Opening Round game since 2002.

Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis. For the first time since the rights were acquired, the host team spent the entire tournament at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City and did not travel to the Final Four site. CBS cited budget cutbacks ordered by the parent company, CBS Corporation. This would also be Packer's last Final Four; in July 2008, it was announced that Kellogg would replace Packer as Nantz's color man in 2009.

Sibling cable network CBS College Sports Network (formerly known as CSTV) picked up one CBS TV broadcast on each of the first two days of the tournament. It aired the Stanford-Cornell contest from Anaheim on March 20, and the St. Joseph's-Oklahoma game on March 21.

Unlike CBS Sports on the broadcast side, CBS College Sports Network did send a team to San Antonio, with Blackburn anchoring coverage and hosting the postgame highlights show, called the NCAA March Madness Highlights Show. Earlier, Greg Amsinger had hosted the postgame program from the network's studios at Chelsea Piers in lower Manhattan. Analysts included Steve Lappas, Greg Anthony, and Jay Williams.

Radio broadcasts were once again being handled again by CBS subsidiary Westwood One, hosted by Tommy Tighe.

Kugler called his first Final Four replacing Harlan, with Raftery and Thompson on color commentary and Jim Gray as sideline reporter.

DirecTV once again offered NCAA Mega March Madness as a pay-per-view package for one payment of US$69. This allowed access to all tournament games in the first three rounds of the main draw not shown on the local CBS station in the viewer's area. This package was exclusive to DirecTV and not available to Dish Network, fiber optic, or cable subscribers.

Online, CBSSports.com and NCAA.com teamed up for NCAA March Madness on Demand. Computer users with broadband connections were able to watch all tournament games from the first round to the championship game for free, thanks to advertiser support from Coca-Cola, AT&T Mobility, Pontiac, and various other companies. The ads were not the same as those shown on television, and there was a separate halftime show hosted by Jason Horowitz joined by analysts including St. John's head basketball coach Norm Roberts.

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2008–09 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

The 2008-09 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Head Coach is Roy Williams. The team plays its home games in the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Tar Heels were a trendy pick to win the National Championship this year, primarily because Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Ty Lawson decided to withdraw from the 2008 NBA Draft, and consensus national Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough never declared for that draft.In the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll the Tar Heels were ranked #1. It is the first unanimous preseason #1 ranking in the history of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. UNC also received the first unanimous preseason #1 ranking in the history of the Associated Press Poll.

The Tar Heels rolled through the nonconference schedule, along the way winning the Maui Invitational for the third time. They sputtered out of the gate to start ACC play, dropping their first two conference games to Boston College and Wake Forest. However, they recovered to reel off 10 straight conference wins, including a 101-87 thrashing of rival Duke. Their only relatively close games during this stretch came against the ACC's two Florida teams--most notably against Florida State, in which they escaped with a Ty Lawson buzzer-beater.

They lost to Maryland in overtime, but recovered to win their last three games. A win over Virginia Tech gave the Tar Heels at least a share of their 27th regular season title, and fourth in a row. They won the title outright with a season-ending win over Duke.

The ACC Tournament didn't go nearly as well, largely because Ty Lawson was sidelined with an injured big toe. They needed a last-minute score to defeat Virginia Tech, then fell to Florida State in the second round. Still, the Tar Heels were rewarded with the top seed in the NCAA South Region. It was the 13th time the Tar Heels had been selected as a #1 seed--the most since the NCAA began seeding the tournament field in 1979. It is also UNC's 41st NCAA appearance--tied with UCLA for the second-most in history.

The Tar Heels played their first- and second-round games at the Greensboro Coliseum, just an hour west of Chapel Hill. They easily dispatched Radford and LSU to advance to the regionals at the FedExForum in Memphis.

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2007–08 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team

The 2007–08 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their head coach is Roy Williams. The team plays its home games in the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

During the December 27 game against Nevada, backup point guard Bobby Frasor was injured, requiring surgery and ending his season.

The Tar Heels began the season ranked atop both major polls, and stayed there for the first two months of the season despite closer-than-expected games against Davidson and Clemson. They suffered their first loss of the season against Maryland on January 19. Three games later, point guard Ty Lawson twisted his ankle and missed most of February. Despite this, the Tar Heels didn't miss a beat, going 8-1 the rest of the way. They regained the top spot in the polls in late February and held it for the rest of the season. They clinched their 26th ACC regular season title by avenging their earlier loss to Duke in the last game of the season.

In the ACC Tournament held in Charlotte, the top-seeded Tar Heels defeated Florida State, Virginia Tech and Clemson to win their 17th conference tournament title. In so doing, they went into the NCAA Tournament with a 32-2 record—the most wins going into the tourney in school history.

In the NCAA Tournament, the Tar Heels were seeded first in the East Regional, and were also the overall top seed in the tournament. They routed Mount St. Mary's and Arkansas while playing just 30 minutes from campus at the RBC Center in Raleigh. They were no less dominant in the regional phase in Charlotte, scoring convincing wins over Washington State and Louisville to make their 17th trip to the Final Four, but in their national semifinal game, they lost to Kansas, who went on to win the national championship. Remarkably, the Tar Heels made the Final Four while not having to leave the state of North Carolina for almost two months (a total of 10 games), and while notching two losses at the Smith Center—an arena where they have traditionally been all but unbeatable. They also set a school record for wins in a season, with 36.

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