Ty Lawson, Tar Heels Overwhelm Blake Griffin's Sooners, Head to Motor City

(Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)

From the opening tip in Memphis, Tennessee, Roy Williams and his No. 1 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels showed they were there to take care of business.

Jumping out to an early 13-2 lead, the Tar Heels held the top player in the nation, Blake Griffin, scoreless for the first 11 minutes of the game with great team defense.

Griffin, who finished with the game with 23 points and 16 rebounds, was harassed by North Carolina all afternoon with constant double teams and in-your-face play. 

Danny Green paced the high flying Heels in the first half, leading all scorers with 14 points before the break and filling up his stat line in every category. 

The Sooners, who struggled to hit the outside shot (2-19 from behind the arc), cut the Carolina lead to 32-23 at the half on a strong move by Griffin, but they would never get closer than that the rest of the game.

The Tar Heels went on a 29-17 run to start the second half, led by Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Ty Lawson.  

North Carolina hit their first seven shots of the half and Lawson's quickness was unmatched by any player the Sooners had.  Lawson finished with a team high 19 points and five assists with only one turnover.

Tyler Hansbrough, who had two early fouls in the first half, saw limited action, not wanting to risk a third with Carolina enjoying a comfortable lead.  Hansbrough finished with eight points, six boards and two steals in only 26 minutes.

Deon Thompson added 10 points and Green finished with 18 proving to be too much firepower for Oklahoma to handle.  Freshman Willie Warren had 18 points for the Sooners.

Oklahoma went on a late, 9-0 run to cut the deficit back to 12 at 63-51 to make the game look closer than it really was.  When the clock ran out, the Tar Heels had a 72-60 victory. 

Williams and his Tar Heels looked strong on both offense and defense advancing to what will be the coach's seventh trip to the Final Four in his illustrious career.

After this performance, the Tar Heels will be sizable favorites going into their semi-final game against the Villanova Wildcats next Saturday in Detroit, Michigan. 

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