CHICAGO — The Tar Heels planned to leave here after Saturday’s 85-63 victory over Valparaiso to fly to their respective Christmas break destinations. But near the end of the first half, they needed a guy who hates to take a day off to remind them that they weren’t on vacation, yet.
Leading 26-25 after a listless opening 15 minutes, All-American Tyler Hansbrough — who didn’t even take a shot for the first 9 1/2 minutes — scored the first eight points of a 10-0 run to spark his lackadaisical team, finally break away from the Crusaders and secure that No. 1 UNC remained undefeated.
Hansbrough finished with 25 points and five rebounds points.
Reserve guard Bobby Frasor, who grew up in the Chicago area and was playing his “home” game, finished with eight points.
UNC had six turnovers, four shot attempts, and were trailing 12-3 when Frasor, a senior, came off the bench and made back-to-back three-pointers, followed by a three from guard Ty Lawson, to tie it 12-12.
But the Tar Heels simply looked uninspired; at one point, Valpo forward Urule Igbavboa drove the lane for a layup with no Tar Heel bothering to step in front of him.
At another point, the Crusaders easily broke UNC’s 3/4-court trap, with Brandon McPherson scoring on a layup to cut UNC’s lead to 26-25.
That’s when Hansbrough started his run, and so did UNC. The Tar Heels allowed the Crusaders only one field goal in the last 5:06 of the first half, and Valpo — which has now lost seven of its last seven game — couldn’t even chip away after that.
The Crusaders were called for intentional fouls on both Lawson and Hansbrough in the closing minutes.
AP photo
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
Comments
It happens
Sun, 12/21/2008 - 00:22 — JPDOhioUNC is lucky they were playing Valpo, which is not as good as they have sometimes been in the past. Given the level of competition and the holidays coming up, it's not surprising the Tar Heels came up flat. On the other hand, they still won by 22.
But they better be careful in ACC play. The only team that can beat them this year is themselves. If they don't show up to play, someone will take adantage of it. My guess is that Roy will remind them of this when they return to practice, loudly.
Thanks for the "vote of confidence".
Sun, 12/21/2008 - 20:30 — UNC1998I wouldn't be surprised if 'Ol Roy took the rims off of the backboards for a day of practice. He's been known to do it to "get their attention".
Santa almost gave them
Sat, 12/20/2008 - 22:35 — UNC1998a lump of coal. They better hear what Williams is screaming. Play defense, because it wins championships.