MEMPHIS, Tenn. — North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough, the 2008 consensus national player of the year, returned for his senior season because he wanted another chance to win a national championship. So it seems rather fitting that to reach the Final Four, he'll face the
toughest individual match-up of his career tonight: Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, who is expected to sweep the NPOY awards this time around.

If you're going to focus on one thing during tonight's NCAA regional final game, that would be it. But here are a few other things that will be key to the outcome:

MEMPHIS — A handful of things to keep an eye on tonight, as top-seeded North Carolina and No. 4 seed Gonzaga battle it out for a trip to the NCAA's Elite Eight:

When in doubt, don’t pout. Shoot.

That’s the advice North Carolina forward Danny Green is taking from his teammates, and himself, as the Tar Heels begin their NCAA Tournament quest Thursday against Radford in Greensboro Coliseum.

Green, a senior and normally among the team’s most accurate marksmen, has been off target for most of the past four games. During that period, he’s missed 35 of 45 field-goal attempts, including a few from short range.

Having to play without Ty Lawson was bad enough for North Carolina’s basketball team.

Having to play without Lawson and without Danny Green was lethal for the Tar Heels in Saturday’s ACC semifinals against Florida State.

UNC senior Danny Green, known for dancing to help pump up his team, dances for the crowd one last time in the Dean Dome after helping his team ... more

Staff video by Jason Arthurs

BLACKSBURG, Va. — North Carolina's victory over Virginia Tech on Wednesday secured at least part of the ACC's regular-season title, something that never gets old for coach Roy Williams — whose teams at UNC at Kansas have now done it 13 times.

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CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough wasn't surprised to hear that coach Roy Williams dropped the F-bomb on Wednesday night — just that it happened during his post-game press conference.

"Oh, man,'' the senior said, growing wide-eyed and a bit red-faced when told his coach had used the expletive he usually replaces with frickin,' friggin'' or flippin'.

"I've definitely heard it more than you guys,'' Hansbrough said. "It's usually once every other ballgame, he drops it in the huddle, and we know he means business then. But I think he may beat himself up over that because he usually counts how many cuss words he says in the huddle and in practice.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — First, Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague dropped 34 points on the Tar Heels. Then Florida State’s Toney Douglas scored 32.

Sunday, Miami’s Jack McClinton scored a career-high 35 points during third-ranked UNC’s 69-65 victory.

Should this be a concern, despite Carolina’s nine-game winning streak?

Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green became the first Tar Heels to play in four wins over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium since Mike Krzyzewski took over as the Blue Devils' coach.

Those seniors are in elite company.

Since 1953-54, three other Tar Heels have played in a quartet of victories at Cameron, according to UNC's media relations department: Mitch Kupchak in 1973-74-75-76; John Kuester in 1974-75-76-77; and Walter Davis in 1974-75-76-77.