Lawson puts ankle questions to rest
There will be no ankle-gate leading to the Final Four, Ty Lawson said.
Ty Lawson, North Carolina's point guard, hobbled briefly late in the East Region final Saturday night. After putting Tar Heels fans through more than a month of what seemed like daily updates about an ankle injury, a here-we-go-again scenario could have been in the works.
"I'm all right," Lawson said after the victory against Louisville. "I'm good this week."
Lawson has played in the last 10 games, all North Carolina victories.
He said he rolled his right ankle late in Saturday night's 83-73 victory against Louisville, confirming that he was limping for a reason with about four minutes to play. Referee Ed Corbett checked with him to see if he was OK during one break in the action.
Ty Lawson said that shortly after that, he became tangled with Louisville center David Padgett and that he tweaked his other ankle during that contact.
North Carolina coach Roy Williams opened his postgame statements by pointing out that Lawson was receiving an ice treatment.
Meanwhile, Williams might have been hurting as much as his point guard. He caught a misfired pass from North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough in the second half and slammed the ball to the floor on the sideline.
"I wasn't mad at the officials by any means, I was mad at our offense," Williams said. "Two possessions in a row ... and I really jammed the dickens out of my finger here, but sometimes you've got to suck it up and not be a baby."
- HIT THE BOOKS, NOT BOARDS: Hansbrough said he'd be inclined to wait for the scouting report on the Davidson / Kansas winner.
He said he wouldn't be fixated on watching Sunday's Midwest Region final, which produced North Carolina's opponent in Saturday's Final Four semifinals.
"I doubt I'll watch it," Tyler Hansbrough said on the eve of the last regional final. "I'll study, catch up on some stuff."
- MADE FOR MARCH: North Carolina finished 10-0 in the month of March, the best March in school history. In 1957, the Tar Heels won nine consecutive games in March.
-MORE ABOUT LOUISVILLE: Louisville shot 52.7 percent from the field in the defeat, dropping to 80-7 in such situations during the past nine seasons. The Cardinals had been 11-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent until the loss to North Carolina.
Even though Padgett, the Cardinals' scoring leader was held to six points, the senior center posted a career-best six assists against the Tar Heels.
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