In the End: Hansbrough has his say

CHAPEL HILL -- Tyler Hansbrough, a reluctant public speaker, woke up yesterday morning not knowing what he would say to his family and 20,000 peripheral friends after his final North Carolina home game.

Coach Roy Williams woke up not knowing whether point guard Ty Lawson could push off on a swollen big toe or make a run at Duke.

Just before dusk, the Tar Heels resolved all the lingering uncertainty, beating the Blue Devils 79-71 and finishing alone at the top of the ACC standings. Carolina, which had clinched a share of first place, nailed down the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament and moved much closer to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tar Heels (27-3, 13-3 ACC) were considered a sure thing five months ago, until Marcus Ginyard's injury and two early league losses revealed certain fallibility. They finally became a sure thing with Hansbrough drifting outside for two 3-pointers and Lawson burrowing through Duke's defensive thicket.

They won the big prize by two games and cut down a net, piece by piece. Later, a reporter asked Williams if Lawson had earned the smaller prize of ACC player of the year.

Williams demurred, saying that he doesn't think in such terms. He also insisted that Lawson had been phenomenal in the tight moments of tough games, a pattern illustrated by his driving layup and accompanying foul shot with about a minute left.

"You throw out those first two games, and what he's done from that point on was incredible," Williams said. "And then I'll say this, too. The big fellow -- I have never coached anybody that had to face as much on the court as he has faced, and he has been awfully impressive. To do the things he has done with two and three guys going at him, and as physical as he has played. I don't know who is player of the year, but if you go beyond those two, I find it hard to believe."

Lawson acknowledged that an upset victory over Hansbrough and Florida State's Toney Douglas at the polls would make him happy but wouldn't mean too much.

"I hope it doesn't go to Duke," Lawson said. "Just nobody from Duke. I hope they don't win it."

It's impossible to know whether his partisan streak accelerated his recovery from a Friday practice injury. Lawson said that he was chasing teammate Mike Copeland down the floor on a breakaway, lost control after they made contact and ran into the basket support, jamming the big toe on his right foot and bruising a knee.

According to Lawson, X-rays revealed a previous break in that toe. He didn't practice Saturday, and Williams said that Lawson couldn't have played then.

Williams presumably toyed with alternate plans, just in case. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski evidently didn't.

"Come on," he said. "You think we had a different game plan? I don't know what his injury was, but I would've been shocked if he hadn't played."

After the diagnosis, Lawson took the same position.

"Once they told me I could get a shot," he emphasized. "I had a shot last year in my hip at the Florida State game, so I knew how it feels. Once they said it wasn't broken -- just painful – and they said I was getting a shot, I knew I was going to play."

Trainers used special tape and put a metal plate in Lawson's right shoe, trying to keep him from bending the toe back. That's how the SpongeBob SquarePants aficionado suddenly became SpongeBob SquareToe.

Duke arrived with a new Lawson antidote, Elliott Williams, a long-armed freshman who merely watched Lawson's dominance last month at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Krzyzewski recently turned to Williams for point-guard defense, freeing Jon Scheyer to direct the offense and deemphasizing veteran point guards Greg Paulus and Nolan Smith.

Scheyer played masterfully against the Tar Heels, hitting all seven field-goal attempts and seven of eight foul shots for 24 points without a turnover.

Lawson refrained from driving much in the first half, sensing that he couldn't jump off his right foot. He reported a little pain and a lot of numbness. "It felt like I had four toes," Lawson said, laughing.

He still had 10 fingers, and in the second half Lawson used them. He penetrated more frequently. He drew fouls and whipped passes outside, most notably to Danny Green, who drilled a significant 3-pointer about three minutes from the end. Lawson finished with 13 points, nine assists, four turnovers and eight rebounds (matching Hansbrough).

Hansbrough opened the afternoon as a mad bomber -- he was disappointed that a third straight 3-pointer rimmed out -- and took care of inside business later. He powered his way to two contested baskets down the stretch and 17 points.

"He's one of the best that has played -- not just here, but in the ACC," Krzyzewski said. "I think when you think of Tyler, you're going to think of warrior. You would never say that there was a possession that he did not play. And he's really good, and it puts him in a really elite class in the history of this conference."

Hansbrough appreciated all the compliments, but he despised getting his fifth foul with 13.8 seconds left.

"I was upset," Hansbrough said. "Coach was going to take me out anyway. I took myself out."

After he helped take Duke out, after he thanked his parents and coaches and teammates during postgame speeches to the crowd, Hansbrough finally relaxed. He smiled easily and talked freely about the special quality of Senior Day against Duke.

"It's the last one," Hansbrough said.

He got real quiet, like the arena he left behind.

■ Lenox Rawlings can be reached at lrawlings@wsjournal.com.