Associated Press
The NCAA Tournament notebook …Tyler Hansbrough didn’t set any new records in Saturday night’s 83-69 win against Villanova in the Final Four, but he did move past a notable name on the list of NCAA’s best scorers: Larry Bird.
Hansbrough’s 18 points gave him 2,854 points, moving him past the former Indiana State star and NBA Hall of Famer for 12th all-time.
“Larry Bird is probably one of my favorite players ever,” Hansbrough said. “To be honest with you, I’m kind of thrilled I passed him because of what he’s done, not just for college basketball, but for all of basketball.”
There isn’t much left statistically for the senior to accomplish heading into today’s national championship game against Michigan State. Earlier this year, he became the career scoring leader in the ACC, the school’s career rebounding leader and the NCAA’s all-time leader in made free throws.
As for NCAA tournament scoring, Hansbrough’s 307 points rank sixth behind Michigan’s Glen Rice (308), Cincinnati’s Oscar Robertson (324) and Kansas’ Danny Manning (328).
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CAN’T WIN: North Carolina’s current players have found themselves at a disadvantage in pickup games against Tar Heels from the 2005 national championship team.
The reason? Owning a national championship ring has its privileges.
“They call these crazy calls, fouls and stuff against us,” junior Wayne Ellington said. “We can’t say anything, because every time we say something to them, they say, ‘You can’t talk until you get a banner up there.”‘
Ellington said two of the worst offenders have been Sean May, the most outstanding player of the Final Four that year and a player with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, and Melvin Scott, a reserve on the ’05 team.
“Those guys come back and they talk about the memories they have and how much fun they had and how exciting it is,” Ellington said. “We want to have that feeling. We want to be a part of something like that.”
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GOVERNORS’ WAGERS: Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue have placed a friendly wager on the outcome of the NCAA men’s basketball championship game.
Michigan State plays North Carolina for the national title Monday night at Ford Field in Detroit.
Granholm and Perdue have agreed the losing governor must be photographed enjoying tasty treats from the winning state while wearing the winning team’s jersey and hat ó and the photo must be publicly released.
The governor of the losing team also will donate $100 to a local food bank in the winning team’s state.
Granholm said in a statement Sunday night the Spartans have given Michigan a “great gift” and thanked them for “uplifting our entire state and for giving us hope.”
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RATINGS: Television ratings for the Final Four are up 7 percent from last year.
Overnight ratings released Sunday show CBS earned a 9.0 rating and 18 share for the national semifinals, up from an 8.4 rating and 16 share.
Michigan State’s home-state win against Connecticut in the first game drew an 8.7 rating and 18 share, up 12 percent from last year’s UCLA-Memphis game. North Carolina’s win against Villanova drew a 9.3 rating and 17 share, up 2 percent from last year’s Kansas-North Carolina game.
CBS’ overall rating for the NCAA tournament is 6.1 with a 13 share, up 7 percent from last year.
A ratings point represents 1,096,000 households, 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 109.6 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of all TV sets in use at the time.
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HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE: Considering the way the city and state have embraced coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans, they might have the biggest home-court advantage in the history of the Final Four. It extends all the way to the floor beneath their feet.
The hardwood court at Ford Field was made at a mill in Amasa, Mich., some 40 miles from the Iron Mountain town in the Upper Peninsula where Izzo grew up.
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LOTS OF GREEN, AND WHITE? Ford Field is expected to be filled with green-clad fans, and about 4 inches of the white stuff is expected to blanket the Motor City by tipoff.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning, in effect from 11 p.m. Sunday to 8 p.m. today, because of heavy snow and 30-plus mph wind gusts.