North Carolina 81, Michigan State 67

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) Tyler Hansbrough tossed away the mask protecting his broken nose and busted up Michigan State.<br/><br/>Top-seeded North Carolina sure did need it's big man to fend off the

Saturday, March 17th 2007, 9:48 pm

By: News On 6

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) Tyler Hansbrough tossed away the mask protecting his broken nose and busted up Michigan State.

Top-seeded North Carolina sure did need it's big man to fend off the Spartans.

The sophomore finished with 33 points and 9 rebounds and Reyshawn Terry knocked down several key baskets down the stretch to help the Tar Heels hold off Michigan State 81-67 Saturday night in the East Regional.

North Carolina is in the round of 16 for the second time in three seasons, and will face the winner of Sunday's Texas-Southern California game next week in East Rutherford, N.J.

Terry scored 12 of his 14 points in the final 7-minutes despite battling an illness for the Tar Heels (30-6), who continued their long-running NCAA success in their home state. North Carolina improved to 21-1 in instate tournament games, including 6-0 in games played here -- home to conference rival Wake Forest.

But even with the crowd essentially giving the Tar Heels a home game, North Carolina didn't put away the ninth-seeded Spartans (23-12) until a late surge.