CHARLOTTE, NC--The college basketball experiment of what wins out--great defense vs. high octane offense--swung in Washington State's favor for about 11 minutes. Then North Carolina erupted and ended the Cougars' dream season in Charlotte Bobcat Arena with a 68-47 victory in the East Regional Semifinals.

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Tony Bennett reacts to a first half call that went against the Cougars in their Sweet 16 loss to North Carolina.

One of the best players in the country, All-American forward Tyler Hansbrough, woke up after an awful first half to jumpstart the Tar Heels (35-2) in the second half with 16 points. Carolina advanced to the East Regional Finals.

Washington State finished the school's greatest season in modern history with a 26-9 record and the team's only Sweet 16 appearance.

Carolina led at the half 35-21, but the first 11 minutes of the game favored the Cougars' pace as Carolina could not get into their transition offense. The Tar Heels were clearly frustrated and did not show great patience against the disciplined Cougar defense.

Hansbrough was terrible in the first half. Hansbrough didn't score a point until the 1:17 mark of the half when he hit two free throws. He had three of North Carolina's four turnovers in the first six minutes of the game. He finished the half with four turnovers, five rebounds and only two points.

The Cougars couldn't take advantage of the disappearance of Hansbrough as they committed eight turnovers in the first half against Carolina's athletic defense.

The guy guarding Hansbrough played a big role in the Cougs early success. Baynes limited Hansbrough's looks and kept him off the boards throughout the first half. The junior forward from Australia also had two dunks as part of his six points to share the Cougar scoring lead with Kyle Weaver.

Baynes' dunk to make it 15-14 at the 8:43 point saw Carolina respond with a 20-7 run to close out the half, including a dagger three-pointer from Ty Lawson before the buzzer.

Danny Green was a big first half star for the 'Heels, scoring 12 points off the bench to lead all scorers, shooting 5-7 from the field.

WSU only shot 34.6% from the field compared to Carolina's 48.1%. The 'Heels also hit five of their eight three-pointers in the half.

Hansbrough re-appeared with a vengeance at the start of the second half. He scored eight points on 4-6 shooting in the first six-and-a-half minutes of the half to stretch Carolina's lead to 43-27.

Further deflating WSU's chances was Alex Stephenson. Stephenson first blocked Weaver's dunk attempt at the rim then just 13 seconds later volleyball-spiked Weaver's layup attempt into the stands. Stephenson finished the sequence with a turnaround jumper on the other end, Cougar foul and free throw for a 47-27 Carolina lead, their biggest of the game at that point, with 11:45 to play.

WSU cut the Tar Heels' lead to 18 on Weaver's layup, but Green answered with a three-pointer 15 seconds later and the game was essentially over with Carolina leading 58-37.

Baynes fouled out, but scored 14 points to tie for the team-high in points with Derrick Low. Baynes shot 6-8 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds. Low shot 6-16 from the field and only hit two of his nine three-point attempts.

The Cougs struggled putting the ball in the hole, hitting only 31.6% from the field.

Weaver only hit three of his 13 shots for 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Taylor Rochestie and Robbie Cowgill shot a combined 2-15.

The Tar Heels outrebounded the Cougs 42-28 and hit 43.1% from the field.

Green had 15 points while Wayne Ellington had 13 points and Lawson added 12.