The Tar Heels are out on the court running though warm-ups. They’re sporting their away blue jerseys - which are only slightly lighter than the blue fur on Tennessee’s hound dog mascot (he too is sporting a Jason Ray armband). The UNC contingent has found its seats and is starting to get hyped up. But with the amount of orange in this arena, they’ll be hard-pressed to drown out the Volunteer faithful - who are currently belting out “Rocky Top.”

-The LSU Tiger mascot is not wearing pants. Just a basketball jersey. Does it look awkward? Yes.

-Might the name Epiphanny Prince sound familiar? It did to us, so we asked around, and she’s the girl who scored 100 points in a high school game in Brooklyn, N.Y. She has 7 points so far this game — evidently college is a different level of basketball.

-Ruters coach Vivian Stringer never smiles. She does get credit, however, for taking three different teams — Cheyney State, Iowa and Rutgers — to the Final Four. I should think that such a feat might elicit a grin once in a while, but no luck so far.

-Rutgers has no male cheerleaders.

-Both the LSU Tiger and the Rutgers mascot have, as planned, worn black armbands in honor of Jason Ray. We’re hoping our trusty photographer Lauren Cowart snapped a picture of them so that we can show you the bands in action.

-Brooks and Dunn (sike — Found)

With 8 minutes left in the game, LSU actually has a narrow lead at 9-8 - but that’s just in the second half. Overall they’re still getting lambasted by a score of 45-28. Even with Essence Carson in the locker room nursing a leg injury, LSU can’t catch up to the big red machine. Sylvia Fowles is still nowhere to be found and it looks like the Scarlet Knights are going to run away with this one. Maybe I should’ve one-upped Found and taken a 20-point margin which looks more realistic at this point.

-Brooks and Found

Rutgers’ junior guard Matee Ajavon is lighting it up from all over the court and forward Essence Carson is making it rain from long-range. They’ve combined for 29 of the Scarlet Knights’ 37 and it’s not even halftime yet. The Lady Tigers seem to have no answer for each. Until they start getting the ball to 6-6 center Sylvia Fowles (just 2 points), look for the blowout to continue.

-Brooks and Found

No, he’s not here. LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers played a road game yesterday in Chicago, are playing a road game today in Boston, and will be on the road again on Tuesday for the National Championship, so King James probably won’t show up at The Q (we’re thinking the Cavs could beat the Celtics without him though).

We’re still hoping his pal Ivory Latta will be here.

-Brooks and Found

We’re coming to you live from the Quicken Loans Arena (”The Q”) in downtown Cleveland. Your faithful friendly senior writers, Matt Brooks and Gregg Found, just got to our press row seats for the first Final Four matchup between Rutgers and LSU.

We’d love to tell you all about Cleveland and whether it does, in fact, rock, but we arrived last last night and have been holed up in our hotel room all morning working on a class assignment (thanks, Tim Crothers).

Anyways, the battle of the fans here in Cleveland seems to have been won by Tennessee, who is far outnumbering the other three schools. Of course, the Volunteers have had practice showing up to a lot of Final Fours. There’s been a lot of pale orange that we’ve seen, and most of the UT fans are already in their seats at the start of the first game. The Carolina contingent is hard to measure so far…Brooks says it’s either really weak or just hasn’t shown up yet. We’ll let you know what it looks like for UNC’s game.

Predictions for this first semifinal game: Brooks says Rutgers by 5, Found says Rutgers by 15.

Of course, that’s assuming we make it to the end of the game. During the announcement of each team’s starting lineups, a blast of fire streamed from the Jumbotron for every player announced. Our cheeks are still a little warm, and we’re worried that any more pyrotechnics might have our faces melting off.

-Brooks and Found

No. 1 seed North Carolina vs. No. 2 seed Georgetown

Tipoff: 5:05 p.m.

Guards: Jonathan Wallace vs. Ty Lawson

Lawson has really stepped up in the postseason. Even though he only had four points against Southern California, Lawson did not come out the entire second half. Wallace is the third leading scorer for the Hoyas with 10.9 points a game, but like most guards this season, won’t be able to compete with Lawson’s speed.

EDGE: Lawson

Guards: Jessie Sapp vs. Wayne Ellington

Sapp averages the lowest points among the starters with 8.9 but leads the team in assists with 116. Ellington, on the other hand, can get hot quickly and is UNC’s third-leading scorer with 11.9 point per game. The freshman has one of the smoothest shots in the country and if he’s making baskets it only means good things for the Tar Heels.

EDGE: Ellington

Forwards: DaJuan Summers vs. Marcus Ginyard

Ginyard will probably getting the starting nod again over Reyshawn Terry, who is still not 100 percent after getting strep throat this week. Ginyard had one of the best performances of his career in the win against USC and his leadership (and defense) is key for the Tar Heels. Summers averages nine points and 3.7 boards a game.

EDGE: Ginyard

Forwards: Jeff Green vs. Brandan Wright

This will be a tough matchup for the UNC freshman. Green is the Big East player of the year who averages a team-high 14.2 points as well as 6.1 rebounds a game. He didn’t come out against Vanderbilt and hit the game winning shot with 2.5 seconds left. Wright had an almost flawless performance against USC and it will be interesting to see if that momentum carries over into this game.

EDGE: Green

Center: Roy Hibbert vs. Tyler Hansbrough

This matchup could end up being a classic between two of the best big men in the country. Hibbert is 7-foot-2 and his 12 point, 10 rebound performance was a large reason for Georgetown’s comeback win against Vanderbilt. Hansbrough had one of the worst games of his career against USC and will be looking to rebound Sunday. Hibbert has the size advantage but it will be hard to outwork Hansbrough inside.

EDGE: Hibbert

Botttom Line: UNC 78 Georgetown 75

-Compiled by Briana Gorman

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – It’s warm and sunny (seriously) here in scenic North Jersey, as we enter the exciting between-games press conference day. As has been the case for much of the week, Reyshawn Terry’s health remains a big topic of discussion. He likely won’t start again Sunday against Georgetown (5:05 p.m., CBS), but he’s working his way back into playing shape after battling strep throat. Terry wasn’t able to eat for six days, getting his first real meal Thursday. As a result, the senior forward lost about 10 pounds. “I’ve never been this sick before ever, to the point where I lost so much weight,” Terry said. But he claims he hasn’t lost any strength. “Naw, I did some pushups yesterday and I still had it,” he said.

Terry clearly was winded last night against USC, but still put up an incredibly efficient nine points in five minutes. Yet, of course, Roy Williams still had to chide the senior for a poor defensive play. “It affected his brain, too, because one time he’s complaining at the official about getting fouled when he missed the jump shot from the far corner in front of our bench while his guy was scoring at the other end,” Williams said. “His tank was out and I emptied it when he did that because I brought his tail over to sit with me the rest of the night.”

…

In other news, if you too the over in the “How many times will the 1982 national championship game be mentioned” pool, you would be in the money. The actual total was nine bazillion times that game was brought up – even though not a single player on either team was alive when it happened. Ol’ Roy was happy to oblige with stories about Michael and James and Coach Smith, but even he was getting kind of irritated with the fixation on a game that had no bearing on tomorrow’s contest. “You guys are really playing this rematch up really big,” Williams said after the fifth 1982 question. “I thought it was this year’s teams, North Carolina against Georgetown.” Alas, for the history buffs that read the blog, you should know that Williams kept a Snickers bar in his pocket for good luck during the Tournament, that Smith stayed remarkably calm in the closing minutes, and none of the Carolina players know anything about the game or that season other than Michael Jordan hitting a fairly significant 17-footer.

…

One more humorous note, Wes Miller – at the ripe old age of 24 – gets a lot of ribbing for being the old man on the team. And there are times when he really feels that way. Take it away, Wes:

“In the summer, the freshman just arrived, and I walked into the locker room and I see Alex Stepheson sitting there with a Batman backpack on. And I asked him if that was a joke and he said, ‘No, I’m dead serious. I love Batman.’ I had to pause for a second, and I still thought he was joking. And after I saw him wear it for the next like three or four days in a row I think I realized he was dead serious, that he idolized Batman. And I realized that maybe I’m a little too old for this.”

So there you have it, Alex Stepheson references in consecutive blog posts, even though he has played a grand total of one minute in the Dirty Jerz so far. That’s all for now, stay tuned for Briana’s breakdown of the Georgetown game and I’ll check in tomorrow.

-Daniel Malloy

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – It’s now the wee hours of Saturday morning here in scenic North Jersey, and the North Carolina basketball team is still alive in this NCAA Tournament, thanks to a stirring comeback and a 74-64 victory against Southern Cal. Officials are still checking USC’s basket for a lid, as the Trojans scored five points in the final 11:16 of the game. No, that’s not a misprint. USC went cold and the Tar Heels started running. And, at this point in the season, everybody knows what happens when the UNC fast break gets going.

See Briana’s brilliant game story on the front page of the Web site for all the details. My job is color, so we start with Overheard in Continental Airlines Arena:

1. Vanderbilt fan: “What’s a Tar Heel?”

UNC Cheerleader: “It’s a long story.”

2. (On their way to the postgame interview podium) Marcus Ginyard: “I’m just going to say, ‘Yeah, what Brandan (Wright) said.’”

3. (In the cheery UNC locker room) Dewey Burke: “Don’t get too close to Alex (Stepheson). He might get angry.”

Stepheson (with a wide smile): “I might snap.”

Here’s a fun stat I found while flipping through the NCAA media guide. North Carolina is third all time in tournament win percentage. Through Friday, they are 92-37 in NCAA play, a .713 clip. The second-ranked team is UCLA with a .739 tourney batting average, and No. 1 is Duke. Despite the Devils’ first round loss this year to VCU, they still top the charts with .752 (85 wins and 28 losses).

One other sidenote: Besides Nick Young, Southern Cal’s most dynamic contribution to the East Regionals was definitely the USC Song Girls. I mean, wow. Combine them with the Laguna Beach girls and there really is no reason not to move to SoCal.

Oh right, basketball. Briana took care of the nightcap, so I’ll do some thoughts on game one. Georgetown scored a memorable 66-65 victory against Vanderbilt, thanks to Big East Player of the Year Jeff Green’s turnaround bank shot with 2.5 seconds to go. From my seat in the opposite corner, it looked like a pretty legit play but upon viewing the magic of replay, I’m siding with the vociferous Vandy fans that it was a travel. Green clearly switched pivot feet before hoisting the game-winning bucket. Of course, that is a nearly impossible call to make, especially at the end of a game when the refs are supposed to swallow their whistles.

Lost in the whining were the true keys to the Georgetown game – as the Hoyas came back from a 13-point first half deficit. No. 1 was Sylvia Hatchell’s favorite stat: rebounding. Georgetown outrebounded Vandy 40-26, which included 16 offensive boards. The Hoyas weren’t shooting well, but when they were getting two or three chances a possession, they were able to put the ball in the hole just enough to win. The Commodores also lost their shooting touch late in the game. After scorching the Hoyas to the tune of six 3-pointers in the first half, they cooled in the second. The most damning stat: the Commodores failed to make a field goal after Hoya center Roy Hibbert fouled out with four minutes to play. (That last stat was courtesy of DTH class of ’05 Dan Blank, a Jersey native who is here freelancing for the High Point Enterprise. Thanks, Dan.) Ergo, jump shooting and rebounding were more important than Green’s happy feet.

That’s all for now, check back tomorrow for scintillating details from the between games media hypefest. Over-under on how many times the 1982 Georgetown-Carolina NCAA title game is mentioned: eight bazillion.

-Daniel Malloy

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The view from the eighth floor of the Sheraton Hotel Meadowlands is a breathtaking scene: low-hanging gray clouds, a giant field of brown grass and the New Jersey Turnpike, stretching into oblivion. But I figured I should take a break from enjoying the scene to throw up some more blog material as we wait for the games to get underway this evening. I promised I would sample the North Jersey nightlife, and it was spectacular.

Me, Briana Gorman, photographer Logan Price and a bunch of UNC beat writers decided to go out for a bite to eat last night and – being sportswriters – we chose a place called “Manny’s Sports Restaurant.” Seemed like a decent place to grab a bite and check out the NCAA tourney action. Once we got there, we realized it was so much more. Turns out Manny’s has a karaoke night on Thursdays, which gave some of North Jersey’s finest – and trashiest – singers the chance to show off their stuff. Truly, it was a magical display. From the 70-year-old lady with the tambourine to the gray-haired dude wearing a T-shirt and a gold chain, we had several potential American Idols in the room.

Of course, our group had to join into the fun, seeing as the UNC beat writer troupe is loaded with singing talent. And, let me be perfectly honest, we tore the house down. Among the favorites were Dan Wiederer, of the Fayetteville Observer, singing Eddie Murphy’s “Party all the Time” and Bret Strelow, of the Salisbury Post, doing a brilliant rendition of R. Kelly’s “Bump N’ Grind” – much to the delight of the aforementioned tambourine lady.

The DTH crew even got in on the act: Briana brought the house down with sing-along favorite “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, and I earned rave reviews for “I Touch Myself” by the Divinyls. (I am not making this up.) If this is a standard Jersey Thursday night, I’m definitely moving here after graduation.

-Daniel Malloy