CHARLOTTE - Without a field goal in the first 20 minutes, forward Tyler Hansbrough went into halftime thankful for his North Carolina teammates and a 14-point lead. He also made a promise.

"I'm going to come out and play my game better," Hansbrough told his teammates at halftime. "You guys just keep playing your game."

Hansbrough made good on his word with 16 second-half points to finish with a game-high 18 in UNC's 68-47 victory.

"[My teammates] knew I'd come around for them," Hansbrough said.

Not that they had any doubts.

Defended by mammoth Washington State forward Aron Baynes, who is listed at 6 feet 10 and 270 pounds, and double-teamed in the post almost every time he touched the ball, Hansbrough had little room to operate in the first half.

"[Baynes] is huge," guard Wayne Ellington said. "We were talking about that during the game."

Even Psycho-T, who looked slender in comparison at 6-9 and 250, couldn't remember being bodied up by so much mass and muscle in one body.

"He was really strong," Hansbrough said. "It's hard to get position on someone that strong. When the double-team came over, I just had to kick it back out."

To fill Hansbrough's scoring void -- he leads the Tar Heels with a 22.8 average -- UNC went outside. Once the Cougars' inside pressure relented in the second half, Hansbrough got his points.

"Coach just told me to keep shooting," Hansbrough said.

Hansbrough shot 6-for-11 in the second half, after an 0-for-4 start. He didn't score a point until hitting two free throws with 1:17 left in the first half. He has scored in double figures in every game this season. His season-low was 12 at Clemson on Jan. 6.

DISAPPOINTING FINALE: Washington State seniors Robbie Cowgill, Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver ended their college careers with back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and the school's first trip to the round of 16.

Coach Tony Bennett thanked his seniors for helping build a program that had been to the NCAA Tournament only three times before their arrival.

"What a run for their careers," Bennett said. "They came in when nobody wanted to give us the time of day, and they went through a lot to get our program where it's at."

The trio of seniors wouldn't mind a do-over. They combined to make 10 of 36 shots. Cowgill, who was left open for most of the first half, was just 1-for-7.

THIRTY-FIVE AND COUNTING: Thursday was UNC's 35th win of the season, a school record.

The 1993 national championship team and 1998 Final Four team each won 34 games.

UNC's three other national title teams won 32 (in 1982 and 1957) and 33 (in 2005).