Hansbrough takes aim at two venerable records

CHAPEL HILL -- Double-teamed in the lane with the ball in his hands, Tyler Hansbrough said he never focuses on getting fouled: "I'm just trying to find a way to make the shot."

Which may explain why the North Carolina forward takes so many of them from the free-throw line.

Hansbrough, a junior All-America, leads the ACC with 117 attempts and 93 made free throws this season, and has already climbed to fifth and fourth, respectively, on UNC's career list in both categories.

He is 522-for-685 over 2 1/3 seasons entering tonight's game against Valparaiso and is on pace to break Lennie Rosenbluth's career records (603 makes, 815 tries) -- set five decades ago.

"It is sort of surprising that they [the records] have stood for so long," Rosenbluth, the star of UNC's undefeated 1957 national championship team, said in a phone interview. "... But then again, to get fouled that much, a lot of things have got to happen -- your teammates have to get you the ball, you have to get double-teamed a lot ... and you can't mind the contact. Tyler, I think he relishes the contact."

Indeed, the highlight of Hansbrough's game is his tenacity, his ability to power through defenders under the basket with a scary single-mindedness.

"There's never a game where I go out and just try to get to the line all the time; it just happens," said Hansbrough, who has attempted 10 or more free throws on 29 occasions in his career.

Foul shots may be a subset of his style, but it takes more than raw force to get to the line. Because he's double-teamed so much, he has had to develop moves and pump fakes, some of which succeed in getting the defender into the air and the whistle to blow.

"He does just such a great job of shielding the ball from the defender and using his body as a big-time barrier between the defender and the ball," said small forward Marcus Ginyard, who is a distant second on the team with 46 free throw attempts. "... He's just stronger and more mentally tough than a lot of people that guard him."

Hansbrough knows how to hold on to the ball in traffic, too, a trait Rosenbluth said the twosome shares.

"I only weighed 175 pounds, but I had strength in my hands, just like he does. No one was going to take the ball away from me -- or from him," Rosenbluth said.

"When there was a lot of slapping [from the defenders] and everything else, if you held on to the ball ... a lot of times you were going to get the call."

And, thus, to the line.

Rosenbluth said he fully expects Hansbrough to keep drawing fouls, to make free throws, and eventually to break his records. He said he hopes it helps lead the junior to another familiar mark in UNC history: a national title.

Hansbrough, meanwhile, said he plans to keep practicing foul shots -- although two-pointers will remain his focus, first. After all, that's what gets him to the line.

"That's just the way I play," he said.