Ellington and Green are keys for Tar Heels

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Wayne Ellington and Danny Green can see it coming.

With every pass in North Carolina’s halfcourt offense, they know defenders are trying to closely watch them and All-American teammate Tyler Hansbrough in the paint. Sooner or later, the ball will go inside and attract the swarming attention of the defense, leaving them open for a fleeting moment on the perimeter when the ball comes back out.

As the Tar Heels prepare to face Kansas in the Final Four Saturday night, they need Ellington and Green to do something with those looks to ease the pressure on Hansbrough.

When they’re hitting from outside on everything from kickouts to transition 3-pointers the Tar Heels (36-2) have been hard to slow.

When they’re not, such as against Maryland and Duke, North Carolina has looked out of rhythm and suffered its only losses.

“Going into the game, there’s so much excitement and so much adrenaline pumping,” Ellington said. “But once the ball is thrown up in the air, I think things will be back to normal. We’ve all been on some pretty big stages before.”