Winston-Salem, N.C. — Tyler Hansbrough was in his element.

The Big Ten is known for tough, physical basketball, and for a decade nobody in that league has thrown more bodies to the floor than Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans.

David J. Phillip/AP (ENLARGE)

Tyler Hansbrough (left), battling Goran Suton, took off his protective mask in the first half.

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Hansbrough, by far the most physical player in the ACC (and he has the broken nose to prove it), first took off the gloves, then took off his mask in Saturday night's

81-67 East Regional victory over Michigan State.

Hansbrough scored 19 points in the first half, finished with 33 to go with nine rebounds and dominated in every conceivable fashion as the top-seeded Tar Heels

(30-7) saw an eight-point halftime lead disappear and then had to hold off the ninth-seeded Spartans in front of a crowd of 14,148 that was overwhelmingly Carolina blue.

North Carolina, playing just an hour from its campus in Chapel Hill, advances to next week's regional semifinals in East Rutherford, N.J.

Hansbrough had been struggling with his offense since March 4, when Duke's Gerald Henderson turned his nose into a bloody mess in a game played in Chapel Hill. Hansbrough was fitted with a cumbersome mask for the ACC tournament, and it clearly affected him as he scored 30 points in three games, almost seven below his average.

Hansbrough was fitted for a new mask that arrived late Wednesday afternoon. He wore it in Thursday's first-round win against Eastern Kentucky, when he had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

The next day, Hansbrough told reporters he would try the mask again, but if he felt good it would come off.

"The doctors have told me that it's safe now, and that it's basically up to me and what makes me comfortable," Hansbrough said.

Hansbrough came out of Saturday's game early. When he reported back to the scorer's table with 13:11 left, he was without the mask. Suddenly, Hansbrough played like a man who had been set free, making 7 of 12 shots and pulling down four rebounds. He scored 15 of his 19 first-half points after the mask came off.

Michigan State (23-12) could not advance despite the presence of Spartans legend Magic Johnson, who led the Spartans to the 1979 national title.

Despite Hansbrough's performance, the game was far from easy for UNC. The Tar Heels led 41-33 at halftime, but the Spartans opened the second half with an 11-2 run to take a 44-43 lead on Goran Suton's layup at the 15:07 mark.

The teams then began to slug it out. Michigan State's Drew Neitzel canned a long 3-pointer to give the Spartans a 54-52 lead, then Hansbrough came back with a thunderous dunk to tie the score at 54 with 9:49 left.

With North Carolina coach Roy Williams shaking his fists and imploring his team to play defense, Neitzel found a way to the basket and scored to give the Spartans a 59-58 lead with just 8:08 left.

But the rest of the game belonged to deeper, more talented Tar Heels as they pulled away from a clearly tired Michigan State team.