GREENSBORO, N.C. – It’s not a huge stretch to call tomorrow’s matchup with No. 1-seeded North Carolina a road game for No. 8-seeded LSU. Greensboro Coliseum isn’t North Carolina’s home court at the Dean Smith Center, but you wouldn’t know that after watching 23,000 blue-clad fans pack the arena for Radford’s Thursday game against the mighty Tar Heels (29-4). In fact, this so-called “neutral” venue holds a larger capacity than the Dean Dome. “We knew it was going to be like this when we found out what bracket we were in,” said LSU senior guard Garrett Temple. “We’re just happy to get past the first game. We know we’ve got a big game ahead of us. It’s going to be like a road game … But the fans can’t win the game.” While that’s true, the Heels may not need the help of their screaming supporters to move past LSU (27-7). North Carolina boasts the Atlantic Coast Conference’s all-time leading scorer in senior forward Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough is just the kind of post player that could wreak havoc on LSU’s undersized post game, as the Tigers are well aware. “There is a comparison. The kid at Kentucky, [Patrick] Patterson is strong and really physical,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “Tyler reminds me of a guy when I was an assistant coach at Stanford by the name of Mark Madsen. What I mean by that is he’s relentless. His effort is there for 40 minutes. He’s a special player.” Senior center Chris Johnson will be tasked with defending Hansbrough, much like he has battled with Patterson, Mississippi State forward Jarvis Varnado and Butler center Matt Howard – with varying degrees of success. If the problem of Hansbrough weren’t enough, Chris Johnson must also worry about the rest of Carolina’s deep post presence of junior and freshman forwards Deon Thompson and Ed Davis. LSU junior forward Tasmin Mitchell said Trent Johnson will give Chris Johnson “the benefit of the doubt,” but he may be switched into the paint to hinder the Tar Heels’ inside offense, just as he did against Butler on Thursday. “I wouldn’t mind guarding [Hansbrough],” Mitchell said. “It really wouldn’t matter to me.” LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton said Chris Johnson won’t need any extra help to hold the Tar Heels. “Tyler Hansbrough is one of the greatest players in the country today. If Chris can’t step up to the plate like he needs to, he doesn’t need to be playing,” Thornton said. “But I have faith in him. He stepped up big [Thursday]. He was a big part of our team [then], and I feel he’ll do it again.” The amount of focus on Hansbrough makes it easy to forget about North Carolina’s other first team All-ACC selection, junior guard Ty Lawson – well, unless you’re a Heels fan. The local media has swirled around North Carolina coach Roy Williams all week with questions about Lawson’s status for Saturday. Lawson jammed his right toe March 8 and has missed three consecutive games for the Tar Heels, including Thursday’s first-round win against Radford. Williams opened his Friday press conference with “I don’t know” as his opening statement – a preparation for the onslaught of Lawson-related questions sure to come his way. “We’re going to have him practice a little, or a lot depending on how well it goes. That will be the first test,” Williams said. “[Friday night] will be the second test because at that point we’ll know if there’s going to be any swelling … it’s going to be a gametime decision more than likely.” Lawson is quite adept at running Williams’ fastbreak, uptempo style of offense, and it bodes well for LSU’s chances if he can’t suit up. “We’re preparing like he’s going to play. In terms of our team and our defensive transition, we played against some extremely quick teams in our league,” Trent Johnson said. “But we took 52 shots versus Butler. Carolina took 44 [against Radford] at the half. So I think our transition defense is going to be tested really good come Saturday evening.” If the Tar Heels do try to run a fast-paced, offensive-minded game – and they almost certainly will – it seems like a favorable matchup for a team as athletic as LSU. But without quality depth in the frontcourt, it could prove important that the Tigers slow the game down. “We might try to slow the game down a little bit. Maybe stay on the offensive side a little more, little longer than usual just so they won’t be able to run out on us,” Temple said. “We can slow the game down. That’s the only way to combat depth without depth of your own.” Trent Johnson, as usual, didn’t give away his gameplan so easily. “We’re going to come out tomorrow, and we’re going to run like hell … we’re going to try to do the things we’ve done all year, honestly,” Trent Johnson said. “But we haven’t played Carolina all year long.” —- Contact David Helman at [email protected]