Charlotte, NC -- (Sports Network) - Tyler Hansbrough had 28 points and 13 rebounds, and dominated down the stretch as North Carolina moved to the Final Four by pulling away late for an 83-73 victory over Louisville in the East Regional final of the NCAA Tournament.

Wayne Ellington chipped in with 13 points for the top-seeded Tar Heels (36-2), who will play either Kansas or Davidson next Saturday in San Antonio. The Jayhawks and Wildcats play on Sunday in the Midwest Regional final.

Ty Lawson and Danny Green each scored 11, and Deon Thompson had 10 points for North Carolina, which won its 15th straight game and continued its push to possibly winning its second title in four years. The Tar Heels, who beat Illinois in the 2005 championship game, lost in overtime to Georgetown in the East Regional final last year, but now have advanced to their 17th Final Four. That's one behind UCLA all-time, although the Bruins do officially have 17 Final Fours since their 1980 appearance was wiped out due to NCAA violations.

The Bruins made it to San Antonio with a 76-57 win over Xavier on Saturday in the West Regional final.

"I'm ecstatic for this club right now to be going to San Antonio and enjoy what's going on, and enjoy the accomplishments that they have made," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said.

Jerry Smith led the way with 17 points for third-seeded Louisville (27-9), which failed in its bid to reach the Final Four for the ninth time. Coach Rick Pitino has been to five Final Fours, including leading the Cardinals there in 2005 in their last Final Four appearance. The Cardinals fell to 8-2 in regional championship games. Additionally, Louisville is 3-10 all-time when facing No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

"We played exactly the way we needed to play to beat them," Pitino said. "We tied it up, had a chance to win, and they overpowered us down the stretch."

It was a double dose of defeats to North Carolina for the Cardinals on Saturday, as the women's team suffered a 78-74 loss to the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament's New Orleans Regional semifinals.

Earl Clark's free throw tied the game at 59 midway through the second half for Louisville, but Hansbrough responded with a layup and a jumper, and the Tar Heels led the rest of the way.

David Padgett made two from the line for Louisville, cutting the deficit to 66-64 inside of seven minutes, but Thompson moved in for a layup and Lawson hit a big three-pointer from the left corner for a 71-64 advantage.

Clark came back with a jumper with 3:52 left, but Hansbrough then took over. He canned a jumper from near the top of the circle, and after Clark traveled, Hansbrough used a pump fake and hit another shot, this one from the left wing with 1:35 left, with the shot clock about the expire no less, for an insurmountable 75-66 lead. Lawson's two free throws with a minute left capped the string of six consecutive points.

"Tyler is a big-time player obviously," Tar Heels guard Marcus Ginyard said. "So you've got to find a way to give a player like that the ball to give him the opportunity to make those big-time shots like that. It says even more about Tyler, the fact that he's ready and the opportunity presents itself, he's there and he's got the guts to knock the shot down."

Terrence Williams scored 14, while Clark tallied 12 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals. Edgar Sosa also had 12 points.

Ginyard's layup culminated a streak of eight straight points for the Tar Heels, as they went ahead 14-9. Ellington's layup expanded the spread to 25-15 with 8:11 remaining in the half. UNC equaled its largest lead of the half, going into the break with a 44-32 advantage, thanks to a layup by Alex Stepheson in the final minute.

"We came out after halftime and I thought we dug in and slowly chipped away at the lead and tied it up, but it's tough when you dig yourself a hole like that," Padgett said. "But I thought our guys did a good job of battling back in and not giving up and trying to get out of here with a win. They were just a better basketball team."

The Cardinals never managed to go ahead in the final 20 minutes, but a 19-8 run cut the deficit to 56-55 on Smith's three-ball with 11:44 remaining.

However, unlike last year when the Tar Heels blew an 11-point lead in the second half before losing to Georgetown, UNC held its ground on Saturday.

"One thing about tonight there was that point where they went on that run and I think the difference this year is we handled that run better and stayed poise and came back," Hansbrough said. "Got some points and kept fighting back until eventually we had a run."

Should the Jayhawks win on Sunday, Williams would face a team he coached for 15 seasons, but never winning the NCAA Tournament until he got to guide his alma mater.

"I have the greatest love for a place I gave my heart, body and soul for 15 years," Williams said of Kansas. "I have no idea what my emotions are going to be. I know when I was at Kansas and we played North Carolina in '93 and '94. I said I hated it, but if I was ever going to play North Carolina and Coach (Dean) Smith, I wanted it to be at the Final Four."

Game Notes:

Hansbrough was 12-of-17 from the field... Both teams shot the ball well, with Louisville ending at a 52.7 percent mark and UNC at 53.4 percent...Lawson also had nine assists...Clark had seven of Louisville's 19 turnovers... The Tar Heels are 25-1 in NCAA Tournament games played in the state of North Carolina...Louisville and North Carolina met for the 11th time ever, with the Tar Heels holding an 8-3 advantage. Saturday's game was the fourth meeting between the two schools in the NCAA Tournament, with UNC holding a 3-1 edge.