RALEIGH, N.C. -- Tyler Hansbrough's face-contorting ferocity on the court and his nickname, "Psycho T," conjure an indelible image, one that presumably would resemble the North Carolina star's persona away from basketball.

As if he's an ogre who breaks plates in half ... just because, said housemate and team manager Preston Puckett.

"Like he's got a two-by-four with nails in it, and he's hitting himself in the head with it," said Tar Heels trainer Jonas Sahratian, who stamped Hansbrough with his nickname after hearing his primal scream during a workout. "Or that he's banging his head against the lockers before he comes out on the court."

But such abandon in crashing the glass doesn't mean Hansbrough eats glass when he's not playing for the Tar Heels, the top seed in the NCAA tournament's East Region.

In fact, he enjoys sushi and shops at Whole Foods. He has gotten past a partiality for scented candles, though he still has a penchant for pedicures and evidently has taken up baking cakes, brownies and cookies with his girlfriend.

"I'll leave that open, but I will tell you this: I have been known to put a cookie or two in the oven while she's gone and bring them home," said Hansbrough, the junior from Poplar Bluff, Mo., who resumes NCAA tournament play tomorrow against fourth-seeded Washington State. "The guys give me trouble about it, but at the end of the day, they've got their cookies and they're happy and I'm happy."

If none of this quite makes him the "delicate flower" that teammate and housemate Bobby Frasor has called him, it's still indicative of a dichotomy in Hansbrough's personality.

"We call him bipolar," joked Frasor, who has lived with Hansbrough for three years.

Said Sahratian: "He kind of is like a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde."

Or a bit like Heckle and Jeckle, the cartoon magpies with identical appearances but decidedly different personalities.

"On the court, he has this tenacious, warrior-type mentality," Sahratian said. "Off the court, he's a 6-foot-8 goofy kid from Poplar Bluff, Mo."

Goofy is the word Hansbrough chooses, too. And it's in some ways apt.

Consider his offerings for a survey in North Carolina's media guide. Favorite video game? "Dance, Dance, Revolution." Talent he has outside basketball? "Rapping."

At Halloween, he was Jason from "Friday the 13th," wearing the facemask he was forced to put on after being clubbed in the nose against Duke last season. His sparse room, Frasor said, consists of nothing but a lamp, a bed, a TV, a dresser and a photo of his mother.

"It shows his dry personality -- or that he doesn't really care," Frasor said, laughing.

But his mother's picture isn't the only presence from home he took to Chapel Hill. He constantly expounds on the town, calling it either "The Bluff" or saying it in full for emphasis: "Poplar Bluff, Missouri."

His hometown's version of table tennis now is favored among Tar Heels players and features losers pulling their shirts over their faces to get smacked in the stomach by a serve from the winner.

"You have to laugh, because he's so dull and serious at one point," Frasor said. "So then you don't expect it at all, but Tyler is a really funny person."

His sense of humor ranges from dopey deadpan statements, intended to probe whether you get the joke, to wordplay that Puckett likens to "a bad sports headline."

"Like stupid things in people's names," chimes in Sahratian, mimicking Hansbrough's voice as he offered an example of someone with the surname "Southern." " 'Oh, I really like that Southern cooking.' "

Hansbrough likes the "Psycho T" nickname and, to a degree, the image it evokes. Enraged as he was in the Duke episode, only 30 minutes after the game he wanted his picture taken, nose plugs and bloody jersey and all.

All that came after a rare demonstration of anger.

While his passion always is evident in his countenance and movement, he virtually never betrays a negative emotion or shows frustration despite being the most fouled player in the nation -- not counting the ones that aren't called. As much as he's perceived as a berserk player, Hansbrough is incredibly disciplined.

"For the abuse he takes, if it was me, my switch would be flipped on a daily basis," Sahratian said. "He's like the Iceman. He can shut it down. I don't know if there are many people who can do that. I don't even know if there are any others besides him who can."

His unique mixture of fury and lightness also can be seen in his uncanny knack of finishing a shot with a delicate touch even as he's being prodded or walloped off-balance.

Said Hansbrough: "It seems like it's kind of one of my special talents."

And one that shows the dual personalities aren't necessarily dueling.