January 7, 2007

SportsTicker

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina -- Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina made their best case for being No. 1 while Florida State fell flat for the third time on the road against a top ten opponent this season.

Thanks to 25 points and 13 rebounds from Hansbrough, No. 2 North Carolina(14-1, 1-0) posted an 84-58 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Florida State despite the efforts of Al Thornton, who countered with 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Seminoles (12-4, 0-2).

Florida State was able to keep it close in the first half going into the locker room only down six, 36-30. The second half though was all Tar Heels as North Carolina outscored FSU, 48-28, to run away with its fifth straight win in the series.

"We just got beat by a team today that has played better than us," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They are a very good basketball team. You have to be at your very best and we have to be executing but it is so difficult when you can't muster an inside attack."

The second half domination was largely due to the ability of Hansbrough, the ACC's Preseason Player of the Year. At the half he had just five points but netted 21 after halftime, finishing 8-of-12 from the floor. It was the seventh time this season that the burly sophomore has posted 20 or more points in a contest.

In addition to Hansbrough, freshman forward Brandan Wright scored 20 points. Reyshawn Terry and reserve Danny Green each collected seven boards for the Tar Heels who should vault to the top of the polls when they are released on Monday afternoon.

Hamilton said his team was simply done in because of its inability to match-up to North Carolina's dominating interior play.

"We didn't have an answer for Wright and Hansbrough," Hamilton said. "They were just too much for us inside. Sometimes you run into two guys who are just superior to our inside guys tonight."

The only other 'Nole who helped in the scoring column was Jason Rich, who added 10 points, all of which came in the first half.

Florida State shot just 34 percent (22-of-64) and fell to 1-4 vs. ranked opponents this season. North Carolina shot 53 percent (33-of-70) and also dominated on the boards out-rebounding the 'Noles 47-35.

Florida State has now lost two straight following an eight-game winning streak. They will return to the court on Saturday when they travel to Atlanta face Georgia Tech at 6:00 P.M.