CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? The way North Carolina is playing defense lately, its offense doesn’t really need to reach triple figures to win games.
Then again, these up-tempo Tar Heels aren’t about to revert to Dean Smith’s four-corners system, either.
“Just because we’re playing good ‘D,’ I don’t think coach (Roy Williams) wants us to hold the ball,” Tyler Hansbrough said. “We’re an up-and-down team, and that’s what coach wants us to do.”
Hansbrough and Reyshawn Terry scored 19 points apiece, and No. 2 North Carolina routed Pennsylvania, 102-64, on Wednesday night for its 10th straight victory.
Penn entered with the Ivy League’s most productive offense, but the Quakers wound up being no match for a North Carolina defense which hasn’t allowed a team to score 70 points since No. 6 Ohio State had 89 on Nov. 29, a span of eight games.
“You want to stay away from turnovers and low field-goal percentage against this team because they get out in transition and convert better than anybody in the United States,” Penn coach Glen Miller said.
The Tar Heels turned up the pressure on the Quakers’ backdoor cutters and patient scheme, forcing them into 21 turnovers, scoring 31 points off those miscues and reaching the 100-point mark for the fifth time this season.
“I never thought (playing pressure defense) would lose a game for me,” Williams said. “You can put pressure on the ball, which makes that pass be off just a little bit.
“Over the course of the game, they did turn it over a couple of times. We got a couple of those.”
Wayne Ellington scored 17 points, and fellow freshman Brandan Wright added 12 for North Carolina (13-1), which fell behind by 10 early but used a 27-4 run late in the first half to take command against the Quakers (6-6).
Ibrahim Jaaber scored 21 points in his second straight big game for Penn, which has lost four of six.
Ellington came up two points shy of his career high of 19 set against Gardner-Webb and matched against Ohio State.
The Tar Heels remained perfect since Gonzaga gave them their only loss of the season Nov. 22 in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
North Carolina finished its home nonconference schedule 9-0, with its Jan. 27 game at No. 7 Arizona the last remaining game outside the Atlantic Coast Conference until tournament time.
No. 17 Notre Dame 78, Louisville 62
South Bend, Ind. – Russell Carter scored 19 points, and Luke Harangody added 15 to help Notre Dame beat Louisville in the Big East opener for both teams. Freshman point guard Tory Jackson added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists in his second career start for the Irish (13-1).
No. 20 Air Force 81, Colorado State 75
Fort Collins, Colo. – Dan Nwaelele led a balanced offense with 22 points, and Air Force beat Colorado State for its 10th straight victory. Jacob Burtschi and Tim Anderson each added 17 points for Air Force (14-1, 1-0 Mountain West Conference).
No. 23 Clemson 68, Florida State 66
Tallahassee, Fla. – Cliff Hammonds’ layup with three seconds left lifted Clemson past Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both schools.
No. 25 West Virginia 67, Villanova 56
Morgantown, W.Va. – Frank Young scored a career-high 25 points for West Virginia. Young’s eight three-pointers also were a career high. Joe Alexander scored 16 points and Alex Ruoff added 11 for the Mountaineers (12-1, 2-0 Big East).