UNC rips College of Charleston

North Carolina bounced back with a vengeance last night from its first loss of the season, thumping College of Charleston at the Smith Center in its last nonconference game of the year.

UNC won 108-70, led by Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson. Playing with determination and drive, UNC blew the game open in the first 12 minutes after halftime by surging to a 92-54 lead.

Tough, aggressive defense helped UNC go on a 39-13 scoring run to take the big lead with 8:09 left. Almost everything was working for UNC after halftime, and was working well no matter what Coach Bobby Cremins of College of Charleston tried in his first game back in the building in almost nine years.

Forward Danny Green said that the players were intent on getting rid of the bitter memory of Sunday's 85-78 loss to Boston College in their ACC opener.

"I wouldn't say ‘angry' is the word; more hungry, I guess, than anything," Green said. "Guys were hungry. They wanted to play. We had a lot more energy. We kind of wanted to make a statement that we're still a good team."

Hansbrough and Deon Thompson scored repeatedly inside. Hansbrough scored 11 points in the decisive run: He hit jump shots, he dunked, and on one play he grabbed a rebound, headed up floor, had no teammate to pass to, and drove for the basket when no defender cut off a lane for a layup and 70-46 lead.

Coach Roy Williams of UNC saw significant improvement in his team in three days' time since the Boston College loss, but said that more is needed.

"Needless to say we feel a lot better than we did Sunday," Williams said. "Everything feels a lot better."

UNC improved to 14-1 and will play its first ACC road game of the season Sunday at Wake Forest. College of Charleston fell to 10-3.

Hansbrough led UNC with 24 points. He made 10 of 13 shots from the field and grabbed seven rebounds. UNC's starting lineup combined for 78 points and made 30 of 48 shots.

"I think Deon was much more involved," Williams said. "Tyler was much more involved. I think our whole team was."

College of Charleston was led by Tony White Jr. with 16 points. Andrew Goudelock was held to eight points after averaging 22.5 points in the three previous games.

UNC played without senior forward Marcus Ginyard. Ginyard dressed, but Williams chose to not play him to give him a day off to help his left foot, which is recovering from surgery to correct a stress fracture.

UNC had to survive a 3-point shot barrage by College of Charleston in the first half to take a 53-41 lead at halftime. UNC opened the second half by making its first five shots and generating an 11-0 run for a 23-point lead.

Wayne Ellington opened the half by nailing a 3-pointer at the top of the key. Lawson added an 18-foot jumper and Hansbrough then scored on a spinning layup, started after catching a pass from Green for a 60-41 advantage.

Cremins called a timeout with 18:39 left after Hansbrough's basket but his team could not recover. College of Charleston missed its next two shots and UNC scored two more baskets.

Green dunked on a drive on the right baseline, after catching a lob pass from Lawson, who was on the run when the ball left his hands. Ellington then scored at the end of another break. College of Charleston couldn't mount a threat in the final 17:45.

UNC's defense cut off College of Charleston's shooting after halftime when Williams went mostly to a straight man-for-man with little help from offside defenders. College of Charleston trumped UNC's defense in the first when its big men passed the ball outside to shooters, who made eight 3-pointers.

College of Charleston made only two of 15 3-point attempts after halftime. It shot 21.6 percent from the field overall in the second half, making only eight of 37 shots. UNC forged a 47-26 rebounding advantage and almost every rebound after halftime fed a break.

"In the first half for some reason we were away from what we had practiced yesterday and they ended up getting open 3s and they made them," Williams said. "Our defense was better in the second half but they missed shots, too. It wasn't all our defense."

■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON -- Johnson 3-7 1-2 7, Scott 2-3 0-0 5, Wiggins 5-13 0-0 12, Goudelock 3-14 0-0 8, White Jr. 4-11 4-4 16, Sundberg 2-5 0-0 5, Monroe 3-10 6-7 12, Hammond 0-3 3-3 3, Pugh 0-1 0-0 0, Campbell 1-1 0-0 2, Turok 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-69 14-16 70.

NORTH CAROLINA -- Green 6-10 0-0 14, Thompson 5-11 5-6 15, Hansbrough 10-13 4-6 24, Ellington 3-5 2-2 10, Lawson 6-9 2-2 15, Davis 2-4 4-4 8, Graves 2-3 0-0 4, Frasor 3-5 0-0 8, Drew II 2-3 0-0 4, Copeland 0-1 2-2 2, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner 1-2 0-0 2, Watts 0-2 0-0 0, Wooten 0-0 0-0 0, Moody 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 41-70 19-22 108.

Halftime--North Carolina 53-41. 3-Point Goals--College of Charleston 10-33 (White Jr. 4-10, Goudelock 2-7, Wiggins 2-8, Scott 1-1, Sundberg 1-3, Monroe 0-2, Hammond 0-2), North Carolina 7-15 (Ellington 2-3, Frasor 2-3, Green 2-4, Lawson 1-1, Drew II 0-1, Tanner 0-1, Watts 0-1, Graves 0-1). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--College of Charleston 26 (Johnson 6), North Carolina 47 (Davis, Hansbrough 7). Assists--College of Charleston 10 (Johnson, Scott, Wiggins 2), North Carolina 25 (Lawson 8). Total Fouls--College of Charleston 16, North Carolina 13. A--20,543.