Tar Heels handle Braves

A Hansbrough-less UNC gets off to a slow start, but eventually pulls away

CHAPEL HILL -- The last time Tyler Hansbrough watched a North Carolina basketball game — instead of playing in it — was when he sat in the stands at St. Louis in 2005, cheering on the Tar Heels as they defeated Illinois for the national championship.

At the time, he was a high school senior.

So it was downright odd to see the reigning National Player of the Year sitting at the end of the bench, a member of UNC’s four-player “suit crew,” as top-ranked Carolina thumped UNC-Pembroke 102-62 in an exhibition game Saturday night. “When they announced the starting lineup, I don’t think he knew where to go,’’ senior Bobby Frasor said.

Hansbrough, who has been sidelined since Oct. 28 with a stress reaction in his right shin, will be re-evaluated Tuesday, coach Roy Williams said. The senior forward was not available for interviews, and it is still unknown whether he will be ready to play when UNC opens the regular season on Saturday against Penn.

If he isn’t, he will be missed — as shown by Saturday’s performance.

With two starters and two reserves sidelined by injuries —Hansbrough (shin), Marcus Ginyard (foot), Michael Copeland (knee) and freshman Justin Watts (knee) — Carolina looked shaky at the outset.

Freshman Tyler Zeller started in place of Hansbrough and Green started in place of Ginyard. The Braves took advantage of the shuffle, shooting to an 8-2 lead.

North Carolina, as should be expected with so much depth and experience, roared back and used a 17-0 run to take a 37-19 lead with 5:06 left in the first half.

Point guard Ty Lawson (14 points, fives assists, six steals) had a couple of steals during the surge, while Wayne Ellington (16 points) had a transition dunk and a 3-pointer.

Leading 44-25 at halftime, UNC dominated Division II UNCP in the second half.

But one glaring stat: The Tar Heels out-rebounded the Braves by just seven, despite the fact that UNCP didn’t start a player taller than 6 feet 5.

“You can even tell in practice, we just play differently when he [Tyler] is not there,” Frasor said. “He posts up harder than a lot of the guys on the team, and a lot of the guys in the country, so you just throw the ball into him, and he’s going to make a play or a score. … He is just a beast on the glass, so a lot of rebounds come from him. So … we’ve got to find someone else to step up there and get rebounds if he and Marcus aren’t going to be out there.”

Forward Deon Thompson led the Tar Heels in rebounding with 10. He added 14 points. Green chipped in 16 points. Cortez Brown led UNCP with 14.

Williams said that Ginyard, who is recovering from foot surgery, still is on track to return in December. The doctors think Watts’ injury is a bone bruise, Williams said, although it is still being evaluated. Copeland is still rehabilitating from surgery to repair a ligament in his knee.

As for Hansbrough, the team is hoping the oddity of having him sidelined won’t last too much longer.

“It’s been weird for me in practice, because he’s only missed 2„ practices in three years,” Williams said. “So it’s really difficult for him; it’s been like nine or 10 days now [that he’s been out], and the only thing we’ve let him do is shoot free throws. I don’t know that the youngster, since he’s gotten here, has ever taken three days in a row off in July, much less right now.”