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Hansbrough leads UNC to Maui title

Nov 27, 2008 - 6:49 AM LAHAINA, Hawaii (Ticker) -- North Carolina easily survived without Tyler Hansbrough. On Wednesday, it showed how potent the team can be this season when it is at full strength.

Hansbrough scored a season-high 34 points and Ty Lawson added 22 and 11 assists as top-ranked North Carolina won the Maui Invitational title with a 102-87 victory over No. 8 Notre Dame on Wednesday.

Deon Thompson chipped in with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Tar Heels (6-0), who also won the tournament in 1999 and 2004.

After blowing out Chaminade and Oregon on its way to the final, North Carolina seemed much fresher than Notre Dame, which had to fight past No. 7 Texas on Tuesday.

Lawson, who was named the Invitational's Most Valuable Player, scored seven points as the Tar Heels used a 25-9 run to take a 40-26 lead with 3:37 left in the first half.

Notre Dame closed within 46-36 at the break but the Fighting Irish just could not keep up with the quicker, deeper Tar Heels after the intermission.

Hansbrough capped a 10-3 run to extend the lead to 60-43 just five minutes into the second half. The Tar Heels were in control the rest of the way.

Kyle McAlarney did his best to keep Notre Dame (4-1) alive, capping a 14-4 burst with consecutive long 3-pointers to pull within 84-73 with 5:17 remaining, but that would be as close as the Fighting Irish could get.

Hansbrough, who scored 29 points combined in two contests, finished 13-of-19 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Last season's consensus National Player of the Year missed the first three games of his collegiate career with a stress reaction in his right shin.

McAlarney finished with a career-high 39 points, while making a Fighting Irish school-record 10 3-pointers.

Battling an illness, reigning Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody had 13 points and seven rebounds.

North Carolina shot 56 percent (39-of-70) from the field.