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North Carolina continues to outclass the opposition

Dec 18, 2008 - 11:19 AM Evansville (7-1) at No. 1 North Carolina (9-0) 7:00 p.m. EST

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Ticker) -- North Carolina continues to rack up the wins while overpowering the opposition in every facet of the game.

The top-ranked Tar Heels look to remain undefeated on Thursday when they face Evansville.

North Carolina has not been challenged for any period of time, cruising to double-digit wins in all nine games, including contests against then-No. 8 Notre Dame and then-No. 12 Michigan State.

The Tar Heels are second in the nation, averaging 97.3 points per game and are allowing only 68.6 to opponents. North Carolina is tied for fifth, hitting 51.6 percent of its shots from the field, and have scored at least 100 points four times this season while recording 98 on two other occasions.

The Tar Heels' domination is even more impressive considering Tyler Hansbrough, the reigning consensus Player of the Year, has missed four games due to a stress reaction in his right shin.

The senior forward, Hansbrough still leads the team in scoring with 22.8 points per game and is just behind Deon Thompson (7.9) for the rebounding lead with 7.2 boards.

Hansbrough is also likely to become the school's all-time leader in points scored against Evansville. He is currently eight behind Phil Ford's 2,290.

While Evansville is off to a fantastic start and enters this tilt on a four-game win streak, it should be no match for North Carolina.

Shy Ely (16.1 points) and Jason Holsinger (13.6) lead the Aces, who continued their surge with a 72-40 romp of Western Kentucky on Saturday.