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Hansbrough sets record as North Carolina rolls

Dec 19, 2008 - 5:06 AM CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Ticker) -- On the road to what could be an extremely successful season, Tyler Hansbrough made North Carolina history on Thursday.

Hansbrough had 20 points and nine rebounds, becoming the school's all-time leading scorer as top-ranked North Carolina cruised by Evansville, 91-73, on Thursday.

Entering the game, the senior needed nine points to pass Phil Ford, who totaled 2,290 from 1974-78, and Hansbrough set the mark with a turnaround shot in the lane with 7:45 left in the first half.

"I was happy it was over with," Hansbrough said. "I didn't really think about it much before until a couple games ago when someone mentioned it to me. I hadn't really been keeping up with it until everybody started talking about it. I was just tried to get it over with so we could move on.

"When you play here you have a lot of respect for the guys that have kind of been there and done a lot. It meant a lot to me."

He shot 7-of-14 from the floor to register his 61st career 20-point game. Hansbrough now has 2,302 points in his career.

"One thing for me was that I'm not usually nervous before games and I was a little nervous before tonight just because I felt like there was a lot of pressure," the senior said.

"And one thing for me was I didn't want to strictly focus on trying to break the scoring record. We had a game and I was trying to do whatever I could do to help the team. Whenever it did happen, I was thrilled and excited it was over with, but also felt very honored."

Ty Lawson added 16 points and six assists and Danny Green chipped in 14 for the Tar Heels (10-0), who have won all 10 of their games by at least 15 points.

Hansbrough scored the Tar Heels' first six points but the Aces hung around early on as North Carolina seemed distracted by getting its senior the record.

"I thought we came out of the gates really aggressive," Evansville coach Marty Simmons said. "We played really hard and I am really proud of them. (The Tar Heels) are such an impressive team. From an offensive standpoint, they spread it out and play fast."

After staying tied with Ford for a number of minutes, Hansbrough's record-breaker gave North Carolina a 24-18 lead and helped relieve some of the pressure off the Tar Heels. The contest was paused as the Smith Center gave Hansbrough a standing ovation.

"It was a great night for us to see a historic night in Carolina basketball," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said.

"It's a thrill for me to be sitting up here at this table with Tyler Hansbrough and Phil Ford. I think if you talk about North Carolina basketball tomorrow or 25 years from now, you'll still be talking about these two guys. Now, there'll be some other guys in the conversation - I'm not saying that there won't be. These two guys here are what North Carolina basketball stands for."

North Carolina later went on a 15-2 run late in the first half to take a 43-24 bulge with 1:25 remaining. The Tar Heels held a 46-28 advantage at the break.

Green and Lawson each made a 3-pointer as North Carolina went on an 8-1 run to open the second half and take a 54-29 lead less than two minutes into the session.

Evansville got within 16 with 15:02 left but North Carolina pushed the advantage back up to 74-48 with nine minutes to play and cruised to the finish.

Shy Ely scored 23 points to pace the Aces (7-2), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.