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Hansbrough, UNC rout lowly Georgia Tech

Feb 28, 2009 - 11:20 PM CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Ticker) -- After stewing over a heartbreaking loss for the past week, Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina took out their frustration on the worst team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Hansbrough scored 28 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and entered his name in the NCAA record book Saturday afternoon as the fifth-ranked Tar Heels overcame a slow start to crush lowly Georgia Tech, 104-74.

Danny Green added 23 points for North Carolina (25-3, 11-3 ACC), which had not played since last Saturday's overtime loss at Maryland. The Tar Heels squandered a 16-point deficit against the Terrapins, who ended UNC's 10-game winning streak.

"I think this whole team was kind of miserable for a week following the Maryland game," Hansbrough said. "It was frustrating; we didn't do the things we wanted to defensively or play smart towards the end of the game, and we worked on that in practice."

"We just didn't play our game last week," Green added. "Today we were hitting some more shots. Guys were sharing the ball, passing the ball around. If we play like that, I feel like we have a good chance of being a good team."

Hansbrough shot 10-of-13 from the floor and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, becoming the NCAA's career leader in free throws made with 907. The senior broke the record with 14:54 remaining in the contest, eclipsing the previous mark set by Wake Forest's Dickie Hemric in 1955.

"It was a good day for us, congratulations to Tyler Hansbrough," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "I told the guys in the locker room that's not a North Carolina record, that's not an ACC record, that's a national record and that's pretty doggone impressive."

"It means a lot," Hansbrough added. "Those are some great players up there, and for me to be at that top spot, it's an honor. But also it's a lot of hard work. There's a lot of fouls involved, and it also shows you have a good free-throw percentage, so I'm happy to be there."

North Carolina struggled early in this contest, as the last-place Yellow Jackets (10-17, 1-13) opened a 23-22 lead midway through the first half and pulled within 30-28 on Lewis Clinch's 3-pointer with 6:27 left before intermission.

But the Tar Heels reeled off a 30-7 run over the next 10 minutes to build a 60-35 advantage with 17:22 remaining. Wayne Ellington scored six of his 10 points during the decisive run and capped the outburst with a thunderous dunk.

"The last eight to 10 minutes of the first half I thought defensively we were good," Williams said. "I didn't think we were early, but the last eight to 10 minutes I thought we were good."

Clinch scored 22 points while Alade Aminu added 19 to pace Georgia Tech, which lost its seventh straight game.

"I was upset because we gave up 13 second-chance points," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "I thought there were a lot of loose balls that we allowed them to beat us to."