Without the services of starters Tyler Hansrough or Marcus Ginyard, the North Carolina Tar Heels raced to an early lead of double digits and never looked back in a 77-58 victory before a capacity crowd at the Dean E. Smith Center on Tuesday night.Carolina scored 15 of the first 17 points of the contest and took a 25-6 edge on an acrobatic alley-oop play from point guard Ty Lawson to teammate Wayne Ellington.
The Heels defense wreaked havoc on the visiting Wildcats on every trip down the floor, forcing six turnovers in the game's first five minutes en route to a 41-25 halftime lead.
"We had a fantastic 10 ten or 12 minutes, our defense was really aggressive with the intensity that we had hoped," Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams said following the win.
The offensive juggernaut of the evening was Deon Thompson. who tallied 14 of his team-high 20 points in the first stanza.
"I think I've just been doing the things that I've been doing over the summer. I guess I have just a little bit more of an opportunity with Tyler [Hansbrough] out of there and just taking advantage and not really trying to force anything," Thompson said post-game. "I think the way I've been scoring and getting rebounds has just been coming in the flow of our whole offense, just being in the right spot. So, I don't think I'm trying to force anything."
Kentucky had 17 turnovers in the first half and totalled 28 in all. "We're just making too many mental errors, even though it's the second game of the season against a really good team and really well organized team and fine executing team. You can't make the mistakes that we made like picking the dribble up, not being strong with the ball, getting destroyed on the offensive ball," Kentucky head coach Billy Gillispie said after the game. "Our transition defense had too many mistakes with guys who didn't communicate well enough."
If there was a negative point to Tuesday's win, it was that freshman Tyler Zeller, filling in for Hansbrough, injured his wrist after a hard foul by Kentucky's Ramon Harris. Zeller left the game and was taken to the hospital for x-rays. "It doesn't give us a good feeling right now," Coach Williams said in the media room following the game.
Thompson led three Heels in double-figures, including 16 points (3 of 5 on 3 point FG) by Ellington, and 11 from Lawson. Freshman Ed Davis added nine points and ten rebounds. Carolina travels to Hawaii for the EA Sports Maui Invitational Tournament, but makes a stop to take on UC-Santa Barbara on Friday at 10 PM EST on ESPNU.
If there was a negative point to Tuesday's win, it was that freshman Tyler Zeller, filling in for Hansbrough, injured his wrist after a hard foul by Kentucky's Ramon Harris. Zeller left the game and was taken to the hospital for x-rays. "It doesn't give us a good feeling right now," Coach Williams said in the media room following the game.
Thompson led three Heels in double-figures, including 16 points (3 of 5 on 3 point FG) by Ellington, and 11 from Lawson. Freshman Ed Davis added nine points and ten rebounds. Carolina travels to Hawaii for the EA Sports Maui Invitational Tournament, but makes a stop to take on UC-Santa Barbara on Friday at 10 PM EST on ESPNU.
