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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, December 29, 2008

No. 1 North Carolina blows out Rutgers, 97-75

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough muscles his way past Rutgers' Hamady N'Diaye for two of his 26 points. He also had 10 rebounds.

GERRY BROOME | Associated Press

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Roy Williams was talking about North Carolina's latest win. The Hall of Fame coach could have been discussing his entire season.

"Every time I looked up," he said, "we were up 14, 16, 18, something like that."

That's been the theme so far for his top-ranked Tar Heels, whose latest blowout victory has placed them in good company. Their 97-75 rout of Rutgers last night marked their school-record 12th straight by double figures.

Tyler Hansbrough had 26 points and 10 rebounds, Ty Lawson added 19 points and Danny Green had 18 for the Tar Heels (12-0), who shot 51.5 percent and held a 40-26 rebounding advantage. They surpassed the previous mark of consecutive blowouts set by the 1992-93 team that went on to win the national championship.

No opponent has come closer than 15 points against these Tar Heels.

"Last year, we would get teams down at the end and they would inch their way back into the game," Lawson said. "Coach said, 'Keep a person down when they're down,' and that's what we're doing."

Freshman Mike Rosario led Rutgers with 26 points.

The Scarlet Knights (9-4) saw their four-game winning streak snapped in the first of a punishing stretch of games this week. They face No. 3 Pitt on New Year's Eve before a visit to No. 2 Connecticut, leaving them in an unenviable position to evaluate the nation's best teams.

Then again, these Tar Heels helped Rutgers coach Fred Hill make up his mind already.

"This is the best team that I've seen in my years coaching," Hill said. "I think they're a very special group."

Hansbrough, UNC's career scoring leader had his sixth straight 20-point game — he needed just 8 1/2 minutes to reach double figures for the 110th time — before taking care of his milestone midway through the second half with his 1,000th career rebound.

"Rebounding's a big part of the game, and I think that's almost as tough as anything," Hansbrough said. "It's a lot of effort, but also, I've still got to keep playing and hopefully I'll keep getting more boards."

No. 10 Purdue 59, Valparaiso 45: E'Twaun Moore scored 14 points to help Purdue (11-2) beat Valparaiso (3-9) at West Lafayette, Ind., for its sixth consecutive victory. Urule Igbavboa and Jake Diebler each scored 13 points for Valparaiso.

No. 13 UCLA 78, Louisiana Tech 55: Josh Shipp scored 16 points, and freshman guard Jrue Holiday added 12 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and five assists as UCLA (10-2) trounced Louisiana Tech (6-7) at Los Angeles. Magnum Rolle led LaTech with 17 points and seven rebounds.

No. 23 Minnesota 82, High Point 56: Ralph Sampson III scored a career-high 17 points to keep Minnesota (12-0) on its best start in 60 seasons with a win over High Point (4-8) at Minneapolis. Eugene Harris led High Point with 18 points.

WAC

New Mexico State 104, Loyola Marymount 62: Jahmar Young scored a season-high 30 points and Jonathan Gibson added 20 points as New Mexico State (6-6) of the Western Athletic Conference rolled past Loyola Marymount (0-14) at Las Cruces, N.M. Corey Counts scored 19 points for Loyola, which played without coach Bill Bayno. Bayno has been on a leave of absence due to what he has called a "serious medical condition" related to job stress.

San Jose State 84, William Jessup 59: Tim Pierce had 21 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and Chris Oakes added 18 points and 17 rebounds as San Jose State (6-4) of the WAC routed William Jessup (6-9) in the consolation game of the Shamrock Classic at Moraga, Calif. Lucas Birchard scored 13 points for William Jessup, an NAIA Division II school.

TOP 25 WOMEN

No. 1 Connecticut 77, South Carolina 48: Tina Charles scored 21 points as Connecticut opened 11-0 for the third consecutive season by defeating South Carolina (6-5) in Columbia, S.C. Samone Kennedy and Lakeisha Sutton each had 11 points for South Carolina.

No. 2 North Carolina 102, Western Michigan 55: Italee Lucas scored 17 points and Jessica Breland added 15 as North Carolina (13-0) won its 28th straight game at Chapel Hill, N.C., by beating Western Michigan (4-8). Brenna Bankston led the visitors with 13 points.

No. 4 Texas 79, UTEP 40: Kathleen Nash scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half to help Texas (11-0) beat Texas El Paso (6-6) in the Surf 'N Slam Classic at San Diego. Briana Green led UTEP with 12 points.

No. 6 Duke 78, Quinnipiac 50: Chante Black scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had a career-high eight steals to help Duke (10-1) rout Quinnipiac (8-3) at Durham, N.C. Mandy Pennewell led Quinnipiac with 17 points.

No. 10 Louisville 66, Morehead State 38: Angel McCoughtry had 17 points and 12 rebounds to help Louisville (11-1) overcome a season-high 34 turnovers and beat Morehead State (7-5) in the Cardinal Classic at Louisville, Ky. Ashley Martin led Morehead State with 13 points.

No. 11 Stanford 84, UC Davis 49: Jayne Appel had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Kayla Pedersen added 14 points and 10 rebounds as Stanford (9-3) beat UC Davis (4-6) at Stanford, Calif. Genevieve Costello hit 5 of 7 3-pointers to score 15 points for UC Davis.

No. 12 Notre Dame 68, Charlotte 61: Lindsay Schrader scored 19 points to help Notre Dame (10-1) hold off Charlotte (8-4) at Charlotte, N.C. Aysha Jones scored 15 points for Charlotte.

No. 16 Virginia 83, Rider 38: Monica Wright scored 22 points and Lyndra Littles added a season-high 21 as Virginia (10-2) cruised past Rider (2-8) in the Cavalier Classic at Charlottesville, Va. Amanda Sepulveda scored 14 points to lead Rider.

No. 21 Oklahoma State 80, North Texas 54: Shaunte Smith scored 20 points as Oklahoma State (9-2) beat North Texas (5-7) for its 30th straight non-conference victory at Stillwater, Okla. Brittney James led North Texas with 11 points.

No. 22 Kansas State 74, Washington State 58: Ashley Sweat scored 30 points to help Kansas State (11-0) match the best start in school history with a win over Washington State (7-4) at Pullman, Wash. Jazmine Perkins led Washington State with 18 points.

Nebraska 62, No. 24 Arizona State 58: Yvonne Turner scored 13 points, making two crucial free throws with 18 seconds left, and Nebraska (9-3) rallied past Arizona State (8-4) at Lincoln, Neb. Danielle Orsillo scored 16 points for Arizona State.