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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Penn
Tar Heels Start Season With Win Over Penn 86-71
November 15, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2008
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP)--Freshman Tyler Zeller scored 18 points Saturday to help top-ranked North Carolina beat Pennsylvania 86-71 despite playing without reigning national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough.
Deon Thompson added 17 points for the Tar Heels, who led by double figures much of the day yet had trouble putting together a game-sealing run without their injured star senior roaming the paint. North Carolina was also without fellow senior Marcus Ginyard, injuries that forced North Carolina to thrust Zeller and fellow rookie big man Ed Davis into the lineup.
Zeller, a 7-footer, started in Hansbrough's spot and finished 5-for-8 from the field and 8-for-10 from the foul line, though he had just two rebounds. Davis had 10 points and 14 rebounds in 22 minutes.
Tyler Bernardini scored 26 points to lead the Quakers, who hung around much of the way thanks largely to their 3-point shooting. But though they managed to cut a 20-point second-half lead to 10 with about 4 minutes left, they never seriously threatened to pull a season-opening upset.
This was the first regular-season game Hansbrough has missed in his career. The 6-9 forward has missed more than two weeks of practice with a stress reaction in his right shin--which can be a precursor to a stress fracture without proper rest--and it's unclear when he'll be ready to return, though coach Roy Williams said this week the team is just being conservative with his recovery.
Ginyard is out until December after having foot surgery, robbing the Tar Heels of their top defender.
That left plenty of shots for Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson and Danny Green, the three who pondered a jump to the NBA before deciding to return to school in June. But it was Thompson who turned in the steadiest performance among the returning upperclassmen, going 7-for-11 from the field and grabbing seven rebounds.
Ellington scored 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting, while Lawson and Green each scored 12. North Carolina shot 47 percent while working against Penn's zone defense, though the Tar Heels had trouble consistently knocking in shots from behind the arc (7-for-22) and didn't get quite as many chances as usual to get out in transition.
The Quakers trailed by two midway through the first half before the Tar Heels took control with a 19-4 run that gave them some breathing room. North Carolina led 48-33 at halftime and by 62-42 with about 13 minutes left, though Penn got as close as 76-66 on a 3-pointer from Jack Eggleston with 3:59 to play.
Penn shot 40 percent for the game, including 11-for-33 from 3-point range.
