Tyler Hansbrough snags the all-time scoring mark. Heels continue to look bored with the competition.
It was a tremendous moment, one that will likely not be repeated for many, many years. With 7:43 remaining in the first half, Tyler Hansbrough took an entry pass into the post from Danny Green and scored on two Evansville defenders to give him 2292 career points at UNC. Hansbrough would finish with 20 points on the night and will continue to add to the record which presently stands at 2302 points.
The first 12 minutes of the game were obviously tense and the Heels looked a little out of sync partly due to the fact the offense seemed pressing to get Hansbrough the scoring record. Once that piece of business was done UNC seemed to play better on the offensive end, was seemingly pretty good on defense but for the most part on cruise control. And I am not sure how much to be even concerned about it. On one hand Evansville is a good team as showing by their 7-1 mark coming in. The Purple Aces did blow out Western Kentucky. WKU actually upset Louisville earlier in the season.
There were also issues with the very physical nature of the game and some generally crappy officiating. Both these factors I think affected the flow of the game. UNC never got into a rhythmn, especially on the fast break. Evansville to their credit were fairly effective on the defensive end guarding the Heels in the half court. Of course they were also given a great deal of leeway in terms of physical play so make what you will of it.
In this game and the one versus ORU, the Heels look like a team that does what it needs to do to assume control of the game by 20-25 points then either gets bored or takes the foot off the pedal. If we had not seen what this UNC team did to Notre Dame and Michigan State I might be a tad concerned with this level of play. The truth is I am not. Roy will push the envelope with this team and use games like this to preach greater focus. In that respect these games serve a purpose but I also have little doubt that when ACC play kicks in, this team will show up to play.
In my opinion we should enjoy the 10-0. Enjoy Tyler Hansbrough breaking the scoring record and trust that Roy has the ship on the right course.