Recap: North Carolina vs. Penn
Sports Network | November 15, 2008
Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Deon Thompson scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and top-ranked North Carolina survived Penn 86-71 in the season-opener for the wounded Tar Heels.
Tyler Zeller scored 18 points, and Wayne Ellington had 13 points, five assists, and five rebounds for North Carolina (1-0), which won despite missing two starters to injuries.
Star forward Tyler Hansbrough, the reigning national player of the year, hasn't practiced in two weeks due to a stress reaction condition in his right shin. Marcus Ginyard will be out until mid-December after undergoing surgery on October 8th to repair a stress fracture in his left foot.
Senior guard Bobby Frasor's effectiveness was limited due to a sprained left ankle, adding to the injury woes for the Tar Heels. When healthy, the Tar Heels return all five starters from last year's squad which went 36-3 and reached the Final Four, bowing in a national semifinal to eventual champion Kansas.
Ty Lawson and Danny Green each scored 12 points for North Carolina, which returns to the court on Tuesday night in Chapel Hill against Kentucky. Ed Davis had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Tar Heels.
Tyler Bernardini poured in 26 points to lead the Quakers (0-1), who stayed within striking distance throughout the game, vastly improving on last season's matchup between the squads, a 106-71 Tar Heels victory.
Jack Eggleston had 12 rebounds and nine points, and Harrison Gaines added 10 points for Penn, which pulled to within 10 points late in regulation, but could not break to within single-digits of the heavily favored Tar Heels.
North Carolina led 48-33 at the half, and pushed ahead by 20 points early in the second half. The Quakers would not allow the Tar Heels to turn the game into a laugher, though, and consecutive threes by Bernardini and Eggleston cut the deficit to 76-66 with 4:02 to play.
The Tar Heels clamped down on defense, though, and made their free throws down the stretch to push their lead back to 15 before the final buzzer sounded.
North Carolina only led 23-22 midway through the first half and, after the Tar Heels carved out an eight-point edge, a Kevin Egee three pulled Penn within 33-28 with 5:28 left. The Tar Heels outscored the Quakers 15-3 the rest of the half, though, to take a 15-point edge into the intermission.
Carolina improved to 87-12 all-time in season-openers, 92-7 in home openers. The Tar Heels have lost just two home openers since 1928, one of them the upset loss at Santa Clara in 2005...UNC leads the series 6-2. Penn last won in the second round of the 1979 NCAA Tournament, when the Quakers reached the Final Four...Penn returns four starters from a team that finished 13-18 last season but 8-6 in the Ivy League, good for third place.
