Tar Heels Outmuscle Bruins

Men’s Top 25

UCLA, which knows a thing or two about domination, got a lesson on the subject from fourth ranked North Carolina on Thursday night.

The taller Tar Heels pounded the Bruins inside as they rolled to a surprisingly easy 109-68 victory in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

It was the most points scored by a North Carolina team since the Tar Heels scored 129 against Virginia Military in 1994.

The win pushed the Tar Heels (4-0) into the semis, where they’ll meet the Seton Hall-Alaska-Anchorage winner tonight.

The matchup with UCLA - North Carolina’s first since a 1989 victory over the Bruins - figured to be the Tar Heels’ biggest test of the young season, but it never turned into that. The Bruins entered their season opener ranked seventh nationally, but without suspended 6-foot-10 center Jelani McCoy, the Bruins didn’t have a player taller than 6-6. As a result, the game became a sometimes ridiculous mismatch inside. “Their biggest weakness was inside and it was our focus to go inside,” said Antawn Jamison, who led the Tar Heels with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

It seemed, at times, as if the Tar Heels were at a basketball buffet, taking as much of whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it.

“We just had them outmanned,” North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge said.

The Tar Heels shot 62 percent for the game and outrebounded the Bruins 45-28.

“That’s what we wanted to make happen,” said Vince Carter, who scored 22 points. “We didn’t think it would be easy but we knew they were missing some people.”

(19) Louisville 75, Hofstra 66

At Bayamon, Puerto Rico, freshman Marques Maybin scored 22 points to lead the Cardinals (1-0) past the Flying Dutchmen (1-2) in the first round of the Puerto Rico Shootout.

Robert Guittens led Hofstra with 18 points.