Coach Not Thrilled With No. 1 Tar Heels

A 10-point win to keep the No. 1 ranking and remain unbeaten would make most coaches happy. Probably very happy. Not Roy Williams. <br/><br/>The Hall of Fame coach was upset with his Tar Heels after their

Thursday, December 20th 2007, 7:32 am

By: News On 6

A 10-point win to keep the No. 1 ranking and remain unbeaten would make most coaches happy. Probably very happy. Not Roy Williams.

The Hall of Fame coach was upset with his Tar Heels after their lethargic 88-78 victory over Nicholls State on Wednesday night.

``So much for the exams being over,'' Williams said, referring to the team's recent layoff for finals. ``I thought we played better when we were studying.''

The Tar Heels (10-0) would rather be in the library than the gym on Thursday.

Williams told the media his goal at that day's practice would be ``to see how many guys I can make throw up.''

``I'm not satisfied with anything,'' he said.

There was Tyler Hansbrough, though. The junior preseason All-American suffered a concussion in Sunday night's win at Rutgers, but he was his usual intense self against Nicholls State (4-8) with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

In other games involving ranked teams on Wednesday, it was: No. 2 Memphis 79, Cincinnati 69; No. 9 Michigan State 85, San Jose State 45; No. 12 Tennessee 86, UNC-Asheville 73; No. 14 Texas A&M 79, Detroit 39; No. 16 Butler 83, Bradley 64; No. 19 Arizona 52, UNLV 49; and No. 24 West Virginia 90, Radford 60.

Hansbrough was 8-for-13 from the field and 11-for-14 from the free-throw line.

He was hurt against Rutgers when he tried to take a charge and, as he fell to the floor, hit his head on the knee of a cameraman as well as the padded basket support.

He took two charges against Nicholls State. He was accidentally elbowed in the face on the second one but bounced right up.

Hansbrough said he had some dizziness, but attributed that to being tired.

``The other day in practice, I kind of backed away some times because I was worried about getting hit in the head,'' he said. ``But tonight, I didn't think I did that.''

Wayne Ellington added 20 points for the Tar Heels, who were playing at home for the first time in a month after six straight games away from the Smith Center.

North Carolina was up by 20 points three times, but Nicholls State stayed close by going 14-for-28 from 3-point range.

``I guess as a team it didn't mean enough to us,'' said Tar Heels junior Marcus Ginyard, who had 12 points. ``I feel like everybody was just thinking, 'Something's going to happen, we're going to get back on track.' But we didn't make any proactive steps to do anything, and that's why we had the effort we did tonight.''

Ryan Bathie scored 17 points to lead the Colonels, who were playing a No. 1-ranked team for the first time.

``For us to be able to come in here and be as competitive as we were, I'm just thrilled with our guys,'' Nicholls State coach J.P. Piper said. ``They got a couple of steals ... and I thought, 'Here it goes, here it goes, the dam is about to burst open.' But it never rattled them and they just kept playing.''

No. 2 Memphis 79, Cincinnati 69

Freshman guard Derrick Rose scored a career-high 26 points for the visiting Tigers (9-0), who opened the season with nine straight wins for the first time since 1985-86, when they won their first 20.

Deonta Vaughn scored 20 points for the Bearcats (4-6), who are off to their worst start in 22 years.

No. 9 Michigan St. 85, San Jose St. 45

Raymar Morgan and Durrell Summers both scored 16 points and Drew Neitzel added 14 as Michigan State (10-1) prevailed in the matchup of Spartans.

DeShawn Wright led visiting San Jose State (3-5) with 17 points.

No. 12 Tennessee 86, UNC-Asheville 73

Chris Lofton scored 24 points and became Tennessee's career 3-point shooter with 349, three more than Allan Houston. The Volunteers (10-1) have won 23 consecutive games at Thompson-Boling Arena.

K.J. Garland had 22 points for the Bulldogs (8-3).

No. 14 Texas A&M 79, Detroit 39

Freshman DeAndre Jordan had 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Aggies (10-1) to their third straight victory and most lopsided of the season. The 7-foot Jordan leads the nation in field-goal shooting at 79.3 percent.

Jon Goode had 13 points for the visiting Titans (4-7), who lost their fifth straight.

No. 16 Butler 83, Bradley 64

A.J. Graves scored 21 points and freshman Mike Green had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (10-1).

Daniel Ruffin and Tyrone Cole-Scott both had 11 points for the Braves (7-4), who have not beaten a ranked nonconference opponent on the road since 1958.

No. 19 Arizona 52, UNLV 49

Jordan Hill had 16 points and 19 rebounds for the Wildcats (8-2), who rallied from an eight-point deficit with 13 minutes to play for the road victory.

Wink Adams had 19 points for the Runnin' Rebels (7-3), who scored four points over the game's final 5 minutes.

No. 24 West Virginia 90, Radford 60

Darris Nichols and Alex Ruoff both scored 23 points to lead the visiting Mountaineers (9-1) in coach Bob Huggins' 599th career victory. There are only five Division I coaches with more wins.

Amir Johnson had 16 points and 11 assists for the Highlanders (4-9).