Boxscore

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The long arms and legs of North Carolina's talented frontcourt proved to be a task too tall for the University of Evansville Purple Aces Wednesday night.

Led by the 18 points and eight rebounds of 7'0" southern Indiana native Tyler Zeller, the Tar Heels jumped ahead 38-18 and went on to beat the Aces 76-49 in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,116 at Evansville's Roberts Stadium.  Harrison Barnes, a 6'8" freshman, added nine points and seven rebounds, and 6'10" sophomore John Henson totaled seven points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.  The Tar Heels also got a boost off the bench from 6'9" Justin Knox, who scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds as North Carolina improved to 6-3.

The Aces, now 3-4, hit only 19 of 60 shots.  They were 3-for-20 from three-point range despite coming into the game having shot nearly 40 percent from behind the arc through their first six games.  Colt Ryan led Evansville with nine points but was held to 2-for-14 shooting.  Senior center Clint Hopf came off the bench to hit four of six shots and score eight points, and starting center Pieter van Tongeren also went 4-for-6 from the floor in scoring eight points.

"As an entire team we missed too many shots," said Evansville coach Marty Simmons.  "Having 12,000 fans in here was pretty neat.  We're just disappointed in the performance we gave, but it was certainly fun in that standpoint to have that many people come out here tonight."

Added UNC coach Roy Williams, "It's strange because they (UE) are a really good shooting team but they missed shots and it wasn't always our defense."

The Tar Heels ended up 23-for-54 from the floor for 43 percent shooting.  They were just 4-for-18 from behind the arc, but outscored Evansville 26-8 from the free throw line.

Wednesday's game was the first of four in a row for the Aces at Roberts Stadium.  They're back in action Saturday at 7:05 against Maryland-Eastern Shore.