Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Deon Thompson scored a career-high 20 points to help top-ranked North Carolina beat Kentucky 77-58 on Tuesday night despite playing yet again without national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough.
Wayne Ellington had 16 points for the Tar Heels (2-0), who led by double figures barely 4 minutes into the game and never looked back in a matchup of the winningest programs in men's college basketball.
Patrick Patterson had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (0-2), who finished with 28 turnovers in their second straight mistake-prone performance.
North Carolina didn't really need Hansbrough, who has missed almost three weeks of practice with a shin injury. Hansbrough sat out Saturday's opening win against Pennsylvania. It was the first game the senior had missed in his career.
And just as against the Quakers, Thompson provided the frontline scoring punch that's missing with Hansbrough's absence.
After matching his previous high with 17 points in the opener, Thompson was 10-of-16 from the field and had nine rebounds. He left the game to a standing ovation with 2:45 left and fans chanting his name.
The Tar Heels got a scare late in the game when freshman 7-footer Tyler Zeller took a hard foul by Ramon Harris on a dunk attempt in transition after yet another Kentucky turnover. Zeller fell to the ground under the basket and got up holding his left wrist before heading to the locker room with 1:26 left.
Coach Roy Williams said Zeller was taken to a hospital for X-rays. Zeller has started for Hansbrough in the first two games.
- No. 9 Gonzaga 80, Idaho 46: At Spokane, Wash., Micah Downs scored 18 points and Austin Daye added 16 as Gonzaga blasted Idaho for its ninth consecutive win over the Vandals.
Josh Heytvelt added 15 points for the Bulldogs (2-0), who scored the first 17 points of the game.
Mac Hopson led Idaho (1-2) with 19 points, while Kashif Watson added 12. The Vandals shot 29.8 percent in the game and were outrebounded 47-27.
- No. 11 Purdue 78, Loyola of Chicago 46: At West Lafayette, Ind., E'Twaun Moore scored 14 points, and Purdue advanced to the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals.
Robbie Hummel scored 13 points and Marcus Green had 12 points and matched his career-high with 10 rebounds for the Boilermakers (3-0).
Justin Cerasoli had 14 points for the Ramblers (1-2).
- No. 14 Tennessee 91, Tennessee-Martin 64: At Knoxville, Tenn., reserve forward Brian Williams scored a career-high 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Tennessee.
It was the Volunteers' 34th consecutive home victory, breaking the school record set from 1966-68.
Tyler Smith scored seven of his 19 points in the first 2 1/2 minutes for the Volunteers (2-0), who opened the game on a 27-6 run.
- No. 19 USC 73, New Mexico State 60: At Los Angeles, Taj Gibson tied his career high with 22 points and had a career-best 10 rebounds as Southern California has its first 2-0 start in eight years.
Dwight Lewis added 16 points and Daniel Hackett, who fouled out with 2:38 remaining, had 10 for the Trojans, who won their season opener for the first time in four years last weekend. They opened the 2000-01 season with an 8-0 record.
DeMar DeRozan, USC's highly touted freshman, had seven points.
- No. 25 Wisconsin 88, SIU-Edwardsville 58: At Madison, Wis., reserve Jon Leuer scored 19 points to lead Wisconsin.
Marcus Landry added 15 points for the Badgers (2-0), while Jason Bohannon had 14 and Trevon Hughes 11, even though the starters spent most of the second half on the bench.
