North Carolina cruises past Valpo

Danny Green matched his career-high with 20 points and sparked the decisive second-half spurt Sunday night to help No. 1 North Carolina beat Valparaiso 90-58.

Tyler Hansbrough had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Tar Heels (13-0), who got off to a fast start only to see the Crusaders hang around before finally putting the game away with a big second-half run. North Carolina is off to its best start since winning 17 in a row to start the 1997-98 season.

Jarryd Loyd scored 14 of his 24 points in the first half for Valparaiso (10-3), which fought back from an early 17-point deficit to tie the game early in the second half. But the Tar Heels' stepped up defensively while controlling the boards to turn this game into the latest in a series of lopsided victories.

Deon Thompson finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high 5 blocks, while Green continued his solid play this season. Averaging 12.6 points off the bench this year, the 6-foot-6 junior went 8-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

Green also had 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks in 20 minutes.

North Carolina scored the game's first 13 points and took a 19-2 lead in the first 9 minutes. The Crusaders, behind Loyd's big half, survived the early blast and fought their way back to within 36-31 at halftime before tying it at 37 early after the break.

But the Tar Heels responded with a 27-2 run over 8½ minutes that made this game end up looking just like all their others in recent weeks.