Tar Heels Roll in Ford Field Trial Run

Top-ranked North Carolina was impressive in what it hopes will be the first of three games at Detroit's Ford Field.

Tyler Hansbrough scored the first basket of both halves and finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Tar Heels to a 98-63 rout of No. 13 Michigan State last night.

The Tar Heels (8-0) took control with an 11-3 run late in the first half, led by 14 points at halftime, then built a 30-plus-point cushion at the home of the Detroit Lions and the 2009 Final Four.

The Spartans (4-2) started the season ranked sixth but lost a lot of luster with an 18-point loss to Maryland last week. They scored in the final seconds, narrowly avoiding the most lopsided defeat of Tom Izzo's career. Iowa beat Michigan State by 36 in 1996 during Izzo's first season.

· PITTSBURGH 78, DUQUESNE 51: Sam Young scored 23 points and DeJuan Blair was in control inside with 14 points and 17 rebounds, helping the No. 3 Panthers overcome a sluggish start to defeat the city rival Dukes at home.

Jermaine Dixon scored 12 points as Pittsburgh improved to 8-0 for the seventh consecutive season, using runs of 9-0 and 11-2 to begin pulling away after Duquesne (4-2) led 20-19 with seven minutes left in the first half.

Known as the City Game, the once-intense rivalry between schools two miles apart on the same city street has cooled off since Pitt moved into the Big East 26 years ago. The Panthers have won eight in a row and 27 of 30 in a series that peaked in interest in the late 1970s when both belonged to the Eastern Eight.

· TENNESSEE 87, UNC ASHEVILLE 69: Tyler Smith had the first triple-double in school history, helping the 10th-ranked Vols (6-1) romp over the visiting Bulldogs (3-4).

Smith finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, helping Tennessee give Coach Bruce Pearl career victory No. 400.

Smith, a 6-7 junior forward, got his 10th assist on Scotty Hopson's three-pointer with 7 minutes 47 seconds left. A minute later, Smith got a standing ovation when the feat was announced to the crowd.

Pearl, in his fourth season at Tennessee and 17th overall, joined legendary company by winning his 400th after coaching 509 games. Only Adolph Rupp, Clair Bee, Jerry Tarkanian, Roy Williams and Henry Iba reached the 400-victory plateau in fewer games.

· XAVIER 81, AUBURN 74: B.J. Raymond scored a career-high 32 points, and the No. 14 Musketeers gave Sean Miller his 100th victory as coach by winning at home against the Tigers (3-4).

Xavier (7-0) matched the third-best start in its history and its best since 1996-97, when it won its first 10 for the school record.

· WAKE FOREST 83, INDIANA 58: James Johnson scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half, and the No. 15 Demon Deacons (7-0) routed the Hoosiers (4-3) in Winston-Salem, N.C.

L.D. Williams added 16 points for Wake Forest, which continued its best start since Chris Paul's freshman year, when it opened with 11 straight wins.

Indiana native Jeff Teague scored all 14 of his points after halftime and Al-Farouq Aminu finished with 12 for Wake Forest, which pushed its record in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge to 8-1.

· SYRACUSE 88, CORNELL 78: Jonny Flynn had 24 points, Paul Harris added 21 points and nine rebounds, and the No. 16 Orange rallied to beat the visiting Big Red.

Cornell (4-4) hasn't beaten Syracuse in 40 years, suffering 31 straight losses, but the Big Red staged a game fight behind a career-high 33 points from Ryan Wittman.

Syracuse (8-0) has displayed a penchant for poor play at the start of nearly every game, having rallied twice from 13 points down to win, and this night was no exception. The Orange trailed the entire first half, once by 16.