No. 1 North Carolina Beats UC Santa Barbara 84-67

Even at less than his best, Tyler Hansbrough was a welcome sight in the lineup for his North Carolina teammates.

A rusty Hansbrough scored 13 points in his delayed season debut, one of six players in double figures for the top-ranked Tar Heels, who beat UC Santa Barbara 84-67 Friday night.

Hansbrough missed the first two games for Carolina (3-0) because of a stress reaction in his right shin. Last season's national player of the year had only practiced a few times this week after being held out since the injury was diagnosed in October.

"I'm not in the best shape, but it was good to help out my team," he said. "I feel a little out of sync. I was just trying to come out and get in the groove."

Coach Roy Williams said he decided 15 minutes before the game to play Hansbrough after watching him warm up.

"I wanted to see how he felt. He felt great about it," Williams said. "Every time I took him out, he told me he was ready to go back in."

Hansbrough played 25 minutes in the Tar Heels' first road game of season, a sellout in the 6,000-seat Thunderdome. The last time the Gauchos hosted a No. 1 team was in 1991, when they lost 76-55 to defending national champion UNLV.

James Nunnally scored a career-high 19 points off the bench for the Gauchos (1-2), who fell to 0-3 against Carolina, all double-digit losses.

"My teammates looked for me early, and I appreciate their trying to find me and get me going," Nunnally said. "I try to be a spark off the bench and just try to come with energy every game, and that's what I did. It paid off."

Hansbrough had played in all 108 games in his first three years for Carolina before missing the first two this season. He finished with seven rebounds, two assists, two turnovers, one blocked shot and one steal. He made 9-of-10 free throws, all in the first half, and dunked early in the second half.

Ty Lawson scored 19 points, Wayne Ellington added 17, Deon Thompson 12 points and 10 rebounds, Danny Green 11 and Ed Davis 10 for the Tar Heels, who controlled the boards, 34-24.