By By JOEDY McCREARY, AP Sports Writer
CHAPEL HILL — Tyler Hansbrough and Reyshawn Terry scored 19 points apiece, and No. 2 North Carolina routed Pennsylvania 102-64 Wednesday night for its 10th straight victory.
Wayne Ellington scored 17 points and fellow freshman Brandan Wright added 12 for North Carolina (13-1), which fell behind by 10 early but used a 27-4 run late in the first half to take command against the Quakers (6-6).
The Ivy League’s most productive offense wound up being no match for a North Carolina defense which hasn’t allowed a team to score 70 points since No. 6 Ohio State had 89 on Nov. 29, a span of eight games.
Ibrahim Jaaber scored 21 points in his second straight big game for Penn, which has lost four of six. Jaaber had a career-high 32 in his team’s last game, a loss at Seton Hall on Dec. 23.
Ellington came up two points shy of his career high of 19 set against Gardner-Webb and matched against Ohio State.
The Tar Heels remained perfect since Gonzaga gave them their only loss of the season Nov. 22 in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
North Carolina finished its home nonconference schedule 9-0, with its Jan. 27 game at No. 7 Arizona the last remaining game outside the Atlantic Coast Conference until tournament time.
Penn was playing just its third game since Dec. 9, but in this one the Quakers came out looking more rested than rusty.
Relying on backdoor cuts and patient offensive play, Penn led 18-8 on Kevin Egee’s 3-pointer with about 12 minutes left in the half.
That’s when guard Bobby Frasor — who returned after missing six straight games with an injured right foot — started the decisive run with a 3-pointer from the right corner, then an 18-footer from the wing.
Ty Lawson gave North Carolina the lead for good during the spurt when his steal and layup made it 19-18 at the 10:10 mark. Ellington capped the run with a three-point play sandwiched between a pair of 3-pointers, the last of which made it 35-22 with about 4 minutes until halftime.
North Carolina led 39-30 at the break, and Penn didn’t get closer than that in the second half.
The teams met for the first time since North Carolina beat Penn in the first round of the 1987 NCAA tournament.
It also was a homecoming of sorts for guard Adam Franklin, who played two seasons on North Carolina’s junior varsity team before transferring to Penn.