SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — 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, last 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.

North Carolina opened the game on an 18-10 run, with Hansbrough scoring seven points — all on free throws — and coming up with key assists in his first minutes of the season.

The Tar Heels closed the half on a 23-10 run to lead 45-37. They scored 13 in a row, including seven straight by Lawson that gave them the lead for good.

NO. 2 CONNECTICUT 89, LA SALLE 81

Kemba Walker scored 23 points, Jeff Adrien added 22 points and 14 rebounds, and the Huskies (3-0) battled to a 46-40 halftime lead which they never lost in holding off the Explorers (1-2) in the Paradise Jam at Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands.

NO. 4 UCLA 77, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 60

Alfred Aboya scored 22 points, Darren Collison had 17 and the Bruins (3-1) rebounded from a disheartening loss to beat the Salukis (2-2) in the consolation game of the 2K Sports Classic in New York.

NO. 6 PITTSBURGH 86, AKRON 67

Sam Young scored 26 points, including 11 of his team's last 15 points of the first half as the Panthers (3-0) doubled their lead from 28-19 to 45-27 in beating the Zips (2-1) in Pittsburgh.

NO. 8 NOTRE DAME 65, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 54

Luke Harangody had 27 points and 17 rebounds, and scored six during a 10-2 run for a 60-49 lead as the Fighting Irish (2-0) turned back the Lions (0-4) in Los Angeles.

NO. 10 DUKE 71, MICHIGAN 56

Nolan Smith scored 16 points, Kyle Singler added 15 and the Blue Devils (5-0) opened up a 39-31 halftime lead and the Wolverines (3-1) were unable to get any closer in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York.

NO. 13 MEMPHIS 84, SETON HALL 70

Doneal Mack scored 16 points and the Tigers (4-0) opened up a 70-46 lead with 8:42 left to beat the Pirates (3-1), who got 32 points from Jerem Hazell in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

NO. 14 TENNESSEE 76, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 66

Tyler Smith scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and the visiting Vols (3-0) used a 9-0 run for a 47-38 lead with 14:02 to go and never trailed thereafter in beating the Blue Raiders (2-1) at Murfreesboro, Tenn.

MIAMI 70, SOUTHERN MISS 60

Dwayne Collins scored 14 points and the Hurricanes (2-0) raced to a 36-24 halftime lead in beating the Golden Eagles (2-1) in the Paradise Jam opener at Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands.

NO. 19 SOUTHERN CAL 73, CHATTANOOGA 46

Taj Gibson had 17 points, 15 rebounds and blocked four shots, leading the Trojans (3-1) over the Mocs (0-4) in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

NO. 21 DAVIDSON 97, WINTHROP 70

Stephen Curry had 30 points and 13 assists, and the Wildcats (3-1) opened the second half with a 12-2 run for a 53-37 lead in rolling past the Eagles (1-3) at Davidson, N.C.

NO. 25 WISCONSIN 60, IONA 58

Trevon Hughes scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Badgers (3-0) to a bruising overtime victory over the Gaels (1-1) and into the final against San Diego in the Paradise Jam at Charlotte Amalie, U.S. virgin, Islands.

WAC MEN

NEW MEXICO STATE 90, PEPPERDINE 66

Jahmar Young scored 21 points, Jonathan Gibson added 20 and Wendell McKines had six of his 18 points during a 16-4 second-half run to open up a 62-46 lead with 10:38 to play and the Aggies (2-1) never looked back in routing the Waves (1-3) at Las Cruces, n.M.

RANKED WOMEN

NO. 2 OKLAHOMA 70, NO. 18 ARIZONA STATE 57

Courtney Paris had 20 rebounds and 19 points for the 100th double-double of her career as the Sooners (3-0) beat the Sun Devils (2-1) to advance to tomorrow's final of the Women's Preseason NIT against No. 4 North Carolina at Norman, Okla.

In addition to her 95th consecutive double-double, Paris' final basket, with 2:02 left, raised her career point total to 2,189 in 103 games at Oklahoma, eclipsing Phylesha Whaley's 2,187 points from 1996-2000.

NO. 7 CALIFORNIA 66, NO. 3 RUTGERS 52

Alexis Gray-Lawson had 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists and the Golden Bears (3-0) pulled off the biggest home victory of fourth-year coach Joanne Boyle's tenure with an upset of the Scarlet Knights (2-1) at Berkeley, Calif.

NO. 5 TENNESSEE 66, CHATTANOOGA 63

Glory Johnson scored 19 points and the visiting Lady Vols (2-1) rallied from a 61-53 deficit with 6 minutes remaining, taking the lead for good on Vicki Baugh's free throw with 53.7 seconds to beat the Mocs (1-1) at Chattanooga, Tenn.

HARTFORD 53, NO. 6 DUKE 51

Lisa Etienne scored 15 points and MaryLynne Schaefer made two free throws for a 52-48 lead with 26 seconds left as the Hawks (3-0) hung on to upset the Blue Devils (2-1) for their 28th straight home victory in the first game of the DePaul Invitational in Chicago.

NO. 10 BAYLOR 77, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 42

Jhasmin Player and Melissa Jones each scored 13 points, and the Lady Bears, which trailed 2-0, went on 28-1 run to open up a 28-3 lead and never looked back in routing the Ladyjacks (2-1) at Waco, Texas.

NO. 12 VANDERBILT 66, EAST TENNESSEE STATE 55

Christina Wirth and Merideth Marsh scored 16 points apiece and the visiting Commodores (4-0) forced 27 turnovers to turn back the Bucs (0-3) at Johnson City, Tenn.

NO. 25 OLD DOMINION 78, NO. 16 VIRGINIA 70

Jazzmin Walters scored 24 points, including two free throws and a layup in the final minute, as the Lady Monarchs (3-1) beat the Lady Cavs (2-1) at Norfolk, Va., for their 27th straight home victory.