Recap: North Carolina vs. Kentucky

By Sports Network

Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Deon Thompson had his way in the post while logging 20 points and nine rebounds in top-ranked North Carolina's 77-58 drubbing of a rebuilding Kentucky Wildcats club in a game featuring college basketball's two winningest programs.

Wayne Ellington notched 16 points and Ed Davis added nine points and 10 boards for North Carolina (2-0), which upended a scrappy Penn squad in its season opener on Saturday. Ty Lawson shot just 3-of-15 from the floor but finished with nine assists and 11 points for the Tar Heels, who once again won by double-digits despite playing without senior forward Tyler Hansbrough.

Patrick Patterson hit 8-of-11 from the field and notched 19 points and 11 rebounds for Kentucky (0-2), which surprisingly dropped its season opener to VMI last Friday. Jodie Meeks also scored 19 points but made 5-of-20 from the field, and Ramon Harris -- 15 points -- was the only other Wildcat with more than three points.

After trading buckets to start the game, Thompson scored six straight points and Green nailed a three-pointer for an 11-2 UNC lead four minutes into the contest.

Two more field goals from the hosts made it a 13-point game and the Wildcats looked overmatched very early. Sloppy play led to 17 first-half turnovers for UK and the Heels took advantage.

After a steal by Danny Green, Ellington threw down an alley-oop dunk and Carolina led 25-6 with 11 1/2 minutes to play in the first half.

The Tar Heels jumped ahead 41-25 at the break, and though their lead never fell into single digits, they failed to completely break the game open in the second half.

Patterson's one-handed leaner in the lane made it 64-51 with 6 1/2 minutes left, but the Wildcats couldn't protect the rim in the closing minutes. Lawson got to the line for a pair of free throws and Thompson came down with an offensive putback on two of three possessions to end any threat of a comeback.