CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Jump shots, free throws, drop steps, slam dunks. Tyler Hansbrough put his entire arsenal on display in the second half Wednesday night, and the Miami Hurricanes were at his mercy.
Hansbrough scored 27 of his season-high 35 points after halftime, snuffing out Miami comeback bids time and time again, and No. 5 North Carolina got back to its winning ways by defeating the suddenly slumping Hurricanes 98-82.
"He just completely dominated," Miami coach Frank Haith said.
That he did -- and he had plenty of help, too.
Ty Lawson scored 23 points and added 10 assists and Wayne Ellington finished with 12 points for North (19-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which lost its No. 1 ranking after an 82-80 home loss to Maryland on Saturday.
But losing rarely becomes a Tar Heel trend: Excluding season-ending defeats, North Carolina is now 24-4 after a loss in the Roy Williams era.
"My confidence was good tonight," Hansbrough said. "But also, I'm still frustrated about some things from last game."
So he took it out on Miami.
Hansbrough was 8-for-10 from the field, 11-for-12 from the foul line after halftime.
"I think he's been pressing a little bit, thinking that he has to score against two guys, three guys, 21 guys," Williams said. "And tonight, he passed it. ... I think he was trying to do a little bit too much and he got in the flow tonight. Needless to say, he was good."
Lance Hurdle scored a season-high 20 points for Miami (14-4, 1-3), which has dropped three straight and four of its last six -- erasing whatever luster remained after a somewhat-surprising 12-0 start.
The Hurricanes, who fell to 9-1 at home, got 17 points from Raymond Hicks and 11 from Jack McClinton.
"To me, they're the best team in the country," Haith said. "You've got to get them on a night when they're not on their game. They were on their game tonight."
Miami's home floor was raucous early, with no shortage of star power on hand.
Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat sat near the Hurricanes' bench, and Heat players Dorell Wright -- McClinton's former prep-school teammate -- and Jason Williams sat in the front row along a sideline.
Williams even twirled an orange pom-pom most of the game, but the Tar Heels -- who improved to 8-0 on the road -- weren't deterred.
"It was a good win," Lawson said.
Hansbrough made consecutive jumpers early in the second half to push Carolina's lead to 59-48, then its largest.
And whenever Miami seemed poised to make a run, Hansbrough usually had an answer.
His three-point play with 7:44 left put the Tar Heels up 74-62 and, after McClinton hit a 3-pointer to breathe some life back into the Miami side, Hansbrough slammed home a missed Lawson layup to silence the building once again.
It was never in doubt from there.
Miami came in ranked second in the ACC in points allowed per game, 62.8. But North Carolina eclipsed that with 13:01 left.
The Hurricanes' previous season-high in points allowed was 77, and Carolina almost became the first team since -- well, Carolina -- to drop 100 points on Miami. The Heels whipped the Hurricanes 105-64 last season, and while this one was closer, it was no less disappointing for Miami.
With McClinton struggling from the start -- he missed his first four shots and didn't score until 5:44 remained before intermission -- the Hurricanes seemed in trouble early. But Brian Asbury and Hurdle hit 3-pointers to start a 10-0 run, putting Miami back on top in what was a see-saw opening half, replete with six ties and seven lead changes.
Asbury could have drawn Miami to within a single point with nine seconds left in the half, but his 3-pointer from the right corner rimmed out.
And that left Lawson just enough time to give North Carolina a nice boost on its way into the locker room.
He drove the right side of the lane, got fouled by McClinton -- while most of the Miami faithful bellowed for a traveling call -- and converted for a three-point play with 1.7 seconds left that pushed the Tar Heels' halftime edge to 47-40.
Miami never got any closer.
"We can't get down," Hurdle said. "It's a long season. This is nothing. We've just got to keep going."
