GREENSBORO, N.C. — Tyler Hansbrough heard the roar of the crowd and knew he had just become the leading scorer in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

His response? Just run down court and get back on defense.

"I thought about waving," he said, "but I just wanted to stay focused on the game."

Whether he liked it or not, Hansbrough's latest record overshadowed North Carolina's 101-58 win over Radford to open the NCAA Tournament's South Regional yesterday. He finished with 22 points despite a bad shooting day, part of an overwhelming performance by the top-seeded Tar Heels in the first step in what they hope will be a return to the Final Four.

Wayne Ellington had 25 points for the Tar Heels (29-4), who led the entire way and had no trouble beating the 16th-seeded Highlanders (21-12) even with point guard Ty Lawson, who missed his third straight game with a toe injury.

It was another easy tournament opener for the Tar Heels in their home state, where they are 26-1 in NCAA games with the past 11 victories coming by double-digit margins. They face LSU tomorrow in the second round.

Playing about an hour's drive from its Chapel Hill campus, North Carolina enjoyed a huge home-crowd advantage and built a 19-point halftime lead. The Tar Heels steadily increased the margin from there, cracking the 100-point mark in their NCAA opener for the second straight season.

"We played the first half really, really well," coach Roy Williams said. "The pace of the game, and the number of big guys that we could run in there perhaps tired them out a little bit. That's what we try to do all the time, try to make the pace and stamina a question mark."

Hansbrough, the reigning national player of the year, came in with 2,767 points and needed three to pass Duke's J.J. Redick for the ACC record. The 6-foot-9 senior missed his first two shots before tying Redick on a layup about 3 1/2 minutes in, then broke the record on a free throw with 15:43 left in the first half.

"I look back and think of all the players that I've watched when I was young," Hansbrough said. "For me to top all of the scorers in that league, it's special. It's an honor. But at the same time, I came here to win the game today and didn't want to focus on individual goals."

Amir Johnson and Joey Lynch-Flohr each scored 12 points to lead the Highlanders, the Big South Conference champion making just their second NCAA appearance and first since 1998.

Lawson has said he is feeling better and battling more stiffness than pain, adding he thinks he'll play tomorrow. He dressed for the game and went through pregame warmups, but it was clear that Williams didn't want to play him unless the Tar Heels were at risk of a historic upset.

OKLAHOMA 82, MORGAN STATE 54

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A dominant Blake Griffin had 28 points and 13 rebounds and survived an ugly fall that got a player ejected as the second-seeded Sooners (28-5) rolled past the 15th-seeded Bears (23-12) in a first-round game.

Griffin missed most of two games because of a concussion he sustained on Feb. 21. He took another hard tumble when Morgan State's Ameer Ali flipped him over his back and onto the court in the second half after the two became entangled. Ali was immediately ejected.

LSU 75, BUTLER 71

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Marcus Thornton scored 30, Tasmin Mitchell had 14 and Chris Johnson 12 as the eighth-seeded Tigers (27-7) shot 49 percent against one of the nation's toughest defenses to beat the ninth-seeded Bulldogs (26-6).

Matt Howard scored 22 points before fouling out with 35.7 seconds left to lead the Bulldogs, who closed to 74-71 with 5.4 seconds left when Willie Veasley tipped in Gordon Hayward's missed 3-point attempt. Johnson hit one of two free throws with 4.5 seconds left to seal it.

MICHIGAN 62, CLEMSON 59

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Manny Harris scored 21 points and the 10th-seeded Wolverines (21-13) stymied the seventh-seeded Tigers (23-9) with their 1-3-1 defense, then survived a late scare in their first NCAA tournament game in 11 years.

Trevor Booker scored 18 points to lead the Tigers, who ended up shooting 32 percent, including 5-for-22 on 3-point attempts.

GONZAGA 77, AKRON 64

PORTLAND, Ore. —Josh Heytvelt scored 22 points — seven during a 19-2 second-half run — and the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (27-5) rallied past the 13th-seeded Zips (23-13) to advance into the second round after first-round losses the last two seasons.

Getting zapped in the first round seemed possible for a while as Akron was up 49-43 with 15:02 left. Micah Downs hit two free throws with 9:43 left for a 53-52 lead and the Bulldogs never trailed again.

WESTERN KENTUCKY 76, ILLINOIS 72

PORTLAND, Ore. — Steffphon Pettigrew had 17 points and the 12th-seeded Hilltoppers (25-8), who made an unexpected run in the NCAA tournament last year, pulled off another first-round upset with a victory over the fifth-seeded Illini (24-10).

Western Kentucky led by as many as 17 points but had to hold off a late charge by the Illini, who made a late run to make it a one-possession game in the final minute.