North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (50) shoots over Florida State's Al Thornton. Hansbrough scored 25 points - 20 in the second half - of North Carolina's 84-58 victory Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C. The game was the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for UNC.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? Tyler Hansbrough scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half, and No. 2 North Carolina beat Florida State, 84-58, on Sunday night for the Tar Heels’ 11th straight victory.

Freshman Brandan Wright added 20 points, and North Carolina got the dominating victory it needed perhaps to ascend to No. 1 when the Associated Press Top 25 is released today.

North Carolina, which remained perfect at home and has won nine of its 10 games at the Dean Smith Center by at least 12 points, made a strong case for taking over the top spot from UCLA, which was upset over the weekend by Oregon.

Florida State fell to 1-4 against ranked teams, with its lone victory coming against defending national champion Florida on Dec. 3.

No. 10 Pittsburgh 69, South Florida 48

Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh overcame another ineffective game by star Aaron Gray, turning to a smaller unit to open an 11-point lead and cruise to victory over South Florida.

The 7-foot Gray, the Big East preseason player of the year, scored seven points on 2-for-7 shooting in 20 minutes.

Syracuse 70, No. 15 Marquette 58

Milwaukee – Eric Devendorf scored a season-high 20 points to help upset Marquette.

It was the first victory in four games against ranked teams this season for the Orange.

No. 19 Tennessee 92, Mississippi State 84

Knoxville, Tenn. – Chris Lofton scored 21 points, and Duke Crews added 18 to help Tennessee open the Southeastern Conference slate with a victory.