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CHAPEL HILL — Thomas Thornton, North Carolina's 6-foot-3 senior walk-on guard from Greensboro, trotted onto the Smith Center court with 2 minutes left.

In the first half.

Thornton, who played high school ball at Grimsley, finished with typical walk-on numbers — no points, three rebounds and an assist — but his early entry tells the story of the No. 9 Tar Heels' 87-70 victory over Albany on Wednesday.

This one wasn't always pretty. But it was never in doubt. Not really.

Even though Carolina (11-3) was thin at guard, with Marcus Ginyard and Justin Watts on the bench in street clothes with injured right ankles.

Even though Thornton played 8 minutes in their absence.

Even though Albany (4-10) outscored Carolina 23-2 over the last 7:35 to erase almost half of the Tar Heels' 38-point lead.

"Toward the end we just got a little complacent," said Ed Davis, who led the Heels with 18 points and eight rebounds.

"We started playing down to their level and not really playing North Carolina basketball."

Another guard from Greensboro, 6-6 junior Will Graves, shot 3-for-6 from 3-point range for a team-high nine points in the first half, when North Carolina's suffocating defense made up for a ragged offense and helped the Heels build a 21-point lead.

But the former Dudley star's night ended early in the second half when Graves twisted his right ankle.

He watched the rest of the game with an ice pack on the ankle and finished with nine points in 13 minutes.

"It's something about Marcus and Justin and Will," Carolina coach Roy Williams said.

"All three of them have sprained (right) ankles. Marcus' is the most severe. Justin tried to go a little bit in practice yesterday and couldn't. I would expect that Justin and Will would be able to play on Monday (at College of Charleston). I doubt if Marcus will be able to play."

Will Harris scored 22 points to lead Albany, which has lost four in a row and seven of its last eight — all on the road.

The Great Danes made just four shots in the first 10:10 while Davis and John Henson combined to block four, as the Heels' defense powered an 18-4 run that made it 23-8.

Davis had 13 of his points in the second half, and Deon Thompson finished with 15. Those two combined for four straight baskets in the lane that pushed the lead to 85-47 with 7:35 left.

"I think that first 28 minutes we played great basketball," Thompson said. "And then we just collapsed. Doing things like that against Virginia Tech or any ACC team will get you beat."

The poor finish a day after a double-session practice ruined Williams' night, and he said the Heels will have a team meeting "from 2 p.m. until midnight" today. "We've got to get better, guys," Williams said. "It's frustrating. The kids are frustrated. I told them this is probably the most negative I have been with any team. We teach so many things over and over again. ... We've got to get this team going a little bit better than we are right now."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

ALBANY, N.Y. (4-10) — Harris 8-16 3-4 22, McRae 1-7 0-0 2, Black 3-7 4-4 10, Ambrose 2-7 0-0 4, Gifford 0-0 0-1 0, Allen 6-8 0-0 16, Urli 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Metcalf 1-2 1-2 3, Tartt 0-1 1-2 1, Lindfors 1-3 0-0 3, Aronhalt 3-10 0-0 7. Totals 26-64 9-13 70.

NORTH CAROLINA (11-3) — Graves 3-7 0-0 9, Thompson 6-15 3-5 15, Davis 7-9 4-8 18, Strickland 0-2 3-4 3, Drew II 3-4 2-2 9, McDonald 4-10 1-1 9, Zeller 2-4 2-2 6, Henson 4-6 0-0 8, D.Wear 2-4 2-2 6, T.Wear 2-3 0-1 4, Thornton 0-1 0-2 0, Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, Petree 0-0 0-0 0, Gallagher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-66 17-27 87.

Halftime—North Carolina 46-29.
3-point goals—Albany, N.Y. 9-30 (Allen 4-6, Harris 3-8, Lindfors 1-3, Aronhalt 1-5, Black 0-1, Urli 0-1, Tartt 0-1, Ambrose 0-2, McRae 0-3), North Carolina 4-11 (Graves 3-6, Drew II 1-1, D.Wear 0-1, Henson 0-1, McDonald 0-1, Campbell 0-1).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—Albany, N.Y. 38 (Metcalf 8), North Carolina 41 (Davis 8).
Assists—Albany, N.Y. 19 (Black 5), North Carolina 18 (Drew II 6).
Total fouls—Albany, N.Y. 22, North Carolina 14.
A—19,225.