Photos by Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

North Carolina star center Tyler Hansbrough (left) defends Radford's Amir Johnson during Thursday's NCAA South Regional first-round game.

Radford's Art Parakhouski has a drive stopped by UNC's Deon Thompson (21) on Thursday.

Left: Brad Greenberg instructs the Highlanders during a timeout. Right: Seth Greenberg, Brad Greenberg's brother and Virginia Tech coach, watches from the sidelines at Greensboro Coliseum.

Radford's Kenny Thomas breaks down during the final minutes of Thursday's loss to UNC.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Maybe a better seed might have been helpful.

That was one conclusion Radford University forward Joey Lynch-Flohr took from his first experience in the NCAA men's basketball tournament -- a 101-58 loss to South Regional top-seed North Carolina on Thursday.

"We need to play better out of conference next year," he said. "That way, we can come back here with a 14 or 15 seed next time."

Not that Radford would be a lock to avoid the play-and-go-away syndrome now visited on every No. 16 that ever participated in this grand event. A draw opposite the Tar Heels can't be much fun under any circumstances.

UNC was every bit as fast, big, and relentless as the scouting report portrayal and had way too much of everything for the outgunned Highlanders at Greensboro Coliseum.

Short story: Radford was in it for a few minutes. Then it wasn't.

"There were no surprises out there, man," Radford senior Kenny Thomas said. "They're an awesome team. It seemed like they didn't miss tonight."

The Tar Heels (29-4) did miss a few, but they also had many opportunities in 84 shots taken on the way to shooting 45.2 percent for the game.

Carolina, the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, next takes on LSU here in Saturday's second round. The Tigers stopped Butler 75-71.

Radford (21-12), making its first NCAA appearance in over a decade, closed the campaign as Big South regular-season and tournament champs.

The Highlanders don't see this kind of stuff in their league.

That's especially true of the Heels' Tyler Hansbrough, whose next league will pay him a good wage. Hansbrough sank a foul shot with 15:43 left in the first half that pushed him over the top as the leading scorer in ACC history.

Hansbrough finished with a game-high 22 points -- 2,789 now for his career -- that included some modest shooting (5-for-16) from the floor but marvelous marksmanship (12-for-12) from the foul line.

Those efforts eclipsed the career scoring totals of Roanoke, Va., native J.J. Redick, who netted 2,769 points for Duke. Hansbrough's foul shooting was the best in Carolina's 136-game NCAA experience.

Hansbrough was just one of the problems facing the Highlanders. Wayne Ellington was brilliant with 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. He added eight rebounds as the Heels ripped Radford 59-48 on the backboards. Danny Green added 10 rebounds to accompany 15 points.

Carolina was successful all night in choking off the defensive middle, where Radford's Art Parakhouski and Lynch-Flohr have thrived all year. Whenever Big South player of the year Parakhouski had an offensive touch, the Heels immediately sandwiched him with two defenders, neither of whom treated him gently in the low post.

"Carolina is great team," he said. "I don't see big players like that in our conference."

The 6-foot-11 Parakhouski had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Lynch-Flohr added 12 points and 11 rebounds. The two of them were a composite 8-for-32 from the floor.

"I missed a lot of easy ones," Lynch-Flohr said.

Every shot seemed difficult for Radford, which shot 16.7 percent from the field in the blowout second half and 27.5 percent for the game (22 of 80).

The Highlanders had 16 fewer field goals than UNC but took only four fewer shots. Radford didn't fire many foul shots either and was outscored by 11 from the stripe by the Heels, who were 20-for-24.

Many of the Highlanders' infractions were the reaching out-of-position type stuff that comes when the opponent has vast speed and quickness.

"We didn't do a great job of getting back on defense at times," said Radford point guard Amir Johnson, who had 11 points and seven rebounds balanced against six turnovers and one assist. He did have a decent time of it in perimeter defense (three steals), but didn't have to contend with Heels sensation Ty Lawson, who sat with an inured toe.

Johnson, who had a touch of a respiratory ailment, played a game-high 38 minutes, two more than Thomas, who had 11 points and seven rebounds in his last college game.

Unexpectedly strong for UNC was post Ed Davis, who outplayed Parakhouski with production totaling 15 points, five rebounds, and four of his team's six blocked shots.

"They took us out of a lot of our sets because they pressured the wings," Radford's Phillip Martin said.

"And we didn't do such a good job of getting ourselves open. We had to start our offense higher than we usually do because of the pressure. And once we did get it inside, they clamped down and swarmed and brought in shot blockers to contest shots."

Aside from Thomas, Greensboro native Eric Hall (six points, 10 rebounds) and Jamar Jenkins played their last college game.

Carolina played like a national championship contender.

"They scored too many ways for us," Radford coach Brad Greenberg said.

The 43-point spread was the second largest for Carolina in the tournament in which it stands 97-39 all time.

"Even president picked them to win tournament," Parakhouski said.

Heels coach Roy Williams was polite but firm.

"You know, I love the president. I really, really like President Obama. I've been fortunate enough to meet him and I really, really like him. ... But frankly, he's got some more important things to worry about than the NCAA tournament."

RADFORD (21-12)

Martin 0-2 0-0 0, Lynch-Flohr 5-17 2-2 12, Parakhouski 3-15 4-6 10, Johnson 5-14 0-0 12, Thomas 4-14 1-2 11, McEachin 3-9 0-0 7, Wilder 0-0 0-0 0, Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Jenkins 0-3 0-0 0, Hall 2-5 2-4 6. Totals 22-80 9-14 58.

NORTH CAROLINA (29-4)

Green 6-14 2-2 15, Thompson 3-9 0-0 6, Hansbrough 5-16 12-12 22, Frasor 3-4 0-0 7, Ellington 11-16 0-1 25, Drew II 1-3 0-0 2, Tanner 0-2 0-0 0, Watts 0-1 0-0 0, Wooten 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 5-7 5-7 15, Moody 0-1 0-0 0, Copeland 2-7 1-1 5, Zeller 2-3 0-1 4. Totals 38-84 20-24 101.

Halftime--North Carolina 53-34. 3-Point Goals--Radford 5-17 (Johnson 2-5, Thomas 2-6, McEachin 1-3, Mitchell 0-1, Jenkins 0-2), North Carolina 5-14 (Ellington 3-5, Frasor 1-1, Green 1-3, Hansbrough 0-1, Tanner 0-2, Drew II 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Radford 48 (Lynch-Flohr 11), North Carolina 59 (Green 10). Assists--Radford 9 (Johnson 3), North Carolina 17 (Drew II 5). Total Fouls--Radford 17, North Carolina 13. A--20,226.