GREENSBORO, N.C. – Top-seeded North Carolina was lifted by 25 points from Wayne Ellington and 22 from Tyler Hansbrough in a 101-58 win over 16th-seeded Radford in NCAA Tournament South Region first round action at the Greensboro Coliseum Thursday.

Radford, the 2008-09 Big South regular season and tournament champion, finishes the season 21-12.

“We had a great year,” commented Radford head coach Brad Greenberg. “I'm really proud of our guys. I just told our guys in the locker room, in no way do I want them to feel anything but proud of what they accomplished this year.”

North Carolina (29-4) moves on to play eighth-seeded LSU in the second round on Saturday. The Tigers beat ninth-seeded Butler, 75-71, in the day's first game.

Ellington and Hansbrough paced four North Carolina players in double figures. Danny Green added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Ed Davis scored 15 off the bench.

Junior Amir Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Quaker Valley) scored 12 points, and Radford's junior frontcourt duo of Art Parakhouski (Minsk, Belarus) and Joey-Lynch Flohr (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) added double-double efforts. Parakhouski dropped in his 17th double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Lynch-Flohr his third with 12 points and 11 boards.

“We got the ball inside enough and our interior guys got shots that they make against most teams – they just didn't go in,” said Coach Greenberg.

Senior Kenny Thomas (Richmond, Va./Highland Springs), Radford's 10th all-time leading scorer, had 11 points in his final game and finished his career with 1,242 points.

“To end my career on the biggest stage in college basketball was awesome,” said Thomas. “I know a lot of people don't get to experience what we just experienced. When I was out there, I just tried to seize the moment, enjoy and relish it.”

The Tar Heels took a 53-34 lead into the intermission, on the strength of 50 percent shooting from the floor and 14 points each from Hansbrough and Ellington.

Radford countered in the opening 20 minutes by hitting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, including two each from Johnson and Thomas. On two occasions in the first half, a Johnson three-pointer cut the deficit to three including one from the right wing that made it 17-14, North Carolina, at the 3:37 mark.

Thomas knocked down 4-of-7 from the floor in the first half, leading Radford with his 10 points.

North Carolina used an 8-2 swing late in the period to take control, capped off by Green's put-back underneath to make the score 44-27 with 3:24 left.

Early in the second half, the Tar Heels pushed the lead to 37, 81-44, on Ellington's three-pointer at the 12:41 mark. North Carolina's largest lead was 43 points.

Both teams finished with 20 offensive rebounds.

The trip was Radford's second to the NCAA Tournament in school history, with the first coming in 1998.

Radford completed its seventh 20-win season all-time by winning 17 of the last 20 games.