Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Tyler Hansbrough scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds as No. 4 North Carolina easily topped Boston College, 91-69, at the Smith Center.

Deon Thompson added a career-high 17 points and also grabbed six boards for the Tar Heels (20-1, 5-1 ACC), who returned to action after an eight-day layoff. The team last played on January 23rd, when it defeated Miami, 98-82, in Coral Gables.

"I was playing really good tonight," said Thompson. "I was going to the basket, so it was good. When the ball is in to you, and the first couple shots you take go in the basket, it just kind of gets you rolling and gets you going, so that was good."

Ty Lawson donated 16 points and dished out 10 assists in the victory, while Wayne Ellington finished with 14 points and Marcus Ginyard 10. Alex Stephenson ended with 11 boards.

Tyrese Rice finished with a game-high 20 points for the Eagles (12-7, 3-3), who were coming off an 81-73 overtime loss at home to Virginia Tech on Saturday and have now dropped three straight. Rakim Sanders ended with 16 points and was the only other player in double figures for Boston College.

"We did not do a good job, particularly in the first half, of running our offense," said Eagles head coach Al Skinner. "And again it led to run outs for them. In order for us to have any successes there are two things we needed to do. We needed to control ourselves on the offensive end and try to cut down on some transition and try to keep them off the free throw line a little bit."

The Tar Heels opened the game on a 14-4 run, started on an Ellington jumper and capped by a Lawson free throw. Ginyard also had five points during the spurt, which appeared to put North Carolina on course for a strong outing.

The Eagles had other ideas though, and used a 7-0 run to get back in the hunt, 14-11, on a Rice jumper.

The momentum didn't shift to either team after that, as North Carolina failed to create some breathing room. The Tar Heels later watched a five-point lead evaporate, and Boston College eventually jumped on top, 26-25, on a John Oates trey at 9:16.

It was at that point, however, when the Tar Heels' offensive finally showed some life, as they ended the half on a 22-5 run. Thompson sparked the rally by scoring six consecutive points, while Hansbrough closed it out with a pair at the line to give North Carolina a 47-31 lead at intermission.

The home squad continued to pour it on after the break, using a 10-0 burst to open a 57-31 cushion. Josh Southern's layup momentarily stopped the bleeding for the Eagles, but the game was out of reach by that point, even as the Tar Heels missed their next nine shots but still maintained a 63-44 margin.

North Carolina managed to right the ship and outscored the visitors 28-25 the rest of the way.