CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Tyler Hansbrough scored 25 points to lead No. 1 North Carolina to a 90-61 rout of Kent State on Wednesday night.

North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (50) comes down after a dunk as Kent State's Mike Scott (21) watches during the first half of a basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson both had 17 points for the Tar Heels (14-0), who never trailed during their final nonconference tuneup before Atlantic Coast Conference play starts Sunday at No. 19 Clemson, pulling away late for their fourth straight victory by least 25 points.

Despite being without three members of the rotation, North Carolina displayed enough depth to extend its best start since opening with 17 victories a decade ago. The Tar Heels also matched their longest winning streak under coach Roy Williams — whose 2004-05 team won 14 straight on its way to the school's last national championship.

Hansbrough was 11-for-11 from the free-throw line in his seventh straight 20-point game for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina shot 52.3 percent, made 17 of its 20 free throws and held the Golden Flashes to 3-for-18 shooting from 3-point range.

Haminn Quaintance tied a career high with 20 points and Mike Scott added 13 for Kent State (10-3), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped and was coming off the program's first-ever perfect December.

Playing a top-ranked team for the fourth time, the Golden Flashes hung close during the first half — pulling within 41-32 5 seconds before halftime on Scott's dunk, only to see North Carolina take a permanent double-figure lead moments later on Ellington's buzzer-beating 25-footer.

The Tar Heels led by 20 points for good on Ellington's shot in the lane midway through the second half and made it a 30-point game on Danny Green's putback with 5 1/2 minutes left.

They did it despite losing several members of the rotation in the past week, with reserve forward Alex Stepheson missing this game after returning home to California due to a family illness.

That followed last week's season-ending knee injury to backup point guard Bobby Frasor and an ankle injury to point guard Quentin Thomas that kept him out against Valparaiso. In their place against Kent State, freshman swingman Will Graves and junior forward Mike Copeland had season highs in minutes. Still, in a sign of the depth Williams' team boasts, eight players logged at least 14 minutes.

It was the first meeting between the schools since North Carolina routed the Golden Flashes 92-59 in 1978.