CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Rule No. 1 of big-time sports: Don't acknowledge individuals in the crowd. Not the mean ones, not the nice ones, not any of them. Ever. How big-time can you possibly be if you hear the guy in the 20th row -- and show it?

Every athlete knows that rule, but North Carolina freshman Raymond Felton broke it in his first college game Monday night against Penn State. With the Tar Heels breezing toward an 85-55 victory in the first round of the Owens Corning Preseason NIT, Felton heard the huge man with the huge voice 20 rows deep into the Smith Center crowd.

	Rashad McCants set UNC's freshman opening-game scoring mark with 28 points.

"Ray-mond!" boomed the voice. "Ray-mond Fel-ton!"

Felton looked. He's a big-time player now on a big-time team, but he looked. He's still a kid, you know. Only 18. What kid hears his name and doesn't look?

Out there on the court, with teammate Rashad McCants shooting two free throws, Felton spotted the guy in the 20th row and gave him a little smile.

"I love the crowd," Felton said afterward, after setting a UNC record for debuting freshmen with 10 assists, and adding nine points. "They show me love, and I want to give it back."

It could be a fun year for the Tar Heels. Nobody's calling them a Final Four favorite, or even an ACC favorite, but last season's 8-20 outrage won't happen, either. Not with these new kids on the block, ready-made freshmen Felton, McCants and Sean May, all of them McDonald's All-Americans who looked the part Monday against Penn State and will get another chance Wednesday against visiting Rutgers in a second-round NIT game.

Felton, McCants and May combined for 54 points, 21 rebounds, 13 assists and seven steals against Penn State. The Nittany Lions aren't exactly good -- they were 7-21 last season, and might not fare any better this season. But then again, a team didn't need a pedigree to run with the Tar Heels last season. North Carolina lost its first two games a year ago to Hampton and Davidson, almost lost to Binghamton, and later on did lose to Florida State and Ohio.

If Monday night showed anything about the 2002-03 Tar Heels, anything at all, it showed they don't resent or fear the spotlight, as last season's squad did. Seniors Kris Lang and Jason Capel clearly were strained by the pressure of having to carry last season's young team. Then-sophomores Adam Boone and Brian Morrison were deer caught in the spotlight of the UNC tradition. Freshmen Jawad Williams, Melvin Scott and especially Jackie Manuel were timid.

These Tar Heels are younger, but more confident. Brazen, even.

North Carolina hit 10 of its first 12 shots from the floor, including two dunks and two 3-pointers from McCants (UNC freshman record 28 points). When shaken Penn State coach Jerry Dunn called a timeout with his team trailing McCants 10-6, McCants walked off the floor and pointed to the roaring crowd, asking for even more love. As they gave it, McCants flicked his ear with his right finger, again and again, in acknowledgement.

The freshmen's enthusiasm and confidence seemed to pass to the sophomores, especially Manuel, who tied his career high with 16 points and attacked the rim more times in 27 minutes of action than he did last season in 26 games.

"I was hesitant last year," Manuel said. "I feel better about my game and my role, and now I take what the defense gives me."

UNC coach Matt Doherty knows enough basketball to know when to get out of his players' way. With the Tar Heels leading 68-35 midway through the second half, Doherty told his team to ease off the accelerator and get some practice at milking the clock. Penn State responded with an 18-3 run that cut the deficit to 71-53 with almost seven minutes to play.

Doherty called timeout.

"Just play basketball," he told his players.

Attacking once again, North Carolina scored the next 14 points, including four dunks.

"The players are smarter than I am," Doherty said.

He was joking, but he could afford to joke. North Carolina basketball is fun again, and nobody is more aware of that than the North Carolina basketball coach.

Games of the Week

St. Joseph's at Boston College, Saturday: Neither team lived up to expectations last season, and neither has that much to live up to this season -- although the Eagles are believed to have a better shot at the NCAA Tournament. Enough with the conjecture, huh? Let's play ball. Rutgers at Temple, Sunday: We here at ESPN.com have pretty much said the Big East is way, way -- way -- better than the Atlantic 10. Rutgers, a middle-of-the-pack Big East team, gets to prove it against an upper-level A-10 team. George Washington at Connecticut, Monday: Former Connecticut assistant Karl Hobbs, who helped recruit many of the current Huskies, meets mentor Jim Calhoun in one of those emotionally wrenching games both men want to win -- but neither wants to see the other lose.

Xavier no one-West show
The best thing for Xavier basketball might be for center David West not to be its best player. Think about it. How good would the Musketeers be -- and they were plenty good a year ago at 26-6, with West repeating as A-10 player of the year -- if West could play with less pressure?

You saw a glimpse of that Monday night, when the Musketeers picked apart St. Peter's 87-48 with Romain Sato leading the way with 23 points and nine rebounds, both game highs.

West did his part, as he always does, with 21 points and three steals. But if Sato can develop into one of the best wing players in the country -- as Xavier coach Thad Matta believes he can -- that would give Xavier perhaps the premier inside-outside combination in college basketball.

Teams win national championships with that kind of combination, especially when backed by a supporting cast that includes a veteran point guard (Lionel Chalmers). As explosive offensively as his team can be, Matta wants the Musketeers to win with defense. Against Saint Peter's, Xavier converted 19 turnovers in 22 points, and outrebounded its foe 46-20.

"Coming into the game our focus was on defense," said Matta, whose team plays at Stanford on Wednesday in the Preseason NIT's second round. "By no means are we where we need to be defensively, but I think we're getting there."

They just might get where they want to go -- all the way to the Final Four in New Orleans -- if Sato can join West in the engine room.

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