Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The University of North Carolina opened defense of its basketball championship with an 88-72 win over Florida International, a game that featured Isiah Thomas’s return to coaching.

Deon Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to lead the Tar Heels, who lost four starters from last year’s championship squad. Ed Davis added 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Marcus Ginyard and Tyler Zeller each scored 12 points for North Carolina, which improved to 93-7 all- time in home openers.

Marvin Roberts scored 18 points for Florida International, which hasn’t had a winning record since the 1999-2000 season. FIU hired Thomas as coach in April, one year after he was fired by the National Basketball Association’s New York Knicks.

“Our team was very scrappy and extremely competitive,” Thomas, who had a 187-223 record as coach of the Knicks and Indiana Pacers, said during his post-game news conference. “What I liked best was that we fought. We just weren’t quite good enough and weren’t quite big enough.”

A Hall of Fame player, Thomas’s college coaching debut came on the same day that his 86-year-old mother had open-heart surgery in Chicago. He traveled to North Carolina yesterday to join his team at the Smith Center.

Before the game, he received a handshake and hug from opposing coach Roy Williams, who was a Tar Heels assistant under Dean Smith in 1981 when Thomas led Indiana past North Carolina in the national championship game.

Florida International was a 30-point underdog last night, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers, and trailed by as many as 26 points during the second half.

“I’m sure his team could have played a lot more,” Thomas said of Williams, who put 16 players in the game. “I appreciate him not really hurting us too bad.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 10, 2009 00:01 EST