CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Five national championship banners hang from one side of the Dean E. Smith Center. Eighteen banners for an NCAA-record haul of Final Four appearances drape the opposite side and 34 All-American banners grace another wall of the building.

FIU and first-year coach Isiah Thomas walked into a shrine of college basketball Monday night to take on defending national-champion North Carolina in the opening round of the 2K Sports Classic.

Thomas and the Golden Panthers also were greeted by the college basketball atmosphere.

As Thomas walked to the FIU bench, he was greeted with chants of ``Magic, Magic'' in reference to Magic Johnson's recent book, which is critical of Thomas.

``College fans are great with the sayings they come up with,'' a smiling Thomas said. ``. . . You can't beat it. I gave them a nice salute. I started to blow them a kiss, but I didn't want to do that. It was great. We had a good time. We really enjoyed ourselves.''

And although the Golden Panthers went on to lose 88-72 to the No. 6 team in the nation, they did not buckle.

``We knew we were huge underdogs coming in here,'' said junior guard Antoine Watson, whose team was a 31-point underdog. ``People were saying we were going to lose by 50 points, but we showed some heart [Monday] and even though we lost it was a great experience.''

Upon being hired April 15, Thomas said the Golden Panthers would be a work in progress this season but would battle until the end.

``I'm very proud of our team,'' said Thomas, who won his last game against North Carolina in the 1981 national championship game for Indiana. ``They were very scrappy. They were extremely competitive. . . . The first thing you got to do in order to win, you got to learn how to fight. I thought [Monday] we came in and we fought. But we weren't quite good enough and we weren't quite big enough, but at least we fought for the win. And if you learn how to fight, then one day you can win.''

FIU NEVER LED

North Carolina never trailed against FIU and engineered a 15-5 run to start the second half to put the game away.

Thomas coached his first college basketball game with a heavy heart after his mother, Mary Thomas, sustained a heart attack Saturday night in Chicago.

Thomas did not travel with the team to Raleigh, N.C., on Sunday, instead taking a plane to Chicago to be with his mother. Thomas arrived in North Carolina late Sunday night to coach Monday's game, but returned to Chicago after the game.

``My mom raised me to fight just like I'm trying to put it in our team,'' said Thomas, whose mother will have surgery when she builds up more strength. ``[On Sunday] night, when I was speaking to her, she just said she doesn't want to die and she's going to fight to live. She told me to go to work and fight for our team. My mom put a lot of fight in me and she's fighting for her life and I appreciate everyone saying a prayer.''

WILLIAMS `IMPRESSED'

The Golden Panthers stayed within nine points of the Tar Heels until there was 8:20 left in the first half.

However, FIU went scoreless for nearly four minutes, allowing North Carolina to open a 15-point lead.

Still, even after they fell behind by 26 points with 13:29 left, the Golden Panthers did not pack it in.

``I was impressed by how they kept battling,'' UNC coach Roy Williams said.

FIU closed with a 16-8 run and was feeling good.

``This was a positive but emotional night for us because of what Coach has gone through,'' guard Phil Gary said. ``We had to fight for Coach. We took a lot from this game.

``We competed with the national champs for most of this game, and this will definitely help us the rest of the season.''

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