Top 25 Roundup: Tar Heels survive scare

By Associated Press     Jan 17, 2008

North Carolina's Ty Lawson, right, goes to the basket against Georgia Tech's D'Andre Bell. North Carolina won, 83-82, on Wednesday night in Atlanta.

? North Carolina usually does its best work at the offensive end.

This time, it was a defensive play that kept the top-ranked Tar Heels perfect.

With Georgia Tech poised to pull off a monumental upset, Tyler Hansbrough made a game-saving block in the closing seconds and the Tar Heels escaped with an 83-82 victory over the pesky Yellow Jackets on Wednesday night.

Hansbrough scored 27 points, bullying inside for shots and drawing one foul after another, but he saved his biggest play for the end – getting a hand on Zack Peacock’s shot that could have won it for the Yellow Jackets.

“Tyler was really something else,” Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said.

Danny Green put North Carolina (18-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) ahead by making one of two free throws with 22 seconds remaining.

Georgia Tech (7-9, 0-3) had a chance – a couple of them, in fact. Peacock retrieved the loose ball after Hansbrough’s block and got off another shot with three seconds to go. It rimmed out, allowing North Carolina to escape.

Peacock insisted that someone hit his hand on the first shot, but he made no excuses about the second attempt.

“It was the cleanest shot you’ll ever get in a basketball game,” he moaned. “Next time, it’s going in.”

Hansbrough finished 7-of-14 from the field and kept getting to the foul line, where he had more attempts (15) than Georgia Tech’s entire team (10). The burly, 6-foot-9 junior made 13 free throws, and North Carolina needed every one of them.

“My face really got beat up,” said Hansbrough, who also had 11 rebounds. “It was really, really rough.”

North Carolina is off to its best start since the 1985-86 team began the season with 21 straight wins. Another encouraging sign for the Tar Heels: This is their first 3-0 start in the conference since 2004-05, and that team went on to claim the NCAA championship.

This season, they have won all but four of their games with double-digit blowouts. North Carolina came into Atlanta averaging 92.2 points and winning by an average margin of 22.1.

With snow covering the ground outside after a rare winter storm in Georgia, the Yellow Jackets almost pulled off an even bigger surprise. They put together an 11-2 run for their biggest lead of the game, 63-56.

Anthony Morrow hit a three-pointer falling down and Peacock completed the spurt with a basket on the inside.

In the unaccustomed role of playing from behind, North Carolina responded. The Tar Heels worked hard for second chances and pulled even at 70 on Ty Lawson’s three-point play with 8:52 remaining.

But the Yellow Jackets kept matching North Carolina shot for shot. D’Andre Bell hit a jumper to reclaim the lead for the home team. Lawson scored on a fast-break drive to make it 72-all. Georgia Tech took off the other way for Peacock’s dunk.

It was close to the end. Jeremis Smith hit two free throws with 1:13 remaining to make it 82-82, and Georgia Tech squandered a chance to go ahead when Morrow missed a jumper from the corner with the shot clock running down.

No. 2 Memphis 77, Rice 50

Houston – Chris Douglas-Roberts and Doneal Mack both scored 16 points, and Joey Dorsey had nine points and 14 rebounds to lead Memphis.

Antonio Anderson scored 10 points for the Tigers (16-0, 3-0 Conference USA), who have won 35 consecutive regular-season games and 26 in a row in league play.

Memphis won by double digits for the 15th time this season despite going 7-for-31 from 3-point range (23 percent) and barely outrebounding the smaller Owls 42-41. The Tigers won with their full-court defense, which forced the flustered Owls into 29 turnovers.

Paulius Packevicius had 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Owls (3-13, 0-3).

No. 7 Duke 70, Florida State 57

Tallahassee, Fla. – Jon Scheyer scored 21 points, and Duke made eight straight free throws in the final 1:34 to beat Florida State, snapping an unlikely two-game losing streak to the Seminoles.

Florida State took its only lead of the second half at 55-54 on Jason Rich’s layup with 3:45 left before Duke put the game away with a closing 16-2 run, Kyle Singler’s three-pointer put the Blue Devils ahead for good with 3:30 to play.

Massachusetts 82, No. 14 Dayton 71

Dayton, Ohio – Ricky Harris scored 22 points, and Chris Lowe added 19 to lead Massachusetts over Dayton, snapping the Flyers’ 13-game winning streak. The Minuteman (12-4, 1-1 Atlantic 10) finished with 13 three-pointers, and their speed in the open court beat Dayton’s defense. Brian Roberts had 21 points for the Flyers (14-2, 2-1), who finished 4-of-25 from three-point range as the Minutemen collapsed to help inside. Massachusetts had six blocked shots.

No. 18 Mississippi 89, Florida 87

Oxford, Miss. – Dwayne Curtis had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Trevor Gaskins scored 19 points as Mississippi snapped a six-game losing streak to Florida. The Gators (15-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) had no answer for the wide-bodied Curtis, who was a force for the Rebels (15-1, 2-1) as they tried to put away Florida late.

Temple 78, No. 20 Xavier 59

Philadelphia – Dionte Christmas scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half, and Mark Tyndale added 22 to lead Temple. The Owls (7-8, 1-1 Atlantic 10) beat a ranked opponent for the first time in two years.

No. 25 Villanova 76, DePaul 69

Villanova, Pa. – Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points, Antonio Pena had 17, and Villanova used a late 15-0 run to rally past DePaul. The Wildcats (12-3, 2-2 Big East) trailed by 16 points in the first half and were down seven midway through the second.

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