EAST LANSING, Mich. — Inside an arena that can be one of the loudest in college basketball, there was mostly just silence and shock in the final moments of North Carolina’s 79-65 victory against Michigan State here on Wednesday night.
People packed into the Breslin Center expecting to see the Spartans, the nation’s top-ranked team, put a hurting on the Tar Heels. Instead, for the second time in the span of a week and a half, a UNC team that has been doubted and cast aside defeated a top-5 opponent.
First it was then-No. 3 Louisville in Connecticut at the Naismith Hall of Fame Tip-Off. On Wednesday night, it was the Spartans, the top-ranked team in the nation.
The victory, which wasn’t even in doubt in the final minutes, was the Tar Heels’ first against No. 1 team since they beat Duke March 4, 2006. In UNC’s two games against top-ranked teams since, it had lost a close one at Kentucky in 2011 and been run off the court at Indiana, just last season in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
One year later, in the same event, that kind of outcome might have seemed the most likely on Wednesday night. The Tar Heels on Sunday suffered an embarrassing 63-59 defeat at UAB — a loss that had UNC coach Roy Williams questioning his team’s effort and toughness.
Before that, there was a home defeat against Belmont, too. From the start here on Wednesday night, though, UNC (5-2) looked more like the team that beat Louisville the one that lost those games against Belmont and UAB.
The Tar Heels led by as many as 14 in the first half and by as many as 13 in the second half, after Kennedy Meeks, the freshman center, made a layup that put UNC ahead 65-52 with about six minutes to play.
Meeks, who played a prominent role in the victory against Louisville, again showed why Williams has often offered him high praise. Meeks finished with 15 points — nine coming in the second half.
Meeks was one of five UNC players who scored in double figures, and he was a primary reason why the Tar Heels dominated on the interior. Williams bemoaned his lack of inside scoring against UAB, but the Tar Heels on Wednesday night outscored Michigan State 44-28 in the paint.
In addition to Meeks’ 15 points, Brice Johnson, the sophomore forward, scored 14. Meeks and Johnson also combined for 13 rebounds. Aside from controlling the inside, UNC also outscored Michigan State in points off of turnovers (19-7), second-chance points (19-10), fast break points (12-10) and bench points (31-17).
After Meeks gave UNC its 13-point lead in the second half, Michigan State never cut its deficit to fewer than eight points. The Spartans (7-1) shot just 31.3 percent from the field during the second half, and 35.9 percent for the game.
What transpired in the second half was a continuation of what UNC did during the first part of the first half.
Brice Johnson made a jump shot that gave the Tar Heels a 20-6 lead with 11 minutes and 17 seconds to play before halftime. After that, though, the Spartans controlled the rest of the half.
The Spartans outscored UNC 26-12 during the rest of the half and the teams entered halftime tied at 32. During its run in the final nine minutes of the first half, Michigan State limited UNC’s second-chance scoring chances.
That’s something the Spartans didn’t do early on. During the first nine minutes the Tar Heels outscored Michigan State 10-0 in second-chance points. UNC, though, mustered just two second-chance points the rest of the half.
And the Tar Heels scored no points of any kind during the final five minutes and four seconds before halftime. Meeks made a layup to give UNC a 32-25 lead but after that the Tar Heels missed their final five shots of the half, and also committed four turnovers.
Earlier in the week, Williams, in his 11th season as UNC’s coach, lauded the Spartans’ experience and depth. He understood the task that faced his team.
“But you still get to play the game,” Williams said on Tuesday, before his team traveled north.
In the final moments, the only sounds that could be heard were those of a small contingent of UNC fans, who celebrated an improbable moment.
No. 5 OHIO STATE 76, MARYLAND 60
COLUMBUS, Ohio — LaQuinton Ross scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, hitting his first four 3-pointers, to send Ohio State to an early lead against Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Sam Thompson added 14 points, including four rim-rattling dunks, and Lenzelle Smith Jr. had 12. Aaron Craft created havoc on defense and chipped in with 10 points as the Buckeyes (7-0) controlled the game at both ends.
Ex-Xavier guard Dez Wells had 19 points, former Michigan swingman Evan Smotrycz scored 15 and Charles Mitchell added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Maryland (5-3), which had won four in a row after losing two of its first three.
This is Maryland’s last ACC/Big Ten Challenge — well, at least as an ACC team. Next year, the Terrapins join the Buckeyes in the new 14-team Big Ten.
No. 7 LOUISVILLE 90,
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY 62
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Montrezl Harrell scored 14 points to lead five Louisville players in double figures as the Cardinals routed Missouri-Kansas City.
Facing first-year Kangaroos coach Kareem Richardson, Louisville reminded the former Cardinals assistant what he left behind to take the UMKC job. Though less dominant on offense than in last December’s 99-47 victory over the Kangaroos, the Cardinals (7-1) controlled the game throughout and steadily pulled away in the second half.
They manhandled UMKC 44-24 in the paint, forced 20 turnovers that led to 29 points and outrebounded the Kangaroos 49-29, grabbing 22 on the offensive end.
Chane Behanan came off the bench to score 11 points and grab 11 rebounds. Chris Jones, Russ Smith and Luke Hancock each added 10 points and combined for five of Louisville’s 10 3-pointers.
Nelson Kirksey and Martez Harrison had 14 points apiece for UMKC (1-6).
No. 8 WISCONSIN 48, VIRGINIA 38
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Josh Gasser scored 11 points and Wisconsin won a defensive struggle against Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, giving coach Bo Ryan his 300th victory with the Badgers.
The Badgers (9-0) extended their best start since opening 11-0 in 1993-94. They limited Virginia to 23 percent shooting (11 for 47), including a stretch of nearly 22 minutes spanning halftime in which the Cavaliers managed just three field goals.
Wisconsin won going away despite shooting only 29 percent (15 for 52).
London Perrantes led Virginia (7-2) with eight points. Joe Harris, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer, finished 1 for 10 from the field with two points.
No. 14 VILLANOVA 77, PENN 54
VILLANOVA, Pa. — Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points and James Bell had 14 to lead Villanova over Penn.
JayVaughn Pinkston added 13 points and the Wildcats (8-0) overcame a 7:29 scoreless stretch to open the second half, winning their first game as a ranked team in almost two years.
The Wildcats catapulted from unranked to 14th this week, the first time they cracked the Top 25 since they were No. 19 in the Feb. 28, 2011, poll. Within a span of about 24 hours, Villanova defeated No. 2 Kansas and No. 23 Iowa to win the Battle 4 Atlantis last weekend in the Bahamas.
Miles Jackson-Cartwright led Penn (2-5) with 17 points. Villanova beat the Quakers for the 11th straight time.
No. 25 DAYTON 56, DELAWARE STATE 46
DAYTON, Ohio — Matt Kavanaugh scored 11 points and Dayton overcame a sluggish first half, poor free throw shooting and a late slump to defeat Delaware State.
Dayton (7-1) finally found some rhythm in the slow-paced game with a 14-2 run that pushed its lead to 50-30 with 7:51 to play. Delaware State (2-6) responded with consecutive 3-pointers by Tyshawn Bell to spark a 9-0 run. The Hornets cut the lead to 54-46 with 1:32 left before Dayton finished it off.
Dayton played its first game as a ranked team since 2009 and looked jet-lagged from its trip to the Maui Invitational last week. It was the Flyers’ first game back home since a third-place finish in Maui, and it was that tournament performance that elevated them into the Top 25.
By wire sources