CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Wayne Ellington scored 20 points and made key plays late to help the Tar Heels avoid a major scare and a subpar second half from Tyler Hansbrough to beat Davidson 72-68 on Wednesday night.
Trailing for much of the second half, North Carolina (1-0) closed the game strong. Ellington’s free throw with 3:44 left put the Tar Heels ahead to stay. His jumper with just over a minute left made it a three-point game. Ty Lawson then hit three of four free throws in the final 30 seconds to preserve the win.
Hansbrough had 14 points and 14 rebounds, but he was ineffective in the second half and got into foul trouble.
Stephen Curry scored 24 points for Davidson (1-1), which nearly became the latest small school to knock off a major school.
With Mercer beating Southern California and Gardner-Webb stunning Kentucky so far, Davidson was bidding to join the early season surprises. The Wildcats returned all five starters from last season’s team that won a school-record 29 games before losing to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
No. 7 Tennessee 101, Arkansas-Monticello 44
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tyler Smith scored 15 points and JaJuan Smith added 14 to help Tennessee beat Arkansas-Monticello in the first round of the StubHub Legends Classic.
Tennessee used a 20-5 run to start the game and put it out of reach. The Vols (2-0), who reached the round of 16 at the NCAA tournament last season, beat Temple in the home opener last Friday.
The Vols are 17-0 in nonconference home games under Bruce Pearl and improved to 31-4 under the third-year coach when scoring more than 80 points.
Deron Brown led the Division II Boll Weevils with 11 points and five assists before fouling out.
The Volunteers shot 60 percent from the floor while holding Arkansas-Monticello to 25 percent.
No. 12 Michigan State 83, Louisiana-Monroe 65
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Freshman Chris Allen scored 17 points and All-American Drew Neitzel had 15 to help Michigan State withstand a 3-point barrage and beat Louisiana-Monroe in a CBE Classic regional final.
The Spartans (2-0) blew a 47-35 halftime lead and trailed 57-56 with 13:46 left. But with several second and third opportunities, Michigan State scored the next 11 points and held the Warhawks scoreless for 6:42.
Jordan Payne had 27 points for the Warhawks (1-2), who hit 14 3-pointers.
M 81, UTEP 76
M held off a plucky UTEP team.
M ahead 71-68. UTEP got a pair of free throws from Marvin Kilgore before Derrick Roland’s layup put made it 73-70.
M’s lead to 75-70 with 50 seconds left. Roland forced a UTEP turnover on the next possession and hit a free throw and Donald Sloan added a free throw to make it 77-70.
Just like they had all night, the Miners didn’t give up and Stefon Jackson’s 3 with 13 seconds remaining cut the lead to 77-73. Kirk made two free throws before Randy Culpepper’s 3 with five second left made it 79-76.
The Miners were finally put away for good with a dunk by Joseph Jones with a second left. Jones had 15 points and Kirk had 14.
No. 25 Butler 76, Indiana State 48
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A.J. Graves scored 26 points and Butler beat Indiana State.
Graves shot 8-for-12 from the field and made six 3-pointers.
Mike Green had 15 points and eight rebounds and Pete Campbell added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Jay Tunnell and Gabriel Moore both scored 10 points to lead Indiana State.
Butler (2-0) shot 53 percent from the field, including 12 of 23 3-pointers, and the Bulldogs outscored the Sycamores 49-34 in the second half.
Indiana State (1-1) had been a thorn for Butler. The Sycamores gave the Bulldogs their first loss last year, and had won the previous three meetings.
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