ATLANTA (AP) -Tyler Hansbrough scored 27 points and made a crucial block in the closing seconds as No. 1 North Carolina held on for an 83-82 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.
Danny Green put the Tar Heels (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 to pull off a monumental upset, but Zack Peacock’s shot was blocked by Hansbrough. Peacock retrieved the loose ball and got off a jumper that rimmed out, allowing North Carolina to escape.
The Tar Heels are off to their best start since the 1985-86 team began the season with 21 straight wins. This is their first 3-0 start in the conference since 2004-05, and that team went on to win the NCAA championship.
The Tar Heels have won all but four of their games by double-digit blowouts. They came into Atlanta averaging 92.2 points and winning by an average margin of 22.1.
The Yellow Jackets put together an 11-2 run for their biggest lead of the game, 63-56.
No. 2 Memphis 77, Rice 50
HOUSTON (AP) – 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 forced the Owls into 29 turnovers.
Paulius Packevicius had 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Owls (3-13, 0-3), who have lost six straight.
No. 7 Duke 70, Florida St. 57
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Jon Scheyer scored 21 points and Duke made eight straight free throws in the final 1:34 to snap a two-game losing streak to Florida State.
The Seminoles took their 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 3-pointer put the Blue Devils (14-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) ahead for good with 3:30 to play.
Rich had all 18 of his points in the second half to key the comeback by Florida State (12-6, 1-2).
M 53
M team ranked in the top 10 for a third straight time.
Like when Knight surpassed former North Carolina coach Dean Smith on the career list with win No. 880, he got his 900th on his second try.
M twice by a combined four points and the Aggies were ranked No. 6 going into each game.
Martin Zeno scored 19 points and Trevor Cook added a career-high 14 for Texas Tech (10-6, 1-1 Big 12).
Josh Carter and Joseph Jones scored 11 points each for the Aggies (15-2, 1-1), who went 18-for-53 from the field in its worst shooting performance (34 percent) of the season and they turned the ball over a season-high 20 times.
Massachusetts 82, No. 14 Dayton 71
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – Ricky Harris scored 22 points and Chris Lowe added 19 as Massachusetts snapped the Flyers’ 13-game winning streak.
The Minuteman (12-4, 1-1 Atlantic 10) finished with 13 3-pointers and six blocked shots.
Brian Roberts had 21 points for the Flyers (14-2, 2-1), who finished 4-of-25 from 3-point range.
Dayton tied the game at 59 with 9:13 remaining, but Lowe put Massachusetts ahead with a free throw and then followed with a layup on the next possession.
Gary Forbes had 16 points for Massachusetts.
Marcus Johnson had 15 points the Flyers, who outrebounded Massachusetts 50-35.
No. 18 Mississippi 89, Florida 87
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – Dwayne Curtis had 20 points and 12 rebounds and freshman Trevor Gaskins scored 19 points for Mississippi, which snapped a six-game losing streak to Florida.
Gaskins stole the focus from the much-anticipated matchup between freshman guards Chris Warren of Ole Miss (15-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) and Nick Calathes of the Gators (15-3, 2-1) . He hit three 3-pointers and scored eight points during a 19-5 run by the Rebels midway through the second half. The Gators were able to get close late as the Rebels made just eight of their last 17 free throw attempts.
It was the first win for Ole Miss against the two-time defending national champions since 2002 and the Rebels are off to their best start since they started 16-1 in 1925-26.
Calathes and Dan Werner led Florida with 16 points apiece.
Temple 78, No. 20 Xavier 59
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – 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 to earn their biggest win since Fran Dunphy replaced Hall of Fame coach John Chaney last season.
Derrick Brown had 14 points for the Musketeers (14-4, 2-1), who had won six in a row by an average margin of 25.3 points since losing to then-No. 12 Tennessee on Dec. 22.
No. 25 Villanova 76, DePaul 69
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) – Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points and Antonio Pena had 17 for Villanova, which used a late 15-0 run to rally for the victory.
The Wildcats (12-3, 2-2 Big East) trailed by 16 points in the first half and were down seven midway through the second when they went on their game-changing run.
Reynolds sealed the win with a clutch 3-pointer with 30 seconds left that made it 72-66.
Villanova evened the season series after the Blue Demons (7-9, 3-2) stunned the Wildcats with an 84-76 win in the conference opener on Jan. 3.
Draelon Burns scored 27 points for DePaul.
End Capsules
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