Furman 76, Chattanooga 71
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Moussa Diagne and Robby Bostain combined for Furman's final 13 points Tuesday night to lift the Paladins to a 76-71 victory over Chattanooga in the teams' Southern Conference opener.
Bostain finished with a game-high 17 and Diagne with 15 for Furman (7-5).
The Paladins used a 15-7 run to move ahead 65-62 on Diagne's two free throws with five minutes left. Bostain had a pair of reverse layups kept the Paladins in front before Diagne scored his team's last 7 points, topped by a slam and a free throw with 17 seconds left.
Steve Cherry had six straight points to put Chattanooga (8-7) ahead 55-50 before George Borzos started Furman's winning run with a 3-pointer with 12:08 to go.
Furman'sa Gerad Punch added 10 points, including a go ahead lay-up for a 63-62 lead with 5:50 to play.
#25 North Carolina 82, Davidson 58
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Roy Williams likes the talent, athleticism and competitiveness of his North Carolina squad. The coach would also like his young team to show a little more maturity.
Freshman Tyler Hansbrough scored a season-high 23 points and the 25th-ranked Tar Heels turned in a solid defensive performance to beat Davidson 82-58 on Tuesday night. But Williams sounded almost exasperated with parts of his team's performance heading into Atlantic Coast Conference play.
``I'm not very impressed with how intelligent we were tonight,'' Williams said.
``I love my club from the shoulders down,'' he said. ``We're going to have to see about some brain transplants, but other than that, we'll be all right.''
Reyshawn Terry added 16 points and four blocks for the Tar Heels (8-2), who open conference play at home Saturday against No. 13 North Carolina State.
There was plenty for Williams to feel good about heading into the matchup. The Wildcats (7-5) came in averaging 85 points per game, but managed just 12 through the first 18 minutes and had to fight for every one of them. The Wildcats shot 32 percent and committed 20 turnovers for the game, while the Tar Heels took a 54-31 edge on the boards.
The Tar Heels used a 17-0 run to take a 22-point lead late in the first half, and led by as many as 29 points.
But the Tar Heels struggled at times on offense, committing 20 turnovers as Davidson frequently double-teamed Hansbrough in the post. And as the game wore on with the outcome no longer in doubt, Williams grew irritated with several mental breakdowns that could prove costly against ACC opponents.
Just don't bother reminding Williams that the Tar Heels are an inexperienced group after losing their top seven scorers from last year's national championship team.
``I told them, 'I'm not satisfied with using the excuse that you're freshmen,''' he said. ``We've played 10 games. You've got to make better decisions.''
Williams never let up during the game, constantly yelling for his players to get in the right defensive position or repeatedly turning to instruct players on the bench when something went wrong on the court.
At one point, he grew so irked after his team allowed a three-point play with about 9 minutes left that he ripped off his sports coat and flung it on the bench. Barely a minute later, he called a timeout to admonish his team after it didn't get back down court following a basket by Hansbrough and allowed Brendan Winters to get an uncontested layup.
His players got the message.
``Everybody knows at that point he's all business,'' said freshman Marcus Ginyard, who had four of North Carolina's 13 steals. ``We've just got to make it where he's not doing that anymore, where we play off our own intensity and not what Coach is throwing at us.''
Davidson earned one of its biggest wins in program history by beating the Tar Heels 58-54 in the Smith Center early in the 2001-02 season. The Tar Heels had won the two meetings since by an average margin of 19 points, and used their defense to extend that streak with relatively little trouble.
The Tar Heels held the Wildcats to eight first-half field goals, including a run of 12 straight possessions and nearly 7 minutes without a point.
Leading 17-12, the Tar Heels locked down on the Wildcats and forced them into nine straight misses and four turnovers during that drought. The Wildcats - as with much of the game - often found themselves staring at dwindling shot clocks with the Tar Heels chasing them out beyond the 3-point arc.
Davidson got no closer than 14 points early in the second half. Winters scored 18 points on 7-of-21 shooting to lead the Wildcats.
``The defensive effort by North Carolina tonight was extraordinary,'' Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. ``They made every catch, every dribble and every pass an adventure for us and put us on our heels.''
#13 NC State 83, UNC Greensboro 52
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- With a victory over George Washington behind them and a skirmish with archrival North Carolina just ahead, North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek made it clear to his players not to take UNC-Greensboro for granted.
No one heard that message any clearer than Tony Bethel.
Emerging from a shooting slump, Bethel was 8-for-9 from the field and scored 20 points, and No. 13 N.C. State used a 3-point flurry in the first half en route to an 83-52 victory Tuesday night.
"In watching the tapes, I wasn't down in the stance on some of the shots I missed that I needed to make," Bethel said. "That's what helped me tonight. Once I get in a groove, I close my eyes and shoot it sometimes."
The victory stretched N.C. State's winning streak to seven games, matching a similar run under Sendek in the 1999-2000 season, and was its 10th straight at home. The Wolfpack (12-1) matched the start in the 1988-89 season under the late Jim Valvano.
The Spartans (7-7) were playing their second straight game against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. They took a 102-69 beating from top-ranked Duke last weekend and the latest loss extended their losing streak to four games after posting a four-game winning streak.
Bethel was in a 4-for-23 slide over the previous three games before finding his touch against the Spartans. He was 2-for-13 from 3-point range in that same stretch, but hit 3-of-4 Tuesday.
As for Sendek's worries about overlooking the Spartans less than a week after handing George
Washington its first loss of the season, Bethel passed it off as typical.
"That's how coaches always think," he said. "We knew what we needed to do, but with him being on top of us, we knew we needed to come out and get ready for UNC, basically, and I think we did a good job of that tonight."
UNC-Greensboro tried a zone defense to offset matchup problems in the post, but N.C. State scuttled that strategy by shooting over it and hitting seven 3s in the first half. The Wolfpack finished 11-of-29 on 3-pointers.
Cedric Simmons had 18 points for N.C. State, while Engin Atsur scored 13 of his 16 in the first half. Cameron Bennerman had 14 points for the Wolfpack, who shot 61 percent from the field.
Kyle Hines led UNC-Greensboro with 18 points, and Ricky Hickman added 13.
"We had the utmost respect for them coming in," Sendek said. "We talked about the fact that we had to come ready and play excellent basketball tonight. I don't think for even one-half a second our guys took UNCG lightly, not even for one-half second."
Five straight points by Bethel gave the Wolfpack a 16-4 lead. Dwayne Johnson scored on a drive and Hickman completed a three-point play to put a speed bump in the Wolfpack's path, but Andrew Brackman's 3-pointer at 11:35 sparked a 12-2 N.C. State run that settled it. Atsur scored the last five points in that run.
"We may have been a little tired," UNC-Greensboro coach Mike Dement said of the effect of the two-game stretch. "A little bit too much ACC for us right now. We need to see if we can regroup."
Despite being outshot 55 percent to 50 percent, N.C. State led 46-27 at halftime. UNC-Greensboro got no closer than 18 points in the second half.
Mississippi 65, Western Carolina 59
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Dwayne Curtis scored 21 points as Mississippi held off a late charge Tuesday to defeat Western Carolina 65-59.
Clarence Sanders had 15 points and three free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal it for Ole Miss (10-3).
Todd Abernethy added 14 points and five assists the Rebels, who won their fourth straight and final non-conference game.
Western Carolina (7-9) closed within 62-59 with 25 seconds left on a Trey Hopkins layup before Sanders put it away for Ole Miss with three consecutive free throws.
Antonio Russell led the Catamounts with 17 points and David Berghoefer had 16 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Western Carolina shot 22-of-47 from the field and forced 18 Ole Miss turnovers.
The Rebels were decisive at the free throw line, hitting 14-of-19 and outrebounded the Catamounts 35-23. The Rebels shot 23-of-49 from the field, including 9-of-15 from Curtis, who pulled down six rebounds and added three steals.
Ole Miss led 38-29 at halftime, closing with a 21-6 run in the final seven minutes. Abernethy and Curtis had 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Rebels, who rallied from an early eight-point deficit.
Western Carolina closed within 53-51 on a Corey Muirhead jumper with 4:39 left, capping a 10-0 run. Ole Miss rebuilt the lead to 61-53 with 2:59 left on a breakaway steal and dunk by Sanders. The Catamounts never got closer than three points again.
Story courtesy of Georgia Southern sports information
Georgia Southern 111, Webber International 73
STATESBORO, Ga. - Five Eagles scored in double figures to lead Georgia Southern to a 111-73 win over Webber International Tuesday night at Hanner Fieldhouse. The win is the fifth straight for Georgia Southern, and is the 16th straight home win, moving the Eagles to 6th in the nation in home winning streaks. The Eagles improved to 9-4 on the year, while Webber International falls to 2-15. The Eagles ended their non-conference schedule with a 9-4 record, the second best under head coach Jeff Price.
Georgia Southern jumped out to an early 9-0 lead before the Warriors scored their first basket of the contest at the 16:51 mark. A pair of free throws by Sir Anthony McCaskill put Webber International within five, 15-10 with under 14 to play in the half. A pair of quick three pointers by Donte Gennie and Jimmy Tobias extended the Eagles lead back out to 11. Georgia Southern put together a 9-5 spurt, midway through the half, going ahead 30-16 with 10:25 remaining in the half. A trey by Elton Nesbitt gave the Eagles their largest lead of the half, 42-25, with under five minutes to play. GSU put together a 3-0 spurt to end the half, taking a 48-34 lead into the locker room.
Webber International's Juan Alvarez led all scorers at the break with 14, while the Eagles were led by Nesbitt who had 10. Nine different Eagles scored in the first half. Georgia Southern shot 58.6 percent from the field, holding Webber International to 43.5 percent.
The second half was much like the first, with the Eagles opening the half on a 8-2 run, extending their lead to 20 with 18:30 to play.
Webber International fought back, putting together an 8-2 run to cut the Eagle lead to 16, 65-48, with 13:44 remaining in the game. With less than ten minutes to play in the game, Georgia Southern went on a 10-0 run, sparked by back to back baskets by Gennie, extending its lead to 32 with 9:31 on the clock. The Eagles dominated the final seven and a half minutes of the game, outscoring the Warriors 23-14, and cruising to a 111-73 win.
Alvarez led all scorers with 26 points, while Jose Davila added 13.
Nesbitt led the Eagles with 18 points, while Graham added 17 and Gennie had 16. Jarek Swain contributed a career high 13 points and Dwayne Foreman had 10. The Eagles shot 57.4 percent (39-of-68), while holding Webber International to 49.1 percent (28-of-57). GSU forced 25 Warrior turnovers.
Tonight marks the first time this season that the Eagles have reached the century mark in scoring, and is the first time since Feb. 14, 2005 that GSU has scored over 100.