North Carolina upsets No. 10 Kentucky, 83-79

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Posted 3:23PM on Saturday, December 3, 2005

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) Reyshawn Terry scored 25 points to help North Carolina jolt No. 10 Kentucky 83-79 on Saturday, giving the Tar Heels a big road victory that ended the Wildcats' 11-game winning streak at Rupp Arena. This was a matchup of basketball teams that rank 1-2 in NCAA Division I in overall wins, and defending champion North Carolina showed it is still plenty dangerous despite a depleted roster. The Tar Heels lost the top seven scorers from the team that won it all last season three to graduation and four to the NBA draft. North Carolina was coming off a four-point loss Tuesday night to No. 12 Illinois, a rematch of the NCAA title game. The Tar Heels did even better this time. North Carolina (4-1) held off two second-half runs by Kentucky (5-2) to beat the Wildcats for the second straight season. Kentucky, despite career highs in points from guards Rajon Rondo (20) and walk-on Ravi Moss (17), lost for the first time at home since falling 65-59 to Kansas on Jan. 9. Kentucky has been ranked in the top 10 of the last 39 Associated Press polls tops in the nation but that streak most likely will end next week. North Carolina capitalized on its size, holding a 37-30 rebounding advantage and getting numerous second-chance shots. Kentucky shot better from the field 50.9 percent to 43.3 percent but North Carolina attempted five more shots than the Wildcats. Almost half the Tar Heels' shots 27 of 60 were 3-point attempts. North Carolina finished 10-of-27 from behind the arc, including 3-of-5 performances from David Noel (15 points) and Wes Miller (12 points). Noel has scored in double figures in each of North Carolina's games this season after doing so a combined five times during his previous two seasons. During Kentucky coach Tubby Smith's nine seasons, this was only the second time the Wildcats shot 50 percent or better from the field and lost. Kentucky is 96-2 in such games under Smith. Kentucky quickly trimmed North Carolina's 12-point halftime lead, opening the second half on a 12-2 run to pull within 46-44. But the Tar Heels just as quickly restored their advantage to double digits and kept it there. North Carolina led 71-58 with 7:55 left Kentucky's largest deficit of the season but Kentucky scored eight of the next 10 points and trailed 71-66 with 4:22 left. The Wildcats turned the ball over on their next two trips, while North Carolina picked up a 2-pointer from Marcus Ginyard and 3-pointer by Noel. The 3-pointer gave the Tar Heels a 76-66 lead with 2:53 left, and they made seven of nine free throws in the final minute to seal the win. North Carolina's 44-32 halftime lead largely was the result of the Tar Heels' 7-of-16 3-point shooting. Terry had two of those 3-pointers and 16 points in the half. Kentucky led 16-10 early, but Danny Green's 3-pointer put North Carolina up 20-18, and the Tar Heels stretched that lead to double digits by the end of the half. Freshman center Tyler Hansbrough who spurned Kentucky and signed with the Tar Heels after a recruiting battle dunked home a miss at the buzzer to give North Carolina its largest lead to that point. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)