Tar Heels hold off No. 20 UNLV
* TOP 25
P.J. Hairston scored 15 points in his first career start to help North Carolina beat No. 20 UNLV 79-73 on Saturday at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Dexter Strickland added a season-high 16 points for the Tar Heels (10-3), who led by 15 points in the first half and by nine at the break. But UNC had to turn away a second-half surge by the Runnin' Rebels (11-2) to earn the program's 63rd straight home win against nonconference opponents.
No. 1 Duke 90, Santa Clara 77: At Durham, N.C., Seth Curry scored 12 of his season-high 31 points during the late run that helped Duke (12-0) pull away from Santa Clara (11-3).
No. 2 Michigan 88, Central Michigan 73: At Ann Arbor, Mich., Trey Burke had 22 points and 10 assists as Michigan (13-0) finished its non-conference schedule with a victory over Central Michigan (7-6).
No. 4 Louisville 80, Kentucky 77: At Louisville, Ky., Russ Smith scored 21 points, Chane Behanan added 20 and Louisville (12-1) ended a four-game losing streak against rival Kentucky (8-4).
No. 6 Kansas 89, American University 57: At Lawrence, Kan., Travis Releford scored 19 points and Kansas (11-1) hit a scorching 13 of its first 18 3-point attempts in a victory over the Eagles (4-9).
No. 9 Syracuse 57, Alcorn State 36: At Syracuse, N.Y., C.J. Fair scored 13 points, Trevor Cooney added 12, all in the second half to key a late surge, and Syracuse (11-1) beat Alcorn State (2-13).
No. 10 Ohio State 87, Chicago State 44: At Columbus, Ohio, Deshaun Thomas scored 17 points and Ohio State (10-2) defeated Chicago State (3-12), the Buckeyes' final tuneup before beginning Big Ten play.
No. 12 Illinois 81, Auburn 79: At Chicago, Tracy Abrams scored a career-high 29 points and Illinois (13-1) beat Auburn (5-7).
No. 14 Florida 78, Air Force 61: At Sunrise, Fla., Kenny Boynton snapped a shooting slump with three 3-pointers in the second half, when Florida (9-2) pulled away to beat Air Force (8-3).
No. 16 Creighton 87, Evansville 70: At Omaha, Neb., Doug McDermott scored 14 of his 29 points in a 6-1/2-minute stretch of the second half when Creighton (12-1) pulled away from Evansville (7-6).
No. 18 Butler 68, Vanderbilt 49: At Nashville, Tenn., Rotnei Clarke hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and the Bulldogs (10-2) shook off a sluggish start and routed Vanderbilt (5-6) for its seventh straight victory.
No. 23 North Carolina State 84, Western Michigan 68: At Raleigh, N.C., C.J. Leslie scored 19 points to lead North Carolina State (10-2) past the Broncos (8-5).
No. 25 Kansas State 52, UMKC 44: At Manhattan, Kan., Rodney McGruder scored 17 points, Thomas Gipson had 13 points and six rebounds and Kansas State (10-2) struggled to a victory over Missouri-Kansas City (4-9).
San Jose State 72, Texas State 55: At San Marcos, Texas, Louis Garrett scored 16 points, James Kinney added 12 and San Jose State (6-5, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference) beat Texas State (4-9, 0-1).
Utah State 71, UTSA 67: At San Antonio, Preston Medlin scored 24 points, and Utah State (10-1) spoiled UTSA's (4-7) first-ever Western Athletic Conference game with a victory in the conference opener for both teams.
Former North Idaho College standout Michael Hale III had four rebounds, two points and two assists in 31 minutes for UTSA.
Texas-Arlington 68, New Mexico State 47: At Arlington, Texas, Kevin Butler scored 18 points, Drew Charles added 12 and the Mavericks (6-3, 1-0 WAC) beat New Mexico State (6-7, 0-1).
Louisiana Tech 68, Denver 60: At Ruston, La., Raheem Appleby scored 12 points, Kenneth Smith and Kenyon McNeail added 10 each and Louisiana Tech (10-3, 1-0 WAC) beat the Pioneers (4-7, 0-1).