No. 1 North Carolina trailed only momentarily in beating Kentucky 86-77 on Saturday.
Kentucky competing, perhaps “like crazy” as Coach Billy Gillispie said on Friday, was a key to springing an upset. But UK’s aggressiveness resulted in mounting fouls: four inside the first four minutes. Perry Stevenson, a hero in Tuesday’s victory over Stony Brook, picked up four first-half fouls and departed with a fifth at the 15:56 mark of the second half. Kentucky’s only lead, which lasted about a minute, was at 9-7.
North Carolina (7-0) took control early in the second half. A fast-break layup by Ty Lawson, who played his first game since spraining an ankle, gave the Tar Heels their first double-digit lead: 50-39 with 16:28 left. Back-to-back three-pointers by Bobby Frasor increased the lead to 57-39 with 14:57 left.
The victory was North Carolina’s fourth straight against UK, allowing UNC to become the first non-conference opponent to boast two winning streaks of four or more games against Kentucky. The Tar Heels beat UK six straight from 1976 to 1995.
Kentucky (4-2) was led by Joe Crawford with 21 points. Patrick Patterson and Ramel Bradley added 19 each.
Reserve Danny Green led North Carolina with 20 points. Wayne Ellington had 14. Tyler Hansbrough had 14 points, the first time in three meetings he’s reached double digits against UK.
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
kentucky will have a better chance to win after meeks after jasper and meeks recover and crawford and bradley get less minutes.
crawford and bradley are greedy players who need to learn how to pass. i look forward to their benching.
20-10. i love it. give it a few years and unc will be back on top of all time most wins as well.