Eagles shocks No. 1 Tar Heels

Published 8:19 am Monday, January 5, 2009

Tyrese Rice scored 25 points and Boston College stunned No. 1 North Carolina 85-78 on Sunday.

Rakim Sanders added 22 points for the Eagles (13-2, 1-0), who led by six points at halftime and pushed the lead to as many as 14 before holding off a frantic rally from the Tar Heels (13-1, 0-1) in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Tyler Hansbrough scored 21 points to lead North Carolina, which shot 29 percent from the field in the second half and was just 15-for-27 at the foul line for the game.

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North Carolina had won its first 13 games by an average of 26 points, with the closest margin being 15 points.

Rice had 46 points in a 90-80 loss to the Tar Heels last season.

Sanders scored 18 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer right in front of the North Carolina bench just before the horn that gave the Eagles a 46-40 lead. After North Carolina closed the gap to two points four times, the Eagles answered with a spurt that had the Tar Heels chasing them the rest of the game.

No. 5 Duke 69, Virginia Tech 44

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Singler scored 19 points, Gerald Henderson added 15, Nolan Smith had 13 and Jon Scheyer 11 for the Blue Devils (12-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who held the Hokies to 13 points in the second half and outscored them 30-9 over the final 17 minutes of the game.

Malcolm Delaney scored 12 points to lead Virginia Tech (9-5, 0-1). Leading scorer A.D. Vassallo was held to seven points — 12 below his average — and didn’t score on 0-of-2 shooting in the second half.

No. 12 UCLA 83, Oregon 74

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Darren Collison scored 22 points and Josh Shipp added a season-high 17 for the Bruins.

Tajuan Porter scored 24 points for the Ducks (6-8, 0-2 Pac-10), including 15 in the second half as Oregon pulled within three points after trailing by 11 at halftime.