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No. 1 North Carolina falls; Gators, Seminoles win

 
Published Nov. 22, 2015

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — North Carolina scheduled a trip to Northern Iowa only as a homecoming for Marcus Paige.

The Tar Heels could've used their injured senior star against the Panthers.

Wes Washpun scored 21 and Northern Iowa — just a week after losing to Colorado State at home — stunned top-ranked North Carolina 71-67 Saturday

The Panthers used a 29-8 stretch over 12 minutes of the second half to turn a 50-34 deficit into a 63-58 lead and held on for the upset.

"Very disappointed in me, more so than my team. We acted like a team that had not been coached very well out there," UNC coach Roy Williams said. We "made a lot of mistakes."

Matt Bohannon had 19 points and hit a 3-pointer with 2:51 left to give Northern Iowa the lead for good. Paul Jesperson added 14 for the Panthers (2-1).

"They had to play their tails off in that second half. The game was just about over with 15 minutes left and our guys hung in there and made a couple shots," Panthers coach Ben Jacobson said.

"That last 10 minutes, I couldn't ask any more from our guys."

Justin Jackson had 25 points for the Tar Heels (3-1), who didn't force a single turnover in the second half.

Paige didn't play because of a broken bone in his right hand. His replacement, Joel Berry, had five points on 2-of-7 shooting.

UF stays unbeaten

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — First-year Florida coach Mike White remains in learning mode with his players, figuring out what they can do and how to put together the pieces left behind by Billy Donovan.

But Gator fans have a degree of familiarity with the key guys. They expect Dorian Finney-Smith, Kasey Hill and Devin Robinson to make a difference when games are on the line. And that's exactly what that trio did as Florida rallied from a six-point deficit in the final six minutes to defeat St. Joseph's 74-63 in the Hall of Fame Tipoff tournament.

Finney-Smith, a senior forward who started 24 games last season, hit only four shots from the field, but his 3-pointer with 1:19 left capped a 17-3 run that gave the Gators (3-0) an eight-point lead.

"My teammates did a good job of finding me when I was open," Finney-Smith said. "We stayed together. When adversity hits and we're in the huddle, the guys are saying this is when we need to pull together. We got stops when we needed them."

FSU 83, DEPAUL 67: Dwayne Bacon scored 19 for the Seminoles (3-1), who rebounded from a shocking loss to Hofstra in the Paradise Jam tournament in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Florida State plays Ohio in the fourth-place game Monday.

NO. 9 WICHITA ST. 76, EMPORIA ST. 54: Ron Baker had 23 points and the host Shockers (2-1) bounced back from their first November loss since 2011.

NO. 10 GONZAGA 101, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 56: Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Silas Melson added 15 points for the host Bulldogs (2-0) in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

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NO. 18 N. DAME 83, UMASS-LOWELL 57: Zach Auguste had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the host Irish (3-0), who took advantage of the undersized River Hawks.

NO. 19 UCONN 83, FURMAN 58: Shonn Miller had 18 points and seven rebounds for the host Huskies (3-0), who have an average victory margin of 29 points.

NO. 21 PURDUE 61, ODU 39: Center A.J. Hammons scored 12 of his 18 in the first half and Kendall Stephens sparked a second-half run with nine of his 12 points for the Boilermakers (4-0) in the Hall of Fame Tipoff tournament.

UCF 65, UNC GREENSBORO 54: Shaheed Davis had 23 points and eight rebounds and 7-foot-6 freshman Tacko Fall had a season-high 12 points for the host Knights (1-2).

ECKERD 83, PALM BEACH ATLANTIC 78: Jerrick Stevenson had 16 points to lead five players in double figures for the visiting Tritons (3-1, 1-0 Sunshine State).

ROLLINS 86, TAMPA 75: Pat Bacon had 21 points and Austin Reddig 19 points and 12 rebounds for the visiting Spartans (1-3, 0-2 SSC).

SAINT LEO 93, NOVA SE 88: Caleb Stewart had 26 points and eight rebounds to lead the host Lions (2-2, 1-1 SSC).