Top 25 men

Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter each scored 22 points and Shammond Williams made four free throws in the final minute Saturday as top-ranked North Carolina beat No. 17 Florida State 81-73 at Tallahassee, Fla., in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

North Carolina (12-0) turned to either Jamison or Carter almost every time it needed to repel a challenge from Florida State.

The Seminoles (8-2) made several runs, once closing within 66-65 on Kerry Thompson’s pull-up jumper in the lane with 6:30 left. But Carter’s reverse dunk and Williams’ fastbreak layup put North Carolina ahead 70-65.

(2) Kansas 94, (24) TCU 78

At Kansas City, Mo., Paul Pierce found his shooting touch after missing seven of his first eight shots and scored 28 points to lead the Jayhawks (13-1) to a win over the Horned Frogs (9-1).

Raef LaFrentz had 23 points and 17 rebounds for Kansas.

Lee Nailon led TCU with 23 points and 14 rebounds.

(4) Kentucky 74, Tulsa 53

At Lexington, Ky., Nazr Mohammed scored four of his 17 points during a 17-0 run that enabled the Wildcats (9-1) to overcome a sluggish start and post a victory over the Golden Hurricane (7-3).

Jonnie Gendron’s 17 points led Tulsa.

(6) S. Carolina 77, St. Joe’s 65

At Columbia, S.C., BJ McKie, playing on a bad ankle, scored 19 points and South Carolina (6-1) held the gritty Hawks (2-3) without a basket over the final 4:34 as the Gamecocks bounced back from their first loss with a victory.

Rashid Bey scored 22 points to lead St. Joseph’s.

(8) Purdue 86, (10) Xavier 84

At Indianapolis, Brian Cardinal scored Purdue’s final three points and came up with a big rebound in the final seconds as the Boilermakers (9-2) held off the Musketeers (6-2).

Xavier rallied from a 20-point deficit in the second half to lead 84-83 with 1:43 to play.

(12) UConn 93, N.C.-Wilm. 55

At Hartford, Conn., Kevin Freeman was perfect from the field and free-throw line, scoring 16 points in a balanced attack as the Huskies (9-1) started slowly then crushed the Seahawks (4-5).

Tadearl Pratt scored 20 points to lead UNC-Wilmington.

(14) N. Mexico 81, Texas Tech 62

At Albuquerque, Kenny Thomas scored 26 points and the Lobos (7-1) used a 27-6 run to beat the Red Raiders (4-4), extending the nation’s second-longest home-court winning streak to 32 games.

Rutgers 72, (16) Temple 63

At Philadelphia, Geoff Billet and Rob Hodgson combined for 41 points and Rutgers shot 48 percent from 3-point range as the Scarlet Knights (4-4) handed the Owls (6-3) their second straight loss.

(18) Miss. 106, Prairie View 59

At Oxford, Miss., Joezon Darby scored seven straight points for Ole Miss after the Panthers (3-5) took their only lead, and the Rebels (7-1) went on to a victory.

King Whetstone scored 23 to top Prairie View.

W. Virginia 86, (20) Georgia 81

At Atlanta, Damian Owens scored 13 of his 24 points over the final 8:23, after West Virginia had blown a 17-point lead, leading the Mountaineers (9-1) to a victory over the Bulldogs (7-3).

Ray Harrison led the Bulldogs with 23 points.

(21) Mich. 87, Chattanooga 53

At Ann Arbor, Mich., Robbie Reid scored 20 points to lead the Wolverines (7-3) to a lopsided victory over the Moccasins (4-5).

Michigan pulled away from a 41-25 halftime lead by making its first 13 shots of the second half.

(25) Syracuse 71, UNLV 64

At Las Vegas, Ryan Blackwell and Etan Thomas each scored 13 points to lead five Syracuse players in double figures as the Orangemen (9-0) downed Rebels (4-4) in the Las Vegas Shootout.

Freshman Kaspars Kambala led UNLV with 23 points and 15 rebounds.