Tyrese Rice (6'1''-G-87) and Boston College put an end to all that talk of whether No. 1 North Carolina could go unbeaten.

Rice scored 25 points in his second straight big game against the Tar Heels to help the Eagles stun North Carolina 85-78 on Sunday, likely ending its run atop the early season polls.

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 15 before holding off a frantic rally from the Tar Heels (13-1, 0-1) in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

'We had to have the discipline in order to execute what it is we needed to do,' Boston College coach Al Skinner said. 'There were going to be breakdowns and there were, but guys were able to refocus and not compound those mistakes.'

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.

North Carolina had won its first 13 games by an average of 26 points, with the closest margin being 15 points. But on this day, the Tar Heels looked out of sync against the Eagles' physical defense and had no answers for Rice, who burned them for 46 points last season.

In that game, North Carolina rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit for a 90-80 victory as Rice was the only BC player to reach double figures.

Rice again caused North Carolina plenty of trouble, though this time he had early help from Sanders along with a key contribution from Reggie Jackson (17 points) in the decisive run. There would be no blown lead this time, just the sight of the BC bench spilling onto the court in celebration as the horn sounded.

'Needless to say, it hurts,' North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. 'We just never could get over the hump, didn't get them to turn it over very much. Then we had some guys - including myself - who didn't have as good of a day that we hoped we'd have.'

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. Then, after North Carolina closed the gap to two points four times, they answered with a spurt that had the Tar Heels chasing them the rest of the game.

First came a 3 from Joe Trapani. Then Jackson had a spinning score followed by a 3 of his own before capping a 12-2 run with a layup past Ellington that made it 70-58 with 10:09 to play.

Two possessions later, Trapani made an uncontested layup after a turnover by Will Graves that made it 74-60 with 9:22 left - capping a run of five straight scoring possessions.

The Tar Heels, meanwhile, just looked lost. Hansbrough struggled to consistently find space against Josh Southern and frequent double-teams. Frontcourtmate Deon Thompson, who came in averaging 14 points per game, was a no-show and sat on the bench while Graves earned his minutes late. And no one seemed able to make a big shot when the Tar Heels desperately needed one, most notably when they missed three open 3s on one possession in the final 3 minutes.

North Carolina hung in the game with a frantic defensive effort in the final minutes and whittled the lead to 82-78 on a free throw from Hansbrough with 46.2 seconds left, but got no closer. Rice went 3-for-4 at the line in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.

Rice finished 7-for-13 from the field and had eight assists with five rebounds to outperform counterpart Ty Lawson, who had 10 points on 3-for-13 shooting.

Ellington had 16 points, while Thompson had five points on 2-for-6 shooting for the Tar Heels.

Courtesy: Tarheelblue.cstv.com

Just before taking the court for the conference opener against No. 15 Villanova, Marquette coach Buzz Williams gave his players a reminder: Their seniors have never started 2-0 in the Big East.

One down, one to go.

Jerel McNeal (6'3''-G-87) scored 24 points, including a critical 3-pointer down the stretch that helped power the Golden Eagles to a 79-72 victory over the Wildcats on Thursday. Marquette (12-2, 1-0 Big East) has another home game Sunday against Cincinnati, giving the Golden Eagles a shot at their first fast start to conference play.

'It's huge,' Wesley Matthews (6'5''-G-86) said. 'We've never started out 2-0. Buzz had told us that--the last thing he said to us in the locker room. This is a tough conference. Wins are tough to get by.'

Especially against a ranked opponent known for its defense.

'I think they're one of the better defenses in the country, actually,' McNeal said.

Coming into Thursday's game, Villanova (12-2, 0-1) was allowing 57.6 points and holding opponents to 37.9 percent shooting from the field. Marquette shot 46 percent on Thursday, including 41.7 percent from 3-point range.

Matthews scored 19 and Dominic James (5'11''-G-86) added 17.

'We just played a very good team with great veteran guards,' Villanova coach Jay Wright said. 'Those guys are fun to watch, and they just controlled the game. Veteran guards win in college basketball, and those guys were big-time.'

Lazar Hayward (6'6''-F-86) added 15, giving the Golden Eagles four double-digit scorers against one of the Big East's best defensive teams. Hayward has scored 14 points or more in Marquette's last six games.

Villanova forced 19 turnovers, tying Marquette's season high.

'Part of that was our fault,' Williams said. 'Most of that was because of how good Villanova is, but that's out of character for us.'

But the Golden Eagles committed only six turnovers in the second half as their offense took over.

McNeal's 3-pointer with 3:55 remaining capped a 7-0 run by Marquette, giving the Golden Eagles an eight-point lead that Villanova couldn't chip away in the closing minutes.

With Marquette leading by 1 point and 5:39 left, the decisive run began with a long jumper by Matthews to put Marquette ahead 61-58. Dante Cunningham (6'8''-F-87) then was called for traveling under the basket, handing the ball back to the Golden Eagles.

Matthews then drained a long turnaround jumper, pumping his fist as he extended the lead to 63-58.

'He was a little bit quiet up to that point,' McNeal said. 'after he got that first shot, and the second one, we knew he was rolling.'

Matthews scored 16 points in the second half, saying he was waiting for the game to come to him.

'It took longer than I thought it would, but it came,' Matthews said.

James then drew a charge on Fisher and McNeal hit a 3-pointer, putting Marquette up 66-58 with 3:55 left.

Villanova later had the ball and was trailing by 7 with just under two minutes left when Hayward grabbed a loose ball in traffic and Matthews hit two free throws on the other end.

The Golden Eagles have struggled with their free throw shooting at times this season, but hit 13 of 14 in the final 2:40 on Thursday.

'It's just getting up there and knocking them down,' Matthews said.

Corey Fisher (6'1''-G-88) scored 21 for the Wildcats, who held each of their first 13 opponents to 68 points or less.

It was the second straight big game for Fisher, who tied his career high of 23 points in Villanova's win over Temple on Monday. Fisher had scored only 17 in his previous four games.

'I came out tonight being more aggressive, just taking open shots, looking for my teammates,' Fisher said. 'I just kept trying to score.'

Cunningham added 16 points and eight rebounds.

'It comes down to getting stops at the end of the game,' Cunningham said. 'You've got to know where the other person is going, or they are going to score on you. You have to get stops, you have to be tough.'

Villanova struggled from outside, hitting only 6 of 20 from 3-point range.

In all, there were plenty of signs that Marquette is ready for the Big East grind.

'We're definitely excited,' Matthews said. 'That'll take away some of the aches and pains--it's just adrenalin, being ready to play. We were excited today. I think it showed.'

Courtesy: Villanova.cstv.com