Blogger Preview: Michigan State At North Carolina, 9 P.M. EST

Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Ed Davis scored 22 points as 10th-ranked North Carolina held off No. 9 Michigan State, 89-82, in a rematch of the 2009 NCAA Tournament title game.

The Tar Heels defeated Michigan State, 89-72, in the championship game. The Spartans returned three starters from the title game, while North Carolina came back with one, but the Heels continued to frustrate Michigan State.

Larry Drew II added 18 points and six assists for the Tar Heels (7-1), who also received 14 points from Deon Thompson. UNC shot 57.9 percent from the field, including a sizzling 21-of-33 in the first half, when the Tar Heels took a 16-point lead into the intermission.

“That was a fun night for us,” said UNC coach Roy Williams. “The first half we really played well. The second half I don’t think we were as attentive to detail, we lost our concentration a little bit and yet we made some big plays during that stretch.”

Raymar Morgan paced the Spartans (5-2) with 18 points, but Michigan State went 2-of-20 from three-point range. Durrell Summers totaled 16 points, Kalin Lucas 15 and Draymond Green 13 for Michigan State.

The game was part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The ACC has won each of the 10 challenges played to date, but so far this year’s series is even after six matchups. With six wins needed to capture the Challenge, the final five games are Wednesday. That includes Wisconsin hosting sixth-ranked Duke, and a top-25 battle in Columbus between No. 21 Florida State and 15th-ranked Ohio State.

A dunk from Summers tied the game at 21 midway through the first half, but Dexter Strickland responded with a three-pointer to start a 9-0 run for the Tar Heels. The first half ended in vintage Tar Heel fashion with a big bucket, this one a three-ball from Strickland, who beat the clock from the right wing, upping the lead to 50-34.

The Spartans finally got their deficit under double digits with less than nine minutes remaining when Morgan put in a layup for a 72-63 margin. UNC, though, continued to hold a sizeable advantage thanks in part to Michigan State’s struggles from the field.

Lucas’ layup trimmed the margin to 80-74 with 1:52 left, but Davis jammed at the other end and then hit two free throws, shortly after Green’s layup.

It was a case of too little too late for the Spartans despite the Tar Heels making just 18-of-30 foul shots. Michigan State finished the game 43 percent from the field.

“I was really disappointed with the first half,” said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. “We made a couple sloppy plays; there were two five-point plays in that half. And then that shot at the buzzer really took the wind out of our sails. But give a lot of credit--even with a depleted team and all the foul trouble we were in it during the second half. I thought we did a pretty good job of battling back. And we did a little better job in the post.”

North Carolina leads the all-time series, 10-3 and has won the last five in the series...Davis went 8-of-10 from the floor and also had six rebounds...The Tar Heels play at fifth-ranked Kentucky Saturday, while the Spartans host Wofford Friday.