Jan 14, 2015 2 min read

Marcus Paige scored 23 points and No. 15 North Carolina barely held off a late comeback to beat rival North Carolina State 81-79 on Wednesday night.

Kennedy Meeks added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (13-4, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). They led by 12 in the second half and by double figures near the 4-minute mark before watching N.C. State (12-6, 3-2) twice claw within a point in the final seconds.

Nate Britt made two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to keep UNC up three, then Paige hit two more with 1 second to go for an 81-78 lead.

N.C. State got one more chance, with Abdul-Malik Abu being fouled on a long inbounds pass with two-tenths of a second left. Abu made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, but fellow freshman Cody Martin’s tip attempt in traffic didn’t drop as the horn sounded.

Ralston Turner scored 20 points to lead N.C. State, including a couple of big 3-pointers late in the Wolfpack’s comeback. Leading scorer Trevor Lacey finished with 19 points but shot just 4-for-13 while facing constant defensive attention from UNC’s J.P. Tokoto.

No. 12 Notre Dame 62, Georgia Tech 59: Jerian Grant scored 12 points, Steve Vasturia added 11 points and No. 12 Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 62-59.

Despite the absence of starting forward Zach Auguste, the Fighting Irish (16-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) secured their best start to a season since 1978-79.

Pat Connaughton, V.J. Beachem and Bonzie Colson each finished with 10 points, and Demetrius Jackson had nine for Notre Dame, which has won 12 of 13.

No. 14 Maryland 73, Rutgers 65: As one shot after another clanged off the rim, it became apparent to Maryland that the impetus for a comeback against Rutgers would have to take place on the other end of the floor.

So the 14th-ranked Terrapins cranked up the defense, relentlessly pursued every misfire and rode the energy of the home crowd to a 73-65 victory Wednesday night in a duel between Big Ten newcomers.