Thursday's college basketball roundup: Roach, Longhorns turn back Tar Heels

Kerwin Roach II blended aggression and good decisionmaking, just how coach Shaka Smart drew it up.

Roach scored a career-best 32 points and helped Texas hold off a late charge to beat No. 7 North Carolina 92-89 Thursday and advance to the final of the Las Vegas Invitational.

"We have to fight to win," said Roach, who added seven assists and six steals. Last year when we lost a game to Duke like this, it was tears of sadness. Tonight, there are tears of happiness."

Texas (5-0) plays in the championship game Friday against No. 11 Michigan State. North Carolina faces No. 17 UCLA.

Roach also had six rebounds and was 12-for-15 from the field, including 3-for-3 from deep. The senior topped his previous best of 26 points with an emphatic dunk with 8 minutes, 27 seconds left for a 73-65 lead.

"The best thing about him tonight was he really took the right shots and made the right reads," Smart said.

Roach and North Carolina's Coby White went back and forth all game. White had 33 points, the most by a UNC freshman since Harrison Barnes had 40 in 2011. But White missed a three-pointer that would have put the Tar Heels (5-1) up with 1:01 left.

No. 6 Nevada 96, Tulsa 86: Jordan Caroline had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and the Wolf Pack (5-0) made 35 of 42 free throws to beat the Golden Hurricane (4-1) in the third round of the Las Vegas Invitational.

No. 11 Michigan State 87, No. 17 UCLA 67: Cassius Winston scored 19 points and the Spartans (4-1) shot 13-for-24 from three-point range in rolling over the Bruins (4-1) in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Nick Ward added 16 points and Joshua Langford 14 for Michigan State, which shot 51.6 percent from the floor to 35.6 percent for UCLA. The Spartans led 51-26 at halftime.

Kris Wilkes scored 15 points to lead the Bruins.

No. 25 Wisconsin 78, Oklahoma 58: D'Mitrik Trice set career highs with 25 points and a tournament-record seven three-pointers to help the Badgers (5-0) pull away from the Sooners (4-1) in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.

"It was just a day that the shot's going in," Trice said.

Fresno State 78, Northwestern 59: The Bulldogs (2-1) used a fast, aggressive and efficient offense to rout the Wildcats (3-1) in the Wooden Legacy in Fullerton, Calif.

Big Ten

Drake 69, Rutgers 59: The Bulldogs (5-0) outscored the Scarlet Knights 40-15 in the second half to overcome a 15-point halftime deficit in the Vancouver Showcase. Drake will next play No. 1 Notre Dame, an 81-65 winner over Gonzaga.

No. 15 North Carolina State 78, Michigan State 74: Kiara Leslie had 17 points and 12 rebounds to help the Wolfpack (5-0) beat the Spartans (3-1) in the Cancun Challenge.