Kentucky’s Fitch Has the Last Word Against North Carolina

Kentucky ended its shooting slump just in time to beat North Carolina, and the key shot belonged to Gerald Fitch.

Fitch scored 21 points and made a game-clinching three-point basket with 23 seconds left, helping No. 8 Kentucky defeat the No. 9 Tar Heels, 61-56, on Saturday.

“I feel like I’m going to make bigger shots than this one,” Fitch said.

North Carolina Coach Roy Williams likes that kind of attitude.

“The feeling that Gerald Fitch has is what we wanted to have in our locker room,” Williams said.

Kentucky (9-1) rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit and beat North Carolina (8-2) for the fourth consecutive season. The Tar Heels’ only other loss came in triple overtime to No. 6 Wake Forest.

The game between the schools that rank 1-2 in NCAA Division I career victories -- Kentucky at 1,858 and North Carolina at 1,816.

The Wildcats, who shot 55% in the second half after making only 26% of their shots in the first half, had shot 37% in their previous two games, a loss to Louisville and an unimpressive victory over Austin Peay.

North Carolina led, 35-26, with 15:43 left. Kentucky used an 11-2 run to pull even and took the lead for good with 10:53 left on a basket by Erik Daniels that made it 43-41. The Tar Heels got to within 57-56 on a three-point basket by Raymond Felton with 56 seconds left.

“Honestly, I thought they were going to miss and we would come down and win the game,” Williams said.

But with the shot clock down to three seconds, Fitch made the three-point basket -- his fifth in 11 attempts -- to restore Kentucky’s lead to four points.

North Carolina turned the ball over on its next possession, and Kentucky’s Cliff Hawkins made one of two free throws with 14.5 seconds left.

“That was a big-time three, after they had knocked down a three at the other end,” Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith said. “We were so happy to see him make that three and give us a little cushion at the end.”

Rashad McCants, North Carolina’s leading scorer at 19 points a game, scored four points, and Smith credited the defense of Kelenna Azubuike.

The Tar Heels lost despite the return of two starters, Sean May and Jawad Williams. They sat out North Carolina’s last game, a 105-72 victory over Coastal Carolina, because of an ankle injury and a concussion.