Roach lifts Texas on the Tar Heels No. 7 92-89 in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Kerwin Roach II has mixed aggressiveness and good decision making, in the image of coach Shaka Smart.

Roach scored the best career score with 32 points and helped Texas to defend later to beat North Carolina's No. 92-89 on Thursday and qualify for the Las Vegas Invitational final.

"I just played the game in a good way and I did not want to force anything," said Roach, who also got seven assists and six interceptions. "(My teammates) did a good job creating shots. We have a team of blue-collar workers. We must fight to win. Last year, when we lost a match against Duke like this, we had tears of sadness. Tonight, there are tears of happiness. "

Texas (5-0) will play the championship game on Friday against the winner of Thursday's final game between Michigan's 11th State and 17th UCLA. North Carolina plays the loser.

Roach also had six rebounds and 12 out of 15, including 3 out of 3 in depth. The senior surpassed his previous record of 26 points with an emphatic dunk with 8:27 for a 73-65 lead.

"The best thing about him tonight is that he really took the right shots and did the right readings," Smart said. "He really got us started after a slow start. They came to us. They will not stop shooting lights unless we make them. "

Roach and North Carolina rookie Coby White came and went all the way. The Whites had 33 points, but he missed a 3-pointer that would have allowed the Tar Heels (5-1) to win 1:01. He was 7 out of 10 by 3 points.

A first-year UNC student had the most points since his 40th birthday in Harrison Barnes in 2011 against Clemson at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Matt Coleman III had 16 points for Texas and Jaxson Hayes had 15 points and nine rebounds. Dylan Osetkowski scored 14 points, including a 3-pointer that allowed Texas to score 43-42 at half-time.

"Our guys did a good job managing the game against their defense against the pitfalls," said Smart. "I told the guys at half-time that we had to be the blue-collar. We must be serious. There is not going to be any nice basketball there. We have to find a way to get those loose bullets. "

Cameron Johnson had 16 points for the Tar Heels. Luke Maye had 11 points and nine rebounds, while Nassir Little had 11 points and six rebounds.

"In the first half, we made four free throws and we started taking 3-point shots and throwing the ball out of bounds," said North Carolina coach Roy Williams. "In the second half, I think our guys have a lot worse match."

The Longhorns moved away after half-time and led 11 with 11:08 left. North Carolina responded by cutting 80-78 with 5:44 left.

The Longhorns were successful against the Tar Heels, leading 8-3 in the all-time series. They also won the previous meeting in December 2015 in Austin, Texas.

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NO. 6 NEVADA 96, TULSA 86

Jordan Carolina had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Nevada, No. 6, beat Tulsa to reach the final of the other support of the Las Vegas Invitational competition.

Nevada (5-0) will play Massachusetts on Friday night.

Caleb Martin added 21 points for the Wolf Pack, making his 10 free throws. Jazz Johnson had 20 out of 5 points out of 7 from 3 points.

Sterling Taplin the Golden Hurricane (4-1) with 22 points, and Martins Igbanu added 14.

Nevada finally pulled out with about 10 minutes of play, creating a lead of 80-62 with 9:30. Tulsa cut it to 88-79 with 3:48 remaining.

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UMASS 84, ILLINOIS SOUTH 62

Luwane Pipkins scored 15 points and UMass took a 16-2 lead in a win over southern Illinois to stage a duel against Nevada.

Carl Pierre has added 14 points and Curtis Cobb has 11. The Minutemen scored the highest of the season with 15 3 points, one less than the school record.

Eric McGill led Southern Illinois (2-3) with 18 points and Kavion Pippen added 12.

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