s since the first week of the season when the fell by 45 to

NEW ORLEANS -- If North Carolina needs more scoring from Justin Jackson this season, early signs are the sixth-ranked Tar Heels are going to get it.Jackson scored a career-high 27 points, guard Joel Berry II added a career-high 23, and No. 6 North Carolina never trailed its overmatched host, defeating Tulane 95-75 on Friday night in the regular season opener for both teams.I would love to keep it up every single game, Jackson said. Ive just got to keep on putting in the work before and after practice so that whenever I step on the court, thats the easy part.He made it look easy, but deferred credit to fellow Tar Heels for getting him open shots.My teammates were finding me. They were setting screens, Jackson said. I just had to step into the shot and knock it down.Jackson hit the first four 3s he attempted and also scored on an array of shots from inside and out, including a driving reverse layup. That came as no surprise to Berry, who was among those looking to get Jackson the ball.Hes worked on his shot a lot, worked on making it, being more consistent, Berry said. Thats what were going to need from him.The game marked the college coaching debut for former NBA player and coach Mike Dunleavy, but his Tulane squad simply lacked the talent to stay with a team that lost last seasons national championship game to Villanova on a last-second shot.We got caught up in the momentum, as opposed to playing the way that we needed to play to give ourselves a chance, Dunleavy said. I liked our effort. Im not going to like some of our film, but thats part of it.Cameron Reynolds scored a career-high 21 points for Tulane, hitting five of six from 3-point range. Tulane struggled to get open looks near the basket against North Carolinas imposing interior, but the Green Wave hit 12 3-pointers to account for nearly half of its points.BIG PICTURENorth Carolina: Berry looks ready to take charge and be a playmaker on both ends. Isaiah Hicks looks formidable from 10 feet in, and Jackson demonstrated that hes ready to contribute a lot more than the 12 points per game he supplied last season as North Carolina looks to repeat as Atlantic Coast Conference champions.Tulane: While there was never any evidence that the Green Wave possessed enough talent to compete with a traditional college basketball power like North Carolina, Dunleavy has the Green Wave playing with more purpose and poise than they displayed a year ago. Time will tell if the former NBA coach can make Tulane into a factor in the American Athletic Conference.SUPPORTING CASTSHicks scored 16, and Kennedy Meeks grabbed 15 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who never trailed and led by as many as 21 points. Freshman forward Tony Bradley added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.Kain Harris scored 15 points for Tulane and freshman guard Colin Slater added 14 points in his Green Wave debut.BUCKLING DOWNNorth Carolina, a 21-point favorite coming in, found Tulane to be a feisty opponent early. Trailing 20-19 more than 10 minutes into the game, the Green Wave had several chances to take the lead, but missed two shots and then turned the ball over on a charging foul.Thats about when Berry seemed to infuse the Tar Heels with some extra intensity, starting with his alley-oop lob from the top of the key to set up Hicks dunk. Berry then stole the ball from Ray Ona Embo and quickly fed Jackson for a layup. Berry then hit a 3 and added a free throw to make it 31-22 as North Carolina began to pull away. Berrys second 3 of the game made it 44-29.FOUL BEHAVIOROfficials awarded North Carolina a technical free throw after a fan tossed a mini, palm-size basketball on the court. Officials said it was the second time in the game a fan had tossed an object into play.Dunleavy said he did not know about that rule, but cracked that he would starting taking a Tulane fan to road games with instructions to take a couple balls with you and toss them out there just when I need it.POLL IMPLICATIONSNorth Carolina performed as expected against over-matched Tulane, so voters might be inclined to keep the Tar Heels where they are unless one of the five teams above them stumbles.UP NEXTNorth Carolina plays its home opener on Sunday afternoon against Chattanooga.Tulane returns to its regular, on-campus home venue on Monday night to host Southeastern Louisiana.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org Adidas Nmd Ireland . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Adidas Store Basketball Shoes . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. http://www.cheapnmdsneakersireland.com/adidas-basketball-shoes.html .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Cheap Yeezys Ireland . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. Cheapest Adidas Basketball Shoes . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- When sophomore Donta Hall checked out of the game for the last time on Thursday night, there was still over seven minutes remaining in what would become the Crimson Tides 78-61 victory over USC Upstate.He just scored a career-high 14 points against Oregon on Sunday in his first career start, but he managed to beat that mark on Thursday when he scored 15 against the Spartans.If he can continue to give us this type of production then well have somebody we can throw the ball to with Jimmie (Taylor) in the low post, Alabama coach Avery Johnson said. . I think this kid has a high ceiling.Malik Moore led the Spartans with 14 points and three teammates also finished in double figures. However, it was his teammate Michael Buchanan that had the Alabama coaching staffs attention all week, and he still finished one rebound shy of what could have been his sixth double-double in his teams last eight games.He (Buchanan) was our No. 1 priority tonight, Johnson said. His name was capitalized on the board because weve seen him dominate some really high Division-I teams.Limiting Buchanan helped the Crimson Tide (5-4) outscore the Spartans (7-6) in the paint 48-20.Johnson said his team struggles to grab what he calls dirty rebounds, but Thursday nights effort might be a step in the right direction.Alabama won the battle of the boards 44-33 behind Bola Olaniyan (10), Braxton Key (nine) and Hall (eight).Thats a pretty heavy number for us, Johnson said. Then you start becoming a really good basketball team if we can take care of the basketball.BIG PICTUREAlabama: After finishing with a seeason-low 56 points against the teams first ranked opponent (then-No.dddddddddddd 24 Oregon) in its last game, the Crimson Tide bounced back to score a season-high 78 points in this victory.USC Upstate: The Spartans defeated their last two opponents by 22 and 28 points, respectively, before suffering the teams worst loss since the first week of the season when the fell by 45 to Georgetown.FRESHMAN STANDOUTKey led Alabama in assists with five, and finished second on the team in both scoring (10 points) and rebounding (nine).QUOTABLEJohnson began his postgame press conference talking about broadcaster Craig Sager, who died Thursday. (In Sager) I saw the one person that could get my mentor, outside of me, I saw one person that could get (NBA) Coach (Gregg) Popovich to smile and cooperate during the sideline interview at the end of the first and third quarter. . My life is better because I had a chance to cross paths with him.UP NEXTAlabama: The Crimson Tide failed to flip the script when it fell for the second straight year to both Dayton and Oregon earlier this season, but now Alabama will get the chance to secure a victory for the second consecutive season over the Clemson Tigers when the teams meet in Birmingham, Alabama on Sunday.USC Upstate: The Spartans season-long three-game winning streak is snapped with the loss, but they will get the chance to start another streak when they host Jacksonville State on Sunday in the first of three consecutive home games. ' ' '