March Madness: Kelly, Ustby lead No. 8 seed North Carolina to 59-56 NCAA victory over Michigan State
Deja Kelly had 13 points and No. 8 seed North Carolina held off a late Michigan State run for a 59-56 victory to start the NCAA Tournament on Friday
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Deja Kelly took away two big things after No. 8 seed North Carolina held off a late run by No. 9 seed Michigan State to start the NCAA Tournament with a victory for a third straight season.
“First, I need to make my damn free throws, so start with that,” Kelly said as the Tar Heels survived in a 59-56 victory Friday. “But I think a lot of maturity showed.”
Kelly hit two of four foul shots in the last five seconds and pulled down a critical rebound. Alyssa Ustby had 16 points and 17 rebounds, no board bigger than collecting Kelly's final foul line miss with 3.2 seconds left as the Tar Heels ran out the clock.
Michigan State, down by 16 early and still trailing 54-42 with 3:22 to play, used a 14-3 run to get within a point after Theryn Hallock's 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left.
