No. 21 North Carolina 82, No. 10 Kentucky 77: Marcus Paige led the way with 23 points and James Michael McAdoo added 20 as the Tar Heels held off the visiting Wildcats.

J.P. Tokoto contributed 15 points for North Carolina (7-2), which knocked off its third top-10 team already this season. The Tar Heels forced 17 turnovers and held Kentucky (8-3) to 4-of-12 from beyond the arc.

Aaron Harrison scored 20 points and brother Andrew Harrison added 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds as the Wildcats suffered their third loss to a ranked opponent. James Young had 16 points and Julius Randle scored 11 for Kentucky.

The Wildcats led by as many as seven points in the first half and had it knotted at 30 before Willie Cauley-Stein was whistled for his third foul and coach John Calipari took exception, drawing a technical with 1.9 seconds left and watching as North Carolina hit three of the four free throws to take a 33-30 lead into the break. Kentucky bounced back to take a 46-44 lead six minutes into the second half before the Tar Heels turned it around.

Nate Britt tied it with a layup and Paige stole the ball on the Wildcats’ next two possessions en route to a pair of easy layups. The lead reached 66-58 on McAdoo’s jumper with 5:34 left and North Carolina held off a late charge with the help of a spectacular alley-oop from Paige to Brice Johnson with 1:18 left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Kentucky struggled to 29-of-43 from the free-throw line while North Carolina was even worse at 26-for-45. … The Tar Heels have taken seven of the last 10 meetings. … Cauley-Stein collected 12 rebounds and five blocks – the fourth time in the last five games he has swatted away at least five shots.