CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? David Noel scored a season-high 21 points and Rashad McCants added 19 as North Carolina won its NIT first-round game, 83-72, Tuesday night against DePaul.

The Tar Heels (18-15), playing in the NIT for the first time in 29 years, overcame a dismal final eight minutes of the first half to advance to play the winner of the Wyoming-Eastern Michigan game, which was postponed until Thursday because of a snow storm.

Noel, a 6-foot-6 freshman, was 10-for-13 from the field and added a season-high 11 rebounds.

North Carolina’s trapping defense changed the game in the opening stages of the second half, fueling a 16-3 run in the first three minutes.

Sam Hoskin led DePaul with 24 points, while Andre Brown had 14 points and 16 rebounds.

In other first-round games Tuesday it was Siena defeating undermanned Villanova, 74-59; Temple over Drexel, 68-59; Georgetown knocking off Tennessee, 70-60; and Boston College pounding Fairfield, 90-78.