Charlotte, N.C. ? North Carolina coach Roy Williams finally saw what he was looking for from the Tar Heels in the second half Wednesday night against Winthrop.

Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 2 North Carolina rallied to beat Winthrop, 73-66, in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

“When somebody hits you, you have a decision to make,” Williams said. “We have to have some toughness, and we had no toughness in the first half.”

Wayne Ellington added 13 points, and Brandan Wright scored 12 for the Tar Heels, who overcame 25 points from the Eagles’ Torrell Martin to advance to the semifinals next week in New York against Gonzaga.

Williams watched in disbelief in the first half as Winthrop hit open three-pointers, grabbed nearly every loose ball and built a 12-point lead.

“We were walking around letting people kick our butts, and it wasn’t making any difference to us,” Williams said. “It was a sorry attitude we had at that point.”

North Carolina (2-0), down nine with under 17 minutes to play, went to their highly regarded freshmen class to come back. Ellington’s back-to-back buckets inside and Ty Lawson’s three-pointer in a 9-0 run tied it at 45.

North Carolina took its first lead of the second half on Bobby Frasor’s layup with 9:55 left, in part thanks to picking up the intensity on defense, an area Williams has been critical of since practice began.

The freshman trio of Wright, Lawson and Ellington scored consecutive baskets, and Hansbrough, a sophomore, put it away with consecutive dunks, the second coming off a Winthrop turnover, to go ahead 65-55 with under three minutes left.

Martin, who hit six of eight three-pointers in the first half, made just one of seven after halftime, with Marcus Ginyard clamping down on him on the perimeter.

“He looked real comfortable out there, shooting threes and grabbing rebounds,” Ginyard said.

No. 6 UCLA 82, BYU 69

Los Angeles – Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored a career-high 24 points and keyed a second-half comeback, leading UCLA over BYU in the season opener for both teams. Point guard Darren Collison had career highs with 16 points and 10 assists in his debut as successor to Jordan Farmar, who left early for the NBA Draft and now plays downtown for the Los Angeles Lakers.

No. 8 Georgetown 86, Vanderbilt 70

Nashville, Tenn. – Jeff Green scored 19 points, Roy Hibbert added 18 with 10 rebounds, and Georgetown never trailed. The victory was a nice bit of revenge for the Hoyas (2-0) who lost at home last season to Vanderbilt after blowing a 13-point lead in that game.

No. 9 Wisconsin 79, Wisconsin-Green Bay 62

Madison, Wis. – Alando Tucker scored 18 points as Wisconsin jumped to a big lead early. The Badgers (2-0) opened the game with a 22-4 spurt and held the Phoenix at bay the rest of the way.

No. 15 Arizona 101, Northern Arizona 79

Tucson, Ariz. – Freshman Chase Budinger scored 32 points in his first Arizona home game. Budinger, already compared by coach Lute Olson to former Arizona standout Sean Elliott, scored 23 in the first half on 9-for-12 shooting.

No. 18 Syracuse 81, Northeastern 58

Syracuse, N.Y. – Eric Devendorf had 19 points and a career-high eight assists, freshman Paul Harris had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Syracuse beat Northeastern.

No. 22 Kentucky 57, Miami (Ohio) 46

Lexington, Ky. – Freshman forward Perry Stevenson blocked seven shots, and Kentucky scored the final 10 points to pull away from Miami of Ohio. The Wildcats led by 10 in the second half before two free throws by Nathan Peavy cut the edge to 47-46 with four minutes left.

No. 24 Nevada 75, Oregon State 47

Corvallis, Ore. – Marcelus Kemp scored 29 points, and Nick Fazekas had 19 points and 18 rebounds.