Mississippi's Kenny Williams, left, pressures Tennessee's Tyler Smith. No. 8 Tennessee beat No. 16 Mississippi, 85-83, on Wednesday night in Knoxville, Tenn.

Knoxville, Tenn. ? Tyler Smith did just what Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl wanted done with the Volunteers’ Southeastern Conference opener against undefeated Mississippi on the line.

“He took it right to the basket. He stuck it up their nose,” Pearl said.

Smith’s layup with 4.2 seconds to play gave No. 8 Tennessee an 85-83 victory over No. 16 Mississippi on Wednesday night.

With the score tied at 83, Ole Miss missed several shots but grabbed four rebounds before JaJuan Smith fouled Kenny Williams with 31 seconds left.

JaJuan Smith rebounded the missed free throw and the Vols (13-1) moved the ball around until Tyler Smith’s layup.

Tyler Smith said he knew Pearl wouldn’t call a timeout to prepare for a possible game-winning shot, which meant someone on the court had to execute.

“No matter what, it was going to be a foul or a basket,” he said.

The Rebels (13-1), who entered the game as one of Division I’s last six undefeated teams, were unable to get off a final shot.

Tennessee took a 72-60 lead with 11 minutes left on a free throw by Tyler Smith. But Ole Miss chipped away at that lead with a 23-7 run that ended on a jumper by Eniel Polynice that put the Rebels up 83-79 with 2:22 left.

Wayne Chism and Tyler Smith hit consecutive jump shots to tie the game at 83.

“We’re way beyond moral victories,” Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said. “Our guys are crushed. I’ve got grown men crying in there.”

Tyler Smith and JaJuan Smith both had 21 points for Tennessee, while Chris Lofton finished with 10. Chism grabbed eight rebounds.

Freshman Chris Warren led Mississippi with 24 points, but said he wasn’t satisfied to leave Knoxville without a win.

No. 1 North Carolina 93, UNC Asheville 81

Chapel Hill, N.C. – Tyler Hansbrough scored 23 points, and Wayne Ellington added 19 to lead top-ranked North Carolina.

Hansbrough, who reached the 20-point mark for the eighth time in nine games, started the Tar Heels’ decisive 13-4 second-half run with a momentum-shifting dunk over the nation’s tallest player, 7-foot-7 Kenny George.

Ty Lawson scored 17 points and reserve Danny Green had 12 of his 14 in the first half for North Carolina (16-0), which never trailed in completing its first perfect nonconference regular season since 1998 and just its fifth in 50 years.

No. 2 Memphis 99, East Carolina 58

Memphis, Tenn. – Freshman Derrick Rose scored 19 points, and Memphis overcame a somewhat lackluster start to beat East Carolina in the Conference USA opener for both teams.

Andre Allen and Robert Dozier added 13 points apiece for the Tigers (14-0, 1-0) with Dozier adding 10 rebounds. Chris Douglas-Roberts finished with 12 points.

No. 9 Duke 74, Temple 64

Philadelphia – Taylor King scored 15 points to lead Duke past Temple and help Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski earn his 787th victory and move into sixth place on the career wins list. Krzyzewski, the third-winningest active coach, improved his career record to 787-262 and broke a tie with Lefty Driesell. Next is San Francisco’s Eddie Sutton with 798 career wins.

DeMarcus Nelson and Greg Paulus each scored 13 points and helped the Blue Devils (12-1) beat Temple for the eighth straight time.

No. 13 Vanderbilt 80, South Carolina 73

Nashville, Tenn. – Freshman A.J. Ogilvy scored 25 points, and Vanderbilt defeated South Carolina. Shan Foster and Alex Gordon both added 13 points for the Commodores (16-0, 1-0), who stretched their best start ever by beating the Gamecocks (8-7, 0-1) for the fourth straight time.

South Carolina made the Commodores work for this victory, swapping the lead eight times with four ties in the second half alone. The Gamecocks harassed Vanderbilt into 16 turnovers, nine of those on steals.

No. 17 Dayton 92, No. 22 Rhode Island 83

Dayton, Ohio – Brian Roberts scored 23 points, and No. 17 Dayton withstood a furious second-half rally by No. 22 Rhode Island. Dayton (13-1) used its depth and a balanced scoring attack to turn back the Rams (14-2), with four Flyers finishing in double figures.

Jimmy Baron had 26 points, many on open looks off screens, while Will Daniels added 25. Dayton led 54-41 at halftime but Rhode Island got within 73-70 with 6:34 left. Roberts then scored nine straight points.

Charlotte 82, No. 18 Clemson 72

Clemson, S.C. – Leemire Goldwire scored 21 points to lead Charlotte over No. 18 Clemson, the 49ers’ first win over a ranked team in nearly three years. Charlotte (9-5) lost all of a 12-point lead in the second half, but outscored the Tigers 13-3 over the final 4:23.

The 49ers hadn’t beaten a Top 25 team since defeating No. 18 Cincinnati 91-90 on Feb. 5, 2005.

No. 20 Pittsburgh 79, South Florida 66

Tampa, Fla. – Sam Young scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, and Pittsburgh rebounded from losing its Big East opener with a victory over South Florida.

Keith Benjamin scored 20 points for the Panthers (13-2, 1-1), 11 of them in the first half when Pitt built a double-digit lead while Young was on the bench with two fouls. His long three-pointer finished a 19-6 run that blew the game open in the second half.

No. 24 Xavier 83, St. Bonaventure 68

Cincinnati – B.J. Raymond and C.J. Anderson each scored a career-high 21 points, and Xavier overcame a sluggish performance to earn its fifth straight win.

Xavier (13-3, 1-0 Atlantic 10) never trailed.