ASS News » UNC came into this event as one of the favorites

Nassau, Bahamas (SportsNetwork.com) - The fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and the 18th-ranked Florida Gators will duke it out for fifth place in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Friday night at Imperial Arena. UNC came into this event as one of the favorites but had its championship aspirations squashed in the quarterfinals with a 74-66 loss to Butler. The Tar Heels were able to bounce back nicely on Thursday with a convincing 78-56 triumph in a showdown with UCLA to improve to 4-1 on the season. Florida had already shown to be vulnerable early in the season with a 69-67 home loss to Miami-Florida on Nov. 17, and its struggles continued in the quarterfinals with a 66-65 overtime loss to Georgetown to fall to the consolation side of the bracket. The Gators had a difficult time with UAB on Thursday but eventually captured a 56-47 victory to move to 3-2. These two historic programs have met just five times before, with UNC holding a 3-2 advantage. In the only meeting in the past 40 years, the Tar Heels won back in 2000, 71-59. The Tar Heels put together an 18-4 run to close out the first half of their contest with UCLA on Thursday and cruised from there to capture the 22-point victory. They shot a modest 41.8 percent from the field and drained eight 3- pointers, but they really shined on the defensive end of the floor, holding UCLA to less than 39 percent shooting (including just 1-of-14 from 3-point range) while forcing 23 turnovers, which they turned into 31 points. Marcus Paige put up a game-high 21 points to go with five assists and three steals. Justin Jackson added 12 points and Isaiah Hicks and J.P. Tokoto chipped in 10 points apiece. On the season, North Carolina lives comfortably in terms of its scoring (+18.4 ppg), rebounding (+5.2) and turnover (+4.6) margins, while outshooting its opponents from the field, 44.9 percent to 33.9 percent. Despite shooting under 38 percent from the floor, Paige still leads the way with 15.0 ppg. Kennedy Meeks is a nightly double-double threat with 13.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg. Brice Johnson (11.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Jackson (11.6 ppg) are also consistently reliable options. The Gators struggled to put UAB away on Thursday and even trailed by two inside of four minutes remaining, but they closed the game out in style by scoring the final 11 points to capture the nine-point victory. It was far from their most impressive shooting performance - they shot just 34 percent from the floor, including 7-of-23 from 3-point range - but they won the rebounding battle (39-30) and forced UAB into a game-high 16 turnovers. Michael Frazier II drained three 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 14 points, Chris Chiozza came off the bench to score 13 points and swipe six steals and Jon Horford logged eight points and eight rebounds. Florida has played outstanding defense all season long, yielding a mere 56.6 ppg, but its effort on the offensive end of the floor has lagged behind, as it shoots a lowly 40.1 percent from the field for 63.4 ppg. Frazier pours in 14.8 ppg to lead the team while adding 6.0 rpg and more than a steal per game as well. Dorian Finney-Smith (12.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Eli Carter (11.7 rpg) and Horford (11.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) are also off to solid starts. Cheap Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Jersey . According to USA Today the Finns have tapped forwards Jarkko Immonen and Sakari Salminen to replace injured forwards Mikko Koivu and Valtteri Filppula at the Sochi Games. Cheap Dennis Rodman Jersey . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. http://www.cheaplakersjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-kyle-kuzma-jersey . - The Clippers have signed guard Dahntay Jones to a second 10-day contract. Cheap Kobe Bryant Jersey .com) - James Harden needed just seven made field goals to drop 35 points on the Philadelphia 76ers, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-93 win on Monday. Cheap Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk Jersey . The 25-year-old Brazilian player has only made four Premier League appearances for United this season and underwent a medical test in Italy on Friday.HOUSTON -- Cain Velasquez stopped Junior Dos Santos in the fifth round Saturday night at UFC 166 to retain the heavyweight title. Dos Santos came out firing to start the final round, but Velasquez (13-1) worked him down to the mat only to have Dos Santos (16-3) get back up against the Octagon walls. The two traded lefts before Velasquez landed a left and took Dos Santos down head-first to the mat, causing referee Herb Dean to stop the bout at 3:09. "It was a pretty tough fight," Velasquez said. "It was very difficult. It was a tough night. I give him a lot of credit, he is a tough fighter. We were ready for everything. We trained hard in camp and prepared for everything. I tried to get him down this time. I was trying to throw crisper punches this time. I love the competition." The fight was third between the two. Dos Santos beat Velasquez in 1:04 in the first meeting in 2011, and Velasquez won the second by unanimous decision in 2012. "Im definitely satisfied," Velasquez said. "I just hope there are no more excuses on his part. Thats it. We dont look for the finish. We just put more pressure on and when it happens, it happens." In the co-main event, Daniel Cormier (13-0) unanimously outpointed Roy Nelson (20-9) in a heavyweight bout, with all three judges scoring it 30-27. Velaquez took Dos Santos down twice in a row midway through the third round with several rights and pounced on him on the ground, but Dos Santos was able to make it to his feet. In the post-fight press conference Dana White said he thought the fight should have been stopped in the third round. "Ive been around this sport and boxing for a long time and seen men who are too tough for their own good," White said. "I think Junior Dos Santos is one of them in the last Cain fight and this Cain fight. I think that fight should have been stopped. I dont think he should have taken more punishment." Velasquez remained on the attack, landing several rights with Dos Santos up against the wall, opening up cuts on Dos Santos left ear and mouth. Velasquez continued the attack to begin the fourth round, landing several combinations in the ffirst 40 seconds of the fourth round, and he continued the assault up against the Octagon wall.ddddddddddddDos Santos was able to break free and land a left. However, Velasquez landed more combinations, including a left that opened up a cut above Dos Santos right eye that stopped the fight for a moment before it was determined he could continue. Following the restart, Velasquez continued to land combinations, with Dos Santos getting in a left once. "He beat me up. What can I say?" Dos Santos said in the ring after the fight. "Hes a great fighter. I just want to give a good fight to the fans." Dos Santos was not in the post-fight press conference. Velasquez landed several lefts to start the second round and a kick to the head as well, cutting Dos Santos on the bridge of his nose. Velasquez had Dos Santos locked up against the walls of the Octagon several times in the second round, but Dos Santos landed a right at the end of the second round. Velasquez took Dos Santos to the mat midway through the first round, but was unable to land any hard shots, and Dos Santos got to his feet. The two went after it from the start, with Velasquez landing a couple lefts, and Dos Santos hitting an uppercut to go along with two lefts. The crowd was firmly in Velasquezs corner throughout the fight, yelling "Si, se puede" numerous times for the Mexican. In the co-main event, Cormier took Nelson down in each of the three rounds, including less than a minute into the bout, but he could not keep Nelson down. Cormier controlled the bout, landing more strikes than Nelson, but Cormier was not able to land combinations. Gilbert Melendez (22-3) earned his first UFC win, defeating Diego Sanchez (26-6) by unanimous decision -- 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 -- in a lightweight bout. Melendez opened up a cut over Sanchezs left eye with a right hook with two minutes left in the first round. The referee stopped the fight midway through the second and third rounds when the cut reopened but in both instances, the fight was continued. Sanchez came back with an uppercut and a flurry in the third round as the sellout crowd chanted "Diego! Diego!" 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