No. 25 North Carolina 79, No. 1 Michigan State 65: Freshman forward Kennedy Meeks scored a season-high 15 points off the bench as the visiting Tar Heels upset the Spartans at the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

Brice Johnson added 14 points in a reserve role and J.P. Tokoto finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for North Carolina, which also upset then-No. 2 Louisville this season but fell to mid-majors Belmont and Alabama-Birmingham. Marcus Paige and Nate Britt added 13 points apiece for the Tar Heels (5-2).

Gary Harris played on a sore ankle that kept him out of the previous game and scored a team-high 17 points for Michigan State (7-1). Adreian Payne battled what appeared to be a cramp in his lower left leg during the second half and produced 16 points and eight rebounds and Keith Appling added 13 points for the Spartans.

North Carolina sped to a 16-4 lead in the game’s first seven minutes and led by as many as 14 before going scoreless over the final five minutes, allowing Michigan State to catch up and tie the score at 32 entering the break. After the Spartans battled back to knot the score again at 49 with just over 12 minutes remaining, they went without a field goal for more than six minutes during a 16-3 run to fall behind by 13 with 6:02 left.

Michigan State, which never led, cut the deficit to eight twice but could get no further. North Carolina, which came in shooting 60.5 percent from the free-throw line, shot 5-for-10 over the final two minutes but Michigan State missed its final six field-goal attempts.

GAME NOTEBOOK: North Carolina starting F Matt Costello was doubtful to play because of flu-like symptoms but came off the bench in the first half and scored all six of his points before starting the second half in place of Alex Gauna, who had two fouls, a turnover and a lane violation in less than two minutes of first-half playing time. … Appling took a hard fall after getting undercut while trying to block a shot without about six minutes left in the first half, hobbled off the floor after a few minutes but returned late in the first half. … North Carolina improved to 13-17 against top-ranked teams, with seven wins coming against ACC-rival Duke.