| | | |

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Gerald Fitch scored 21 points and made a clinching 3-pointer with 23 seconds left, helping No. 8 Kentucky beat No. 9 North Carolina 61-56 on Saturday.

Kentucky (9-1) rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Tar Heels (8-2) for the fourth straight season.

Erik Daniels added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, who shot 55 percent in the second half after shooting 26 percent in the opening half. Kentucky committed only three turnovers after halftime.

The game was a matchup between the schools that rank 1-2 in career wins in Division I — Kentucky at 1,858 and North Carolina at 1,816.

North Carolina’s only other loss this season came in triple overtime to No. 6 Wake Forest.

North Carolina led 30-20 in the first minute of the second half and 35-26 with 15:43 left. Kentucky used an 11-2 run to pull even and took the lead for good with 10:53 left on a basket by Daniels that made it 43-41.

The Tar Heels twice pulled within one point, the last at 57-56 on a 3-pointer by Raymond Felton with 56 seconds left.

With the shot clock at 3, Fitch hit a 3-pointer — his fifth of the game — to restore Kentucky’s lead to four points. North Carolina turned the ball over on its next possession, and Kentucky’s Cliff Hawkins made 1-of-2 free throws with 14.5 seconds left.

Melvin Scott scored 16 points and Felton added 11 for North Carolina. The Tar Heels lost despite the return of starters Sean May and Jawad Williams. They missed North Carolina’s previous game, a win over Coastal Carolina, because of an ankle injury and a concussion. May and Williams combined for 11 points and 11 rebounds against Kentucky.

Scott made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the first half, which ended with North Carolina up 28-20. The Tar Heels’ lead could have been larger if they hadn’t committed 11 turnovers. They finished the game with 20 turnovers.

Kentucky led 10-2 a little more than three minutes into the game, but the Wildcats scored just 10 points during the final 16:49 of the half. Kentucky shot 8-of-31 from the field, including 2-of-12 from 3-point range, and had 10 first-half turnovers.

Kentucky’s first-half shooting struggles continued a trend. In the Wildcats’ previous two games — a loss to Louisville and a win over Austin Peay — they shot 37 percent.

North Carolina is 16-10 against Kentucky. Before the current Kentucky streak, the Tar Heels had won six in a row over the Wildcats.