CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tyrese Rice came through with another big game against North Carolina, one that ended all the talk of a perfect season for the top-ranked Tar Heels.

Rice scored 25 points and Rakim Sanders added 22 to help Boston College stun North Carolina 85-78 yesterday, likely ending the Tar Heels' run atop the early season polls with a surprisingly one-sided road victory.

Reggie Jackson had 17 points — including seven in the decisive second-half run — for the Eagles (13-2, 1-0), who led by six points at halftime and pushed the lead to as many as 15 before holding off a frantic rally in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

It started with Rice, who scored 46 points in last year's late-season meeting and was again a matchup problem at the point for North Carolina (13-1, 0-1) all game. But the Eagles had a lot more, namely a physical defense and an unwavering focus that kept them from getting too caught up in the moment as they inched closer to an upset that few could have imagined.

This was, after all, a team picked in the preseason to finish 11th in the 12-team ACC. And the Tar Heels were the unanimous No. 1 team in the national poll with five starters back from a Final Four squad that won a school-record 36 games, a team that heard questions as recently as Friday on whether it could go unbeaten this year.

So much for all of that.

"We just met the challenge," Rice said. "I felt like they hadn't been challenged all year. Every team that they've played against, they just walked right through them. You look at people playing defense against them, they stay back, people drive and they're standing straight up and not trying to contest shots. I can't watch a tape if everybody's playing like that.

"We wanted to challenge them to see if they could step up and play as hard as we were going to play."

North Carolina had been every bit as dominant as predicted so far, winning its first 13 games by an average of 26 points and breaking a school record for most consecutive double-digit wins set by the 1993 NCAA championship team. Its closest game was 15 points, its smallest halftime lead was eight and it hadn't trailed in a game later than the 7:08 mark of the first half.

The Tar Heels sounded eager to see how they would handle a tougher game. Most expected that would come with a trip to unbeaten and sixth-ranked Wake Forest next weekend. Instead, North Carolina finds itself at the bottom of the conference standings to start its run for a third straight league title.

"We never sat in the locker room and said, 'Let's go straight undefeated,' " said Tyler Hansbrough, who had 21 points to lead North Carolina. "That was more people outside the locker room talking about that. Now you can put that to rest and bring us back down to reality, and we can all focus on what we need to do better instead of all this hype."

In the last meeting, North Carolina rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit for a 90-80 victory with Rice the only BC player to reach double figures. There would be no blown lead this time, just the sight of the Eagles' bench spilling onto the court in celebration as the horn sounded.

"We had to have the discipline in order to execute what it is we needed to do," Boston College coach Al Skinner said. "There were going to be breakdowns and there were, but guys were able to refocus and not compound those mistakes."

No. 5 Duke 69, Virginia Tech 44: Kyle Singler scored 19 points and keyed the decisive run that carried the Blue Devils (12-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) past the visiting Hokies (9-5, 0-1).

No. 12 UCLA 83, Oregon 74: Darren Collison scored 22 points and Josh Shipp added a season-high 17 as the visiting Bruins (12-2, 2-0 Pac-10) beat the Ducks (6-8, 0-2).

California 81, No. 17 Arizona St. 71: Jerome Randle converted a four-point play with 2:13 remaining, matched his career high with 26 points and had a career-best 10 assists to lead the host Bears (12-2, 2-0 Pac-10) over the Sun Devils (12-2, 1-1).

No. 18 Louisville 74, Kentucky 71: Point guard Edgar Sosa hit a 30-footer with 2.8 seconds remaining to give the 18th-ranked Cardinals (9-3) a victory over the visiting Wildcats (11-4). Terrence Williams had 19 points and eight rebounds for Louisville.

No. 23 Michigan 74, Illinois 64: Manny Harris had 16 points and four teammates also scored in double figures as the host Wolverines (11-3, 1-1 Big Ten) beat the Illini (13-2, 1-1), ending Illinois' seven-game winning streak.

RANKED WOMEN

No. 5 Oklahoma 89, North Carolina Central 25: Whitney Hand scored 18 points as the Sooners (11-2) cruised by the visiting Eagles (4-12). Oklahoma blew out to a 50-15 lead in the opening half.

No. 11 Stanford 70, Arizona 61: Jeanette Pohlen made five 3-pointers to score 15 points, as the Cardinal (11-3, 2-0 Pacific-10) held off the host Wildcats (7-6, 0-2).

No. 13 California 54, Arizona State 53: Ashley Walker's layup with 1.8 seconds remaining gave the visiting Bears (11-2, 2-0 Pac-10) a win over the Sun Devils (8-6, 0-2).

No. 17 Ohio State 67, Michigan State 49: Jantel Lavender scored 20 points to hit double figures for the 45th consecutive game as the host Buckeyes (12-2, 3-0 Big Ten) rolled over the Spartans (9-6, 2-2).

No. 19 Pittsburgh 72, West Virginia 63: Shavonte Zellous had 34 points and the Panthers (11-2, 1-0 Big East) scored the game's last eight points to beat the visiting Mountaineers (10-3, 0-1).

No. 23 Georgia Tech 69, Tulane 52: Jacqua Williams scored a career-high 23 points as the Yellow Jackets (12-2) won their eighth straight game with a victory over the visiting Green Wave (9-6).