Die Macht » elite.Mississippi State: The Bulldogs lo

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- North Carolina won the Maui Invitational in 1999 and went on to reach the Final Four later that season. The Tar Heels won in paradise again in 2004 and 2008, which became springboards to national championships.After their latest Maui title -- and maybe most dominating yet -- Arizona here they come?The fourth-ranked Tar Heels capped a roughshod run through a deep Maui Invitational field by crushing No. 16 Wisconsin 71-56 in the title game Wednesday night, establishing themselves as early season favorites to reach the Final Four in Glendale next April.We have a chip on our shoulder and were going to continue to get better as the year goes on, North Carolina point guard Joel Berry II said. Were playing good right now, but I think we can still play better.The long, athletic Tar Heels (7-0) were so good in the semifinals that Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood called them the best team in the country.The national runner-up a year ago, North Carolina looked the part again in the title game, dominating Wisconsin (4-2) at both ends of the court.The Tar Heels held the Badgers to 38 percent shooting and harassed their leading scorer, Bronson Koenig, into a 1-for-13 night.Kennedy Meeks had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to anchor North Carolinas dominating inside game. The Tar Heels had a 36-16 advantage in the paint and 12 more rebounds against one of the nations best teams on the glass.Berry was tournament MVP, scoring 22 points while orchestrating the Tar Heels offense with precision.Isaiah Hicks scored 14 points to complement Meeks inside and Justin Jackson helped stretch Wisconsins defense with his shoot/drive ability, finishing with 12 points.Dominating as the Tar Heels were, their coach was not ready to book his trip to the Valley of the Sun just yet.Ive never seen a national championship on the day before Thanksgiving, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. Its usually a Monday night in April.North Carolina rolled over Chaminade and Oklahoma State in the first two Maui rounds, winning by a combined 75 points.The Tar Heels looked like they were headed for another runaway victory at the start of the title game, the Badgers like they had been in the sun too long on Kaanapali Beach.Unable to handle North Carolinas length on defense or hit shots when they were open, Wisconsin missed its first 11 from the field and needed nearly 7 1/2 minutes to score.Its tough when you dont hit shots, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.The Badgers settled down after their jittery start and cut the lead to four before North Carolina stretched it to 29-20 by halftime.Berry was the catalyst for North Carolina in the first half and continued to be in the second, scoring and pulling the strings on the Tar Heels offense.North Carolina continued to manhandle the Badgers defensively, highlighted by Brandon Robinsons track-him-down blocked shot off the backboard on Koenig midway in the second half.By the time Wisconsin made a late run, the game was well out of reach.Vitto Brown led Wisconsin with 15 points and Ethan Happ had 13.Well definitely have a lot to learn from this when we go back and watch the film, Brown said. Theres no better test this early in the season.BIG PICTURENorth Carolina has been dominant so far this season. Imagine how good the Tar Heels can be when forwards Luke Maye and Theo Pinson return from injuries.Wisconsin is good, just not Carolina good just yet.POLL IMPLICATIONSWith No. 3 Indiana losing to Fort Wayne, expect the Tar Heels to move up at least one spot, maybe more.CAROLINA REBOUNDINGWisconsin was coming off a dominant performance on the offensive glass, scoring 19 points on 20 offensive rebounds against Georgetown in the semifinals.North Carolina made defensive rebounding a priority against the Badgers and they handled it well, holding Wisconsin to four offensive rebounds and one second-chance point.UP NEXTWisconsin hosts Prairie View A&M on Sunday and faces No. 18 Syracuse next Tuesday.North Carolina has a week to prepare for a road showdown with No. 3 Indiana on Nov. 30.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. Swell Bottle 17 Oz Sale . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Buy Swell Bottles Nz . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. http://www.swellbottlesnz.com/ .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. Swell Water Bottle Nz . JOHNS, N. Swell Wood Water Bottle . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi State stars Victoria Vivians and Morgan William were at their best during the 10th-ranked Bulldogs 79-68 victory over No. 8 Texas on Sunday.That wasnt a surprise. Its what the Bulldogs did without those two on the floor that turned some heads.William scored 23 points and Vivians added 19, but it was a second-quarter run largely led by the teams reserves that helped put the Longhorns away.Our kids, that second quarter, really answered the bell and got after it, Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said. We got some real critical stops and then we really were attacking the rim.Mississippi State (4-0) pulled away in the second quarter thanks to some valuable minutes from the bench -- especially backup guards Roshunda Johnson and Jazzmun Holmes -- and a suffocating defense that held the Longhorns without a field goal for the final 9:40 of the half.The Bulldogs had a 26-9 advantage in the second quarter to turn a tie game into a 42-25 halftime lead. Johnson had seven points and Holmes added three during the run while Vivians and William were their biggest cheerleaders on the sideline.Everybodys stepped their game up, Vivians said. Everybody can go to the basket. Everyone can score.Texas (1-2) had 15 turnovers in the first half and 24 in the game.We got a little frantic in some situations, Texas coach Karen Aston said.Brooke McCarty led Texas with 19 points, and Ariel Atkins added 18. Texas lost despite shooting a respectable 27 of 56 from the field (48.2 percent) and outrebounded the Bulldogs 36-26.The Longhorns pulled within 48-40 in the third quarter, but couldnt get any closer.There were a whole lot of positives, Aston said. Even the turnovers, most of them were in the first half. We pulled within in eight points, but then we forced some things. Young kids trying to make something happen every possession.William shhot 5 of 11 from the field and 13 of 14 from the free-throw line while also adding six rebounds and three steals.ddddddddddddDominique Dillingham added 10 points for the Bulldogs.INSTANT OFFENSEMississippi State played 10 players on Sunday, including nine who were on the roster last season. The only new player was Johnson, a 5-foot-7 junior guard who transferred from Oklahoma State and sat out last season.Shes been excellent so far this season, averaging nearly 12 points per game as a consistent scoring option with the second team off the bench.BIG PICTURETexas: Its been a tough start to the season for Texas, which has now lost two of its first three games. Both of those losses -- against Stanford and Mississippi State -- came against good teams, but they provide ample evidence that the Longhorns have some work to do to be among the nations elite.Mississippi State: The Bulldogs lost to Texas in Austin last season, but won against the Longhorns with relative ease on their home court. Vivians -- who is inarguably the teams best scorer -- had a solid game, but it was the consistent production from others like William, Dillingham, Chinwe Okorie and the bench that was most important for Mississippi State.LIMPING SCHAEFERSchaefer was noticeably limping during the second half of the game, and the coach said he believed it was his due to a case of gout in his feet. Vivians and William had to nearly carry Schaefer into the postgame press conference.UP NEXTTexas: The Longhorns return home to face Northwestern State on Wednesday.Mississippi State: The Bulldogs face Oregon on Friday in the opening round of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Tournament in Honolulu on Friday.----Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP ' ' '