CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 24 North Carolina held off persistent Saint Louis 75-63 tonight in a non-conference men's basketball game at the Dean Smith Center. Leading 56-55 with 6:44 to play, the defending national champions 13-3 run to finally put the Billikens away.

"We need to build on a great effort tonight, because we came in and competed against one of the premier programs in the country at their place before a full house," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "Our kids were never intimidated and never backed down despite everything that was against them. If we can take this effort to the remainder of our games, we'll see the rewards as we keep with the process of building this program."

The Billikens carried a 34-31 lead into the half in large part due to freshman guard Kevin Lisch's 10 points. After SLU weathered the first four minutes in which they committed four turnovers and fell behind 7-0, Lisch got the offense going with seven straight points to cut the Tar Heel lead to 9-7. Making his first start of the season, junior forward Justin Johnson put the Bills ahead 10-9 with 13:10 left in the half on a traditional 3-point play. Senior guard Anthony Drejaj's three-pointer from the left wing pushed SLU in front 13-9.

The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes until a three-pointer put the Tar Heels back on top 20-19 with 9:22 left. After a two-minute scoring drought for both teams, sophomore guard Dwayne Polk put SLU back on top with his first bucket of the night at 7:26, and freshman swingman Tommie Liddell answered Wes Miller's three-pointer with a short jumper to tie the game at 23-23. Carolina stretched the lead to four points before threeballs from Drejaj and Lisch knotted the game at 29-29 in the final minute. After Byron Sanders missed a pair of free throws, Drejaj remained perfect behind the arc with his third triple of the half. He then chased down Liddell's steal to feed junior center Ian Vouyoukas for a fast-break dunk and a 34-29 lead. After Heels guard Bobby Frasor scored on lay-up to end the half, SLU carried a 34-31 lead to the break.

The second half opened much like the first as the Tar Heels rattled off 13 straight points on a pair of threes from Reyshawn Terry and three close-range buckets from Tyler Hansbrough, who scored 17 of his game-high 21 points after the half. Trailing by 10 less than three minutes into the second stanza, SLU answered the Carolina run with 11 straight points of its own. Vouyoukas was the catalyst as he began controlling the glass on both ends of the floor. The Billiken center added two put-backs and a pair of defensive rebounds during the stretch. Liddell added a jumper, and Drejaj put the Bills back on top 45-44 at the 13:58 mark.

The teams kept trading punches until SLU sophomore guard Dwayne Polk scored to pull the Bills within one just prior to UNC's decisve run. Noel's bucket gave the Heels a three-point edge, and guard Wes Miller buried a trey as UNC opened a margin that SLU would never overcome.

"It was obvious coming out of the half that Coach (Roy) Williams had determined that they were going into the post no matter what," Soderberg said. "We were late converging on Hansbrough, and he made us pay. I felt bad for Ian (Vouyoukas), because he wasn't really able to show the type of player that he is and 3-of-8 from the field is unusual for him. He did a tremendous job on the boards with 14 rebounds, but the fact that he only shot one free throw in that type of game is pretty amazing."

Noel was one of three UNC (5-1) players in double figures with 16 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Terry contributed 14. The Heels shot 50.8 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from the arc and 61.5 percent from the line. Frasor had 12 assists as UNC had 23 assists.

Saint Louis shot 43.1 percent from the field, 56.2 percent from deep and 66.7 percent from the line. Drejaj poured in a season-high 16 points, and Lisch added a career-high 13. Liddell also contributed 13 points. Vouyoukas dished out season-high five assists, while Lisch handed out four.

Saint Louis (3-3) continues its three-game road trip at Oakland (Mich.) on Sat., Dec. 10, at 5 p.m. (CT).