The Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Rashad McCants took a terrible shot and didn't box out. The freshman found himself on the bench less than 10 minutes into North Carolina's second game of the season.

"I got on him," coach Matt Doherty said after the Tar Heels beat Rutgers 71-67 on Wednesday night to advance to the semifinals of the Preseason NIT. "When I took him out he didn't sulk, he didn't pout - he kept his head in the game. I knew we needed him to have a chance to win this game."

After the slow start, McCants was the hero again for North Carolina, which closed with a 23-8 run after falling behind by 11 points in the second half.

The 6-foot-4 McCants followed his 28-point collegiate debut Monday night with 18 points against the Scarlet Knights (1-1), getting eight over the final 6:25.

"Toward the beginning it kind of bothered him that they were such a good defensive team," fellow freshman Sean May said of McCants. "I went to the huddle and told him, `Just calm down, you'll be all right. Go out there and handle your business. These guys can't guard you.'

"Toward the end he realized that, and they were overplaying a little bit, and he took it to the baseline. He did his thing tonight."

So did May, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double two games into his career.

May kept the Tar Heels close in the first half after their offense struggled, turning it over 12 times in the opening 20 minutes.

"We got a little jumpy at the beginning and toward the middle of the second half we kind of got out of it too, but we came back and did what we had to do," May said. "We had to do it play by play and not worry about the clock and just get it done."

The Tar Heels are off to a 2-0 start off last season's worst-ever 8-20 record and now head to Madison Square Garden in New York. On Nov. 27, North Carolina will face the winner of Friday night's second-round game between No. 2 Kansas and N.C.-Greensboro.

"That was a big motivation," Will Johnson said of the trip to New York City. "I've never played in the Garden before so I'm excited about it. And I'm happy for Coach Doherty. He puts his heart and soul into this program. I'm glad we could deliver for him."

A fastbreak slam by McCants brought the Tar Heels to 67-65 with 2:48 left and his two free throws with 9.2 seconds left helped seal it after Jawad Williams' go-ahead layup with 31 seconds remaining.

The Tar Heels shot 43 percent in the first half, but hit 52 percent in the final 20 minutes to nail down the win.

"It was good we were tested like this and showed that we could beat an opponent and play in the 60s and lows 70s," Doherty said.

Herve Lamizana scored a career-high 20 points and Ricky Shields also added 20 for Rutgers, but leading scorer Jerome Coleman was 2-of-18 from the field and had five points.

Scarlet Knights coach Gary Waters used the last of his timeouts with five minutes left and could do nothing but watch his team lose the lead down the stretch.

"I guess we played out of control," Lamizara said. "That happens at times, I guess. Some guys were scared maybe. I don't know what was going on, but I was fully relaxed. I thought (my teammates) would be, too."