Senior guard Brandon Robinson scored a career-high 20 points, and Roy Williams matched his mentor, Dean Smith, in coaching victories as North Carolina defeated Yale 70-67 on Monday night at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Williams picked up his 879th coaching victory, tying him with Smith, the legendary coach of the Tar Heels.

Williams, a former Smith assistant in his 17th season in charge of the Tar Heels, has 461 victories as North Carolina's coach. His total wins tie him four fourth place on the all-time Division I list. He won 418 games in 15 seasons at Kanas.

Williams will have a chance to move ahead of Smith when the Tar Heels face visiting Georgia Tech on Saturday night.

Reserve Justin Pierce's 14 points and Garrison Brooks' 11 points and 11 rebounds also were critical as the Tar Heels (8-5) won their second game in a row after a four-game losing streak. Robinson fouled out with 9.3 seconds remaining.

Azar Swain's 21 points and Jordan Bruner's 17 points and 15 rebounds paced Yale (10-4), which had a seven-game winning streak snapped.

Swain missed a desperation potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

North Carolina, beginning a four-game homestand, played its final nonconference game of the season.

Robinson scored five consecutive points as North Carolina went up 42-37. When Robinson drained a trey to reach his career high at 17 points, the North Carolina lead expanded to 60-48.

The Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run before Pierce's two free throws at the 3:48 mark. After Yale missed with a chance to close within two, Robinson hit another 3-pointer, his fifth of the game.

With 43 seconds to play, Bruner's trey made it 65-62. North Carolina's Jeremiah Francis responded with a drive for a three-point play with 19.8 seconds left and later added a pair of free throws to finish with 10 points, though he missed the front end of a 1-on-1 before the game's last shot.

Yale was coming off a Dec. 22 victory at Clemson.

The Tar Heels led 32-28 at halftime despite shooting 33.3 percent from the field. That included having seven of their shots blocked. For the game, Yale outshot North Carolina 37 percent to 36.6 percent.

North Carolina played its fourth game without freshman guard Cole Anthony, who underwent knee surgery earlier in the month and is expected to miss at least a few more games. Tar Heels reserve guard Andrew Platek was out with a sprained left ankle.

--Field Level Media