NEW ORLEANS — There could be only one thing better for the Penn State men's basketball team than finishing its season with a hard-fought loss to second-seeded North Carolina.

And that is beating the Tar Heels and continuing on to Atlanta to play in the Sweet 16.

Penn State (21-11) upset North Carolina 82-74 to advance to the round of 16 to play Temple in the Georgia Dome on Friday.

"We've arrived in uncharted waters right now and it feels great," Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn said. "These guys did a great job."

The Nittany Lions, who were picked by almost everyone to lose to Providence in the first round, were led by the senior trio of Joe Crispin, Titus Ivory and Gyasi Cline-Heard who combined for 61 points. Cline-Heard, who, once again, challenged a bigger opponent, came out victorious.

Friday against Providence it was 7-foot-2 Karim Shabazz. Yesterday, Cline-Heard faced North Carolina's 7-foot giant Brendan Haywood, Kris Lang and Julius Peppers. Cline-Heard and the Penn State frontcourt came out on top.

"Throughout the season we've had a lot of matchups where we had to go against bigger guys," Cline-Heard said. "I have to give all the credit to the backcourt because they didn't let anyone off."

The seventh-seeded Lions, who were considered a bubble team at the Big Ten Tournament have proven with wins over Illinois, Michigan State, Kentucky, Temple, and now North Carolina that they are a solid team from the starting five all the way down their bench.

The Penn State reserves played extremely well again as sophomore guard Brandon Watkins came up with a huge offensive rebound and a steal in the final minutes.

Jamaal Tate, Ndu Egekeze and Marcus Banta provided helpful minutes while the frontcourt starters were on the sidelines catching a breather.

The Penn State defense also played tremendously, garnering an amazing 18 steals and causing 22 turnovers, two things North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said caused his team the game.

"We're hurting right now, it's a difficult time," the first-year coach said. "We turned the ball over a lot and that's a credit to their defense. It was a frustrating game."

Penn State goes on to play Temple in the Sweet 16. The winner of that game will play either Michigan State or Gonzaga for a trip to the Final Four.