GREENSBORO - North Carolina A&T men's basketball coach Jerry Eaves told senior guard Dwane Joshua before Tuesday night's game against Carson-Newman that he expected Joshua to score 30 points.

What Eaves got was a career game from Joshua. The junior college transfer finished with a career-high 31 points and 10 rebounds as he led the Aggies to an 81-74 win at Corbett Sports Center. Junior guard Nic Simpson added 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, and Tavarus Alston finished with 16 points and six assists.

Defensively, the Aggies were led by James Porter's nine rebounds and six blocks. The Aggies shot better than 50 percent for the first time this season.

"Dwane had a tremendous night for us, but he knows he can't turn the ball over like that,'' said Eaves who also saw his leading scorer turn the ball over six times. "But we needed him to put the ball in the basket tonight and he is capable of that. He also had a good game on the boards for us, so he really came through."

The Aggies needed Joshua's big night. Two starters - senior forward Robert Johnson and junior center Thomas Coleman - did not play because of injuries. Then there was Carson-Newman. The Eagles were thinking upset late into the second half.

They had good reason. They led by three at the half and by as many as five in the second half. But the Eagles eventually ran into a problem. They couldn't stop the Aggies from scoring off layups. The Aggies shot 66.7 percent from the floor in the second half.

"When they went into their man-to-man defense, I told my team we have to attack the basket,'' said Eaves.

Porter started a 13-2 Aggies run when he caught a bounce pass from Marc Hill and scored on a layup to give N.C. A&T a 62-61 lead with nine minutes remaining. Simpson followed with a 3-pointer. The run was capped off after a Simpson rebound led to an outlet pass to Joshua for another easy layup and a 73-63 Aggies lead with 5:26 remaining.

The Eagles cut the lead to four with 1:38 remaining, but two Alston free throws and a driving layup to the basket by Alston gave the Aggies a 79-71 lead with under a minute remaining.

J.J. Wesley came off the bench to lead the Eagles with 24 points on 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. The Aggies improved to 4-0 at home as they played in front of the home crowd for the first time since Nov. 23. During their time away from home, the Aggies played the likes of UTEP, New Mexico State, nationally-ranked Tennessee and Miami.

"We have to learn how to win again,'' said Eaves. "This is why we scheduled this game at home before going down to Florida. We have to get our young men back into a winning mindset. You saw tonight we reverted back to some of the mistakes we made on the road. We're making progress."

The Aggies face Florida A&M Saturday night at 7:30 before going to Daytona Beach, Fla., to face Bethune-Cookman Monday night at 7:30.