Leading by 19 in the second half, North Carolina looked to be on its way to an easy victory. But the Tar Heels had to withstand a 27-9 run that cut the margin to a point during their 93-87 win at Wake Forest.<\/p>\n
Carolina had missed seven shots in a row and were leading just 66-65 with under 10 minutes to play. But the Heels went on a 9-2 run that the Deacons couldn’t overcome. <\/p>\n
During the run, UNC’s Kennedy Meeks scored twice, Isaiah Hicks hit a baseline jumper and Joel Berry buried a long three pointer. <\/p>\n
Wake, behind six quick points from Brandon Childress, still managed to trim the eight-point deficit to just two at 80-78 with under four minutes left. <\/p>\n
But once again the Tar Heels answered. This time Justin Jackson was the main player as he found Hicks, who got loose for a dunk, then he followed it with five straight points, including a three with a minute left. <\/p>\n
Despite Wake cutting the lead to one possession at 87-84 with 32 seconds lefts, the Tar Heels hit six straight free throws to wrap it up. <\/p>\n
UNC coach Roy Williams was pleased that five players scored in double figures – Jackson (19), Meeks (18), Berry (18), Hicks (16) and Kenny Williams (12). And he liked that Carolina turned it over only 11 times.<\/p>\n
But he wasn’t pleased with the foul trouble. Berry, Hicks, Meeks and Luke Maye each ended with four. “Some of our fouls were just silly fouls,” he said. Plus, Tony Bradley left the game after his head hit the floor. And he wasn’t pleased with the defense.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got to play better defensively,” Coach Williams said. “(In the second half) they attacked us harder and we didn’t play well defensively.”<\/p>\n
Wake Forest shot 50 percent in the second half after managing less than 37 percent in the first half. <\/p>\n
Carolina improves to 15-3 and 3-1 in the ACC while Wake Forest falls to 10-7 and 2-3 in the league.<\/p>\n