ROBERT WILLETT-rwillett@newsobserver.com
Wake's Ishmael Smith (10) drives to the basket against UNC's David Wear (34) in the second half. Smith lead all scorers with 20 points, and the Deacons to a 82-69 victory over the Tar Heels, handing them their third loss in a row.
Chapel Hill -- CHAPEL HILL -- Three weeks into the heart of the ACC season, Wake Forest looks like a contender to make it to its second straight NCAA tournament. No. 24 North Carolina, however, already is slipping ever closer toward the bubble.
The Demon Deacons used the speed of senior point guard Ishmael Smith and the timely outside shooting their of their freshmen to dominate the Tar Heels' 82-69 at the Smith Center on Wednesday. While the win keeps Wake squarely in the middle logjam of the conference standings, it marks UNC's third straight league defeat -- pushing it to second-to-last-place in the ACC order.
There are still six weeks to go in the regular season, but the last time Carolina (12-7, 1-3 ACC) lost three in a row was in 2002-03, coach Matt Doherty's last season - and the last time it failed to make the tournament. To make matters worse: three of UNC next four games are on the road, where they have yet to win a game this year.
"I just want to get back into the winning column,'' said UNC small forward Will Graves, who led the Tar Heels with 16 points. "I never really look at the standings, because we've always been near the top. I just want to show that we have some heart ... and the standings will take care of themselves, if we play hard."
No doubt, Carolina was hurt without forward Ed Davis, its leading rebounder and second leading scorer, who was sidelined because of sprained left ankle. But Wake (13-4, 3-2) hurt the Tar Heels in a multitude of other ways, too - from rebounding (it beat UNC on the boards by 4), to defense (the Tar Heels shot a season-low 36.6 percent, and scored zero fast break points), to 3-point shooting (Wake was 9-for-16, compared to UNC's 6-for-26).
"I just think we have a really, really good team,'' said Smith, who finished with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists for Wake. "Last year we had a good team, but maybe just because we had good players. But I think right now, we're just really playing together."
That was obvious from the outset when, with UNC lead 18-16 in the first half, the Deacons ripped off 10-0 run that included 3-pointers from Gary Clark and C.J. Harris, and an alley-oop dunk from Smith to L.D. Williams. The Tar Heels had so much trouble slowing Smith that the senior looked as if he could have scored at will, had he taken the ball to the hoop more instead of getting his teammates involved.
Wake led 36-33 at halftime, and had little trouble pulling away after the break. Three straight 3-pointers by freshman Ari Stewart gave the Deacons a 58-45 advantage with 10:49 left. UNC chipped back with baskets from Travis Wear (who started in place of Davis) and Deon Thompson, but then Wake's Harris (20 points) buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give his team a 68-53 cushion.
The Deacons' 56.2 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point arc "is the best this year by far,'' coach Dino Gaudio said. "It might be the best in the history of Wake Forest, with the way we shoot."
Meanwhile, Carolina has six days before its next game, but fans have got to wonder if it's enough time to garner enough knowledge - and confidence - to make a run at the NCAAs.
"We're extremely disappointed; we're extremely frustrated...it's something we haven't been through, it's something we're not enjoying going through,'' coach Roy Williams said. "I didn't give them a long speech after the game; I told them we have no chance if we fold, we have no chance if we give in. ... We're going to keep working every day, and someway, some how, try to find a way to fight out of it."
