UNC basketball takes care of business at home with an 88-79 ACC win over Wake Forest
Stretches like the final nine minutes of North Carolina’s 88-79 win over Wake Forest Wednesday in the Dean E. Smith Center is simultaneously the reason why the Tar Heels’ inconsistent start to the season has been frustrating and the reason why there’s still so much optimism.
In a game that had 20 lead changes, the Heels (10-5, 2-2 ACC) defense took over the final 10 minutes of the game. The Demon Deacons (10-5, 2-2) shot 58 percent from the field and had made 9 of 16 3-point attempts, but in that decisive stretch, Carolina held them to just 42 percent shooting including just 1-for-5 from behind the arc.
Wake nearly had as many turnovers (five) as it did made field goals (six) in the last 10 minutes. The Heels’ efforts were a reversal from losing a nine-point lead in the final 10 minutes at Pitt. UNC guard R.J. Davis said they know they’re capable of that kind of performance, they’ve just had the tendency to get complacent.
“That Pitt loss, there were moments where we should have closed out, I felt like we relaxed,” said Davis, who scored 22 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. “(Against Wake) we dug deep. That’s what coach (Hubert) Davis said at halftime. We have to step up and plant our feet.”
UNC starting forward Pete Nance started the game but played just two minutes before exiting the game with a sore lower back. He did not return. In his place, UNC coach Hubert Davis used senior forward Justin McKoy and freshman forward Jalen Washington.
McKoy, who has played in just five previous games this season, including his most recent appearance against The Citadel, started the second half and played a season-high 17 minutes. He had two blocks but Wake used ball screens to get Damari Monsato and Tyree Appleby in mismatches before Carolina opted to go with a smaller lineup.
Hubert Davis said by bringing freshman guard Seth Trimble in to replace McKoy, the Heels could switch on picks from 1-4 positions.
Trimble helped a spurt that turned a 56-52 deficit into a 61-60 lead — including a basket in the lane that put them ahead. Trimble hadn’t scored in double figures this season, until he notched a career-high 11 points against the Deacons.
Scoring alone isn’t why he played his best game of the season. It was Trimble’s defense on Wake’s leading scorer Tyree Appleby that was arguably more impressive. Abbleby averaged 18.4 points per game and had 14 points when Trimble entered the game in the second half with 14:09 left.
Abbleby would only score on two free throws the rest of the game and was 0-for-5 shooting during that span. Trimble set the tone when Appleby got a step on him and was headed for a layup when he recovered to block the shot out of bounds.
“He’s just gifted athletically and he’s a special defensive player, he can stay in front of the ball,” Hubert Davis said. “He can rebound the basketball, he can make plays off the ball, he can get steals and deflections. And -- despite his height -- he’s pretty strong so you can’t post them up either.”
During the stop in play, there appeared to be a medical situation in the stands to the right of the basket in front of Wake’s bench. Officials paused the game as medical staff, including UNC’s athletic trainer Doug Halverson, entered the seats to assist. The fan was wheeled off the floor and both teams got a two minute warmup before play resumed.
Hubert Davis said he went over the areas they needed to stay focused on to close the game in the huddle. But as the delay continued, he said players just began to have regular conversations and it helped them stay loose.
The stoppage in play was about 10 minutes in real time, but it couldn’t curtail the Heels momentum. Carolina used a 7-0 run, powered in part by Wake turnovers to take control of the game for good.
Davis had a steal and assist to Trimble. After Caleb Love blocked a lob attempt to Matthew Marsh, it led to a run out basket and dunk by Armando Bacot, who finished with 21 points. Davis then made a 3-pointer after another Deacon turnover as UNC held a 70-64 advantage and never trailed again.
Carolina scored 32 points off 15 Wake turnovers. Trimble said it was much better than their defensive performance against Pitt, where they allowed 42 points in the paint.
“Our half court defense tonight, it really was amazing tonight,” Trimble said. “Another thing, just our will, our will to want to win the game. At Pitt we had a (nine) point lead with however much time left to go and we kind of let up. There was really no let up in the second half tonight.”
Leaky Black was arguably as aggressive offensively as he’s ever been in his five seasons at Carolina in the first half. He scored nine of the Heels’ first 15 points, and they were all on 3-pointers. Black said R.J. Davis joked and said he looked like Stephen Curry.
By the time Black scored a layup and was fouled with 5:31 left in the half, he’d reached 14 points. (Black set a new career-high with 18 points.)
“It’s something I’m working on, not trying to just be a defender but give us something on offense as well,” Black said.
The problem for the Heels watching their best defender turn into their top scorer, was they failed to make another field goal the remainder of the half. They did get to the free throw line, but Wake closed out the half on an 11-4 run to take a 38-37 lead into halftime.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 11:28 PM.