Brice Johnson steps up against Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM — As the final seconds ticked off the clock in the first half of No. 15 North Carolina’s 87-71 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday, junior point guard Marcus Paige reared back for one last heave down the floor.

Like a quarterback targeting a receiver for one final touchdown pass, Paige pinpointed junior forward Brice Johnson — who was on a beeline toward the UNC basket — and launched a pass that sailed nearly the length of the floor.

The ball seamlessly spun through the air before deflecting off the hand of Wake Forest’s Konstantinos Mitoglou and into Johnson’s grasp, and the Tar Heel forward made a layup with just two seconds remaining to put UNC up 40-34.

The basket gave UNC momentum heading into the locker room, and there was no looking back as the Tar Heels (15-4, 5-1 ACC) trounced the Demon Deacons (9-10, 1-5) 47-37 in the second half.

“That’s just one of the things Coach tells us to do,” said Johnson about getting down the floor. “He says, ‘Once it goes through the net, the first big is just sprinting. Once you get to the top of the key, look back. If the point guard has it, then you just keep going.’”

The last-second layup was the final basket of what was a vital offensive performance by the 6-foot-9, 228-pound forward in the first half.

With the Tar Heels trading blows with the Demon Deacons throughout the first half and sophomore forward Kennedy Meeks in foul trouble, the team turned to Johnson.

The situation was quite the opposite of what Johnson and his teammates are accustomed to, as Johnson is sometimes in early foul trouble and struggling to produce once he is able to reenter the game.

“Once I come back in, I’m cold, and it’s all bad from there,” he said. “That’s just the biggest thing I’ve been working on is just trying to stay out of foul trouble, just trying to use my feet, not give up open layups or shots.

“I just want to be the guy who can stay in there, not foul and be able to help out.”

And on Wednesday, he was that guy.

After the Demon Deacons knotted the game at 18 points apiece nearly 11 minutes into the game, Johnson used a swift post move to knock down a jumper and briefly silence the Wake Forest faithful.

The big man continued to use his agile post moves to his advantage — finishing the first half with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

“In practice, that’s all Coach talks about is quick moves for all the bigs,” said freshman wing Justin Jackson. “He’s probably the quickest when he gets into his move. Tonight, he had it going.”

While Johnson dominated on the offensive end of the floor, Coach Roy Williams was still in the big man’s ear — getting after him for not chasing down loose balls.

But after the game, Williams couldn’t deny the importance of Johnson — who finished with a team-high 19 points — and the other UNC big men’s offensive output.

“The first press conference we had (I said) the biggest thing is a couple of our big guys need to step up and be big-time players,” Williams said. “And I’ll still say that right now.

“Because from the perimeter we’re OK, but if the big guys give us those kind of numbers, that’s pretty doggone good.”

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