UNC basketball responds with strong second half to beat Wake Forest 87-71

WINSTON-SALEM — There was no threat of babysitting to compel them to push just a little bit harder. There was no highly ranked team coming into their building looking for a win, or a sea of red-clad fans claiming ownership of the state printed on the front of North Carolina’s jerseys.

Just like the Tar Heels' forgettable victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday, there was nothing really special about No. 15 UNC’s game at Wake Forest Wednesday night, which the Tar Heels won 87-71. And for the most part, UNC played like it.

In the first half, that is.

In the first half, UNC (15-4, 5-1 ACC) allowed seven offensive rebounds to the Demon Deacons (9-10, 1-5 ACC), for which they were thanked with eight second-chance points.

In the first half, the Tar Heels also continued a disturbing trend as of late, throwing up six shots from beyond the arc, of which they hit zero.

In the first half, UNC’s subpar backcourt play was bailed out only by a strong frontcourt.

The Tar Heels went into the break ahead 40-34, but everything other than the score said UNC was getting beat.

“In a typical situation, a team up six on the road would be happy, but we’re not happy,” Coach Roy Williams told his team at halftime. “We’re not satisfied.”

And that dissatisfaction showed in UNC’s Hall of Fame coach.

“I got real dizzy out there one time, so maybe they thought they better play so I wouldn’t wack out on them,” Williams said. “If that’s all it takes, I’ll fake it sometimes.”

Fueled by concern for their coach’s health, the Tar Heels shot 66.7 percent and only committed two turnovers through the first 10 minutes of the second half. Defensively, they held Wake Forest to 35 percent shooting and forced six turnovers.

Junior guard Marcus Paige had eight second-half points and hit both 3-pointers he took, but the ones who heard Williams’ halftime speech the loudest were the three who needed to hear it the least.

Brice Johnson, Justin Jackson and Kennedy Meeks tallied 52 points on 73 percent shooting.

For the first 20 minutes in Winston-Salem, UNC looked like it was playing just another game. For the first 20 minutes, UNC looked like they could lose another game.

But it turns out there was something besides 72 hours separating Wednesday's game from Sunday's.

“Road games are different,” said Paige, who finished with 12 points and eight dimes. “Our goal when we go on the road is to try to send the home fans home early. I guess we did that today.”

Sure, the right mindset might have been jumpstarted by a coach’s potential loss of consciousness, but sometimes, that’s exactly what’s needed.

“As much as you don’t want to see that, it’s good to see that from a coach,” said Jackson, who scored 17 points. “Because if a coach is fired up, then why can’t we be?”

But even after UNC’s ninth win in 10 games, after they finally mustered the energy to keep their coach from fainting, the Tar Heels still aren’t satisfied.

“We’ve got Florida State on Saturday,” Paige said with a smile. “Never satisfied. Come on now.”

sports@dailytarheel.com

CLARIFICATION: After publication, this story was edited for clarity regarding the quality of the Tar Heels' victory over Virginia Tech and the time span between the game on Sunday and the Wake Forest game on Wednesday.