UNC avoids trap game between Duke and Virginia, dominates Wake Forest, 95-57

WINSTON-SALEM — Between a loss to Virginia Monday night and an away date with Duke on Wednesday, it could have been dismissed as human nature for the No. 8 North Carolina men’s basketball team to overlook Wake Forest Saturday afternoon.

But the Tar Heels didn’t.

Inside Wake Forest’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, North Carolina (20-5, 10-2 ACC)  held Wake Forest scoreless for more than the first six minutes of game time, and limited it to 32.8 percent shooting from the floor in a 95-57 win — the biggest margin ever in the series. 

Head coach Roy Williams expected nothing less than for the Tar Heels to be completely locked in.

“Before we played Virginia, I didn’t talk about Wake Forest,” he said. “And when we played Wake Forest, I didn’t talk about playing the next game. It’s the way we do all the time, so it’s no change for us.” 

While Wake Forest (9-15, 2-10 ACC), at 197th in the NCAA’s NET rankings heading into Saturday's game, is not exactly a formidable opponent, this outcome wasn’t inevitable. Especially on their home court, it’s exactly the type of game that could inject some life into the Demon Deacons’ season.

“They’re a good enough team to beat us,” sophomore forward Garrison Brooks said. “I can understand, this is one of those games like, of course you’re going to look forward to the Duke game. But if you’re looking too far ahead, you won’t see this game, you’ll trip up over this and potentially lose this.”

But UNC didn’t let any of that happen. The Tar Heels stifled any hope Wake Forest had early on, racing out to an 18-0 lead. That’s a recipe for a deflated team, a blowout win and a disinterested crowd.

In contrast, Monday night against Virginia, UNC let the Cavaliers shoot over 50 percent from the field. The Cavaliers got good looks most of the night, and North Carolina was unable to consistently come up with stops. That was a big part of how the Tar Heels let a late seven-point lead slip away in the loss. 

Saturday afternoon, UNC was a different team. The Tar Heels’ activity on defense was evident from the first minutes of the game. Kenny Williams drew two first-half charges and blocked a 3-point attempt early on. UNC turned that defense to offense, finishing with 32 points off turnovers.

That was the difference between this game and North Carolina’s last, according to Brooks. It was something UNC focused on coming into Saturday.

“The biggest thing for us was we didn’t finish the (Virginia) game well,” Brooks said. “I think our focus was to finishing, and that was what we kinda tried to focus on.”

With that memory in mind, the Tar Heels finished the Demon Deacons early. UNC extended its first-half lead to as much as 28 points, and went into the locker room up, 49-21. 

From there, UNC never took its foot off the gas. Wake Forest attempted a full court press, but North Carolina broke it easily. After that, there was little resistance. 

UNC’s dominance turned an already divided crowd into one that certainly did not seem like a home court advantage for Wake Forest. At the most generous, the crowd inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum was not hostile to North Carolina. At the least, it was outwardly supportive of it. 

Late in the second half, when UNC was up 81-45, UNC came up with another steal. Junior guard Brandon Robinson ran out on the fast break, and slammed it home. The crowd's reaction showed the despondency that characterized Wake Forest. 

“Thank you, Danny Manning. Thank you.”

That was the cry from a Wake Forest fan near press seating. His sarcastic affront of the Demon Deacon head coach, accompanied by equally biting claps, was a sign of just how out of this game the Demon Deacons were. 

That was all thanks to North Carolina’s defense. 

But now, with this game behind it, Roy Williams’ squad will turn towards Duke, the next big test. Ahead of that game, Kenny Williams is confident.

“Now we can focus on them,” he said. “We’ll take it from here.”

@holtmckeithan 

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