WINSTON-SALEM — The North Carolina men’s basketball team (10-14, 3-10 ACC) fell to Wake Forest (11-13, 4-10 ACC), 74-57, moving its 2020 record to 2-9.
What happened?
Messy, messy, messy.
That’s the only way to describe the opening minutes of UNC’s play on Tuesday night. There were bright spots, a steal sophomore guard Leaky Black that led to a score. Or when graduate transfer guard Christian Keeling made his first shots to open the game.
But, most of the time, it was nothing but messy play from UNC.
Halfway through the first half, Black had already tallied two fouls, while junior forward Garrison Brooks made both of his free throws, but found himself on the sidelines after a rocky start with goggles on to protect his eyes. The big man eventually came back in, only to get hit in the face before the trainer took him back to the locker room.
Wake Forest, on the other hand, dominated. While UNC shot 31.4 percent from the floor and didn't make a 3-pointer, the Demon Deacons went into halftime shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from deep and holding an 18-point lead.
The Demon Deacons continued to pull ahead in the second half, extending their lead to more than 20. In the final moments of the game, North Carolina responded, cutting Wake Forest’s lead down to 10. But the deficit never got smaller than that.
