For the first time since the end of January, the North Carolina men's basketball team has won consecutive games, with just two matchups remaining before postseason play begins.
In the Tar Heels' final home game of the regular season, UNC will play host to Wake Forest on Tuesday in a rematch of the team's 74-57 loss to the Demon Deacons on Feb. 11. A home win before North Carolina travels to Durham for its finale against a reeling Duke squad could prove to be the key for the Tar Heels to pull an improbable run through the ACC Tournament. Here's what UNC needs to do to get that much-needed victory.
Feed Christian Keeling
Over his last eight games, Keeling has shown how much more comfortable he is in North Carolina's system and has emerged as a legitimate scoring option for UNC.
During that span, the grad transfer is averaging 13.1 points per game on 56.9 percent shooting, including the Tar Heels' first game against Wake Forest when he poured in 15 points in 30 minutes. Keeling averaged just 4.4 points per contest and shot 37.7 percent from the floor in his first 21 games with North Carolina.
In UNC's last two wins, Keeling contributed 16 points against the Wolfpack and 18 against the Orange, shooting a combined 14-20 from the field off the bench. The guard was one of the few bright spots for the Tar Heels in the team's 17-point loss to the Demon Deacons, and North Carolina should look to give him plenty of looks in Tuesday's rematch now that he's hitting his stride.
Don't fall behind early
UNC struggled mightily in the first half of last month's meeting with Wake Forest and entered the break down 44-26.
North Carolina, normally one of the premier rebounding teams in the country, was losing the battle on the boards, 21-17, at the end of the first period. The Tar Heels shot 11-35 from the floor, and Garrison Brooks, the team's second leading scorer for the season, had just three points that came entirely from free throws following his eye injury in the loss to Duke just three days earlier.