UNC Pulls Through a Win Against Wake Forest

Chapel Hill, NC – The Tar Heels (10-5)  hosted another Carolina team, Wake Forest (8-5) in a heated match at the Dean Smith Center. The battle resulted in a score of 88-79 in North Carolina’s favor.

With an 8-2 record over the previous 10 games, UNC has a 163-68 all-time record versus Wake Forest. However, the Tar Heels have had a difficult start this season, losing league games at Pitt and Virginia Tech.

At the start of the first quarter, UNC had several turnovers which resulted in easy fast breaks for Wake Forest. However, Leaky Black was ready to compete. Within the first few minutes of the game, he went 3 for 4 from the free throw line, gained 1 steal, and 1 block. RJ Davis was able to end the first quarter with his 1000th career point draining in a three to add to his team’s lead of 26-22.

Wake Forest held UNC to zero and made field goals through the last 5 minutes of the 2nd quarter. 

Out of the half, RJ Davis seemed to have woken up by having a solid start & making various plays for his team. With Carolina maintaining only a 1-point game difference, Davis gained 12 points within 8 minutes. 

Throughout the 4th quarter, it was clear UNC refused to add another loss to their record. After a big board from Trimble and a much-needed three from Love, who was quiet all game, set not only the team but the momentum of the fans to close out the night with a win. 

The Deacons maintained a very close game with UNC as their key players were Appleby, who went  3-5  from beyond the arc, and ended with 16 points as well as had the first bucket for his team to get them rolling, Hildreth who added 17 points, and Carr who also finished with 17 points. Wake Forest Head Coach Forbes stated in a post-game interview, “you can’t let pressure affect space on offense but without him, we wouldn’t have been in the game” when asked about his player Hildreth and how his game against UNC went.

Davis closed out the game with 27 points, Bacot with 21 points, Black with his career high of 18 points, and Trimble with his career high of 11 points for the Tarheels. In post-game media, Coach Davis stated that he was very proud of his team’s win against the Deacons and how multiple players were able to experience personal accomplishments while working together as a team. 

Building off this win and moving forward, Davis strives for his team to be consistent as he prepares for Notre Dame coming up on Saturday, January 7th.