Lucas: Wake Forest Rapid Reactions

1. Carolina won its 11th straight game in the Smith Center this season by toppling Wake Forest, 87-84. The Heels are now 27-5 in the building against Wake.

2. It wasn’t easy. The Heels squandered a sizable second-half lead and watched Wake cut it to two on multiple occasions and eventually down to one at 75-74. But the Heels made just enough free throws down the stretch to seal it.

3. And the free throw line was a big part of the story on a day the whistles were prolific and the visitors were methodical, leading to a game that lasted well over two hours. Carolina fouled out three Deacs and went 20-for-30 at the line on a day that the visitors attempted just 11 free throws (making eight). The percentage wasn’t great (66.7), and there were too many misses down the stretch until Jarin Stevenson hit two clutch ones with 5.0 seconds left, but the volume eventually was just enough to provide an edge.

4. Carolina needs better guard play to pair with Seth Trimble. Caleb Wilson (22 points and 12 rebounds but only took two shots in the second half) and Henri Veesaar (25 points and nine rebounds) were their usual stalwart selves, but the starting backcourt other than Trimble (10 points) had a rough day. 

5. One player who stepped up: Jaydon Young, who scored 12 points off the bench. Young went 3-for-5 from three. Unfortunately, if you take out Young and Veesaar (2-for-3), the rest of the team was 4-for-18 from the arc.

6. With a week to get ready for Saturday’s game, Hubert Davis reconfigured his personnel. The Tar Heels inserted Jarin Stevenson into the starting lineup for the first time since Seth Trimble’s return from injury. 

7. Wake became the second ACC foe to bomb away from three-point range this season. Florida State did it (hoisting 40 of them), and then the Deacs took 22 of their 34 field goal attempts from three-point range in the first half. They hit eight, including four from Juke Harris, who had been a priority on the UNC scouting report. Harris finished with 28 points on 10-for-18 shooting and Nate Calmese went 7-for-11 from three. In total, the Deacs went 14-for-35 from three. Twelve of those were by Harris and Calmese.

8. The win marked the program’s 500th victory at the Smith Center. The Tar Heels now have a 500-90 record in the building, and a 259-71 record against ACC teams. The win comes as the 40th anniversary of the first game in the Smith Center approaches next week. That milestone–a 95-92 win over third-ranked Duke–happened on Jan. 18, 1986.

9. The Tar Heels, a team that hasn’t forced many turnovers this year, were able to set the tone with defensive pressure. The Heels forced four turnovers in the first 4:13 and turned them into eight points. But the errors mostly dried up after that, and UNC got just eight points off turnovers the rest of the game.

10. Carolina dominated the first half in the paint. The Heels owned the points in the paint category 28-14 and also got 13 second chance points. The Heels rebounded eight of their 13 misses in the first 20 misses, an incredible percentage. They were not as successful pounding it inside in the second half, when they scored just 12 points in the paint and had six second chance points.

11. On a day Wake made a lot of shots, the Heels got two huge blocks. One was by Seth Trimble, for the second time this season meeting a bigger opponent at the rim and preserving a five-point UNC lead. The other was by Henri Veesaar with 2:16 left to keep it a two-point Carolina advantage. Without those two plays, the outcome could have been very different.

12. As usual, a Saturday home ACC game brought out a sellout crowd and a variety of luminaries. Chicago Cubs first baseman Michael Busch, who spoke at the sold-out First Pitch dinner on Friday night, was in attendance, as was men’s golf alum Austin Greaser, who is now on the Korn Ferry Tour. The men’s basketball alums on hand included Tyler Hansbrough, Antawn Jamison, Marcus Ginyard, Shammond Williams, newly blonde Luke Maye and a host of others.

13. Due to ACC scheduling, Carolina only plays Wake Forest once this season. Saturday’s victory gives the Heels 167 wins all-time against Wake, second-most for UNC against any program (the Heels have 168 wins against NC State). 

14. The schedule now turns tricky. The team leaves Monday for a two-game California swing. They return to Chapel Hill for a Jan. 21 date with Notre Dame, then visit Virginia. After a week off, they close January with a trip to Georgia Tech, meaning four of the next five games are on the road.