The No. 15 North Carolina men’s basketball team, 14-4 on the season and 4-1 in conference, will aim for its fourth ACC win in a row Wednesday evening inside Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

Meanwhile, the upset-minded Wake Forest Demon Deacons, sitting at a 9-9 mark overall and a 1-4 record in league play, will be hoping to topple the Tar Heels.

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The Tar Heel road warriors will be searching for a 3-0 start in ACC enemy territory for the first time since the 2007-08 season. That year, Carolina burst out to an 8-0 league road record.

UNC head coach Roy Williams’ teams have historically been strong in hostile environments, sporting a 60-32 ACC road record in 12 seasons under the Hall of Famer.

Justin Jackson will be looking for another solid performance Wednesday night (Todd Melet)

Justin Jackson will be looking for another solid performance Wednesday night (Todd Melet)

But for the Carolina skipper, there’s a lot to work on with this year’s squad. For starters, Coach Williams says the Tar Heels need to play more consistent defensively and make better use of their size advantage to get to the foul line with tough, physical play in the paint.

“We’ve got to get a heck of a lot better on the defensive end of the floor. We knew they [Hokies] were going to shoot a lot of threes. They shot 29, but we shot 16 and 13 in the first half. If you look at the stat sheet in the first half, we shot zero free throws. That’s not the way a North Carolina team is supposed to play,” Coach Williams says.

In an encouraging sign for Carolina, the freshmen appear to be making strides.

Freshman Justin Jackson led UNC in scoring with 16 points last time out, but Jackson says the Tar Heels need to do a better job dictating the pace, which in signature Roy Williams style, means turning the game into a track meet.

“We love to run. We have so many athletic guys who can get out on the wings and run. Whenever we just have to score in the half court, it gets slowed down and can definitely get to you,” Jackson says.

UNC will need to keep an eye on Wake Forest’s junior big man Devin Thomas, who’s averaging 12.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

Devin Thomas is a difference maker for the Deacs (Vebidoo.com)

Devin Thomas is a difference maker for the Deacs (Vebidoo.com)

The battle on the boards should be something to watch for in this contest. The Deacons can hold their own in the rebounding department, ranking 15th in the nation, while the Tar Heels check in at No. 2 with 44.3 rebounds per contest.

But the team’s energy level is what sophomore forward Isaiah Hicks is choosing to focus on, if nothing else, because the coaching staff gets pretty angry with any sort of lethargy.

“It took us a while to get into it. I know that’s what really pisses the coaches off. They talked to us last year about coming out with energy and playing from the beginning – that’s something we have to do every game no matter what,” Hicks says.

The Deacons should be rested and raring to go with over a week of practice time since their last call to action – a heartbreaking overtime loss at Syracuse.

On the other hand, the Tar Heels should be motivated to produce a much cleaner performance following a sloppy, turnover-filled battle with Virginia Tech Sunday that had Coach Williams none too pleased.

“I don’t think we’re a stupid team, but every team plays stupid sometimes,” Coach Williams says.

UNC leads the all-time series with Wake Forest 156-66, but the Demon Deacons surprised the Tar Heels just last year with a 73-67 victory in the comfy confines of Joel Coliseum – always a tricky place to play.