Despite going a span of nearly 10 minutes in the second half without a made basket, UNC fought past Wake Forest in a physical ACC quarterfinal Thursday in Charlotte, 68-59.
HEELS WIN.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/SAPdYzsPUi
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) March 13, 2025
A tense and foul-filled second half saw Wake Forest’s Juke Harris assessed a flagrant 1 foul, the UNC bench receive a technical foul and a rare double foul called on UNC’s Elliot Cadeau and Wake Forest’s Cameron Hildreth. In total, 20 fouls were called in the second half alone. The whistles did nothing to beautify a tough shooting day for both teams, as the Tar Heels shot 9-28 (32.1 percent) in the second half and the Demon Deacons shot 9-29 (31 percent). Between the 15:15 mark and the 4:35 mark of the second half, UNC did not make a shot from the floor.
“We’re built for that,” head coach Hubert Davis said of his team afterward. “I’m so proud of how they’ve stayed connected, stayed the course through ups and downs… there’s a level of toughness here.”
R.J. Davis finished with 23 points and shot 5-6 on his three-point attempts, battling through an ankle injury which left him limping midway through the second half. Davis stayed in the game and made both of his free throws after the play.
“That just shows the type of player he is,” said Ven-Allen Lubin, who posted his second straight double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. “It’s not easy playing on a hurt ankle… that’s something we really need, a player like that.”
Davis’ dead-eye shooting paced the Tar Heels through an ugly first half, one which saw them fall behind 14-3 before finally picking up steam. Davis’ second made three of the game gave UNC its largest lead at 27-24 late in the half, and the Tar Heels carried a 33-31 advantage into halftime.
Carolina continued its momentum into the second half, leading by as many as 10 points at 42-32 after another Davis three. But Wake Forest answered with a 14-3 run, taking a 46-45 lead on a jumper from Hildreth with 11:55 remaining. From that point on, neither team would lead by more than two points until the game’s final three minutes.
The technical foul against UNC came at the 7:19 mark, assessed against UNC assistant coach Brad Frederick after arguing a potential foul call underneath the basket. Wake Forest’s ensuing free throws gave the Demon Deacons a 53-52 lead, but the foul served as a catalyst for the Tar Heels’ final push.
“Sometimes techs are good,” said R.J. Davis. “That tech was good for us. We were frustrated throughout the whole game, and we just used that for motivation… shout-out to Coach Fred.”
The critical sequence for UNC saw Lubin block a potential go-ahead layup from Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis and Davis knock down his fifth and final three of the game to give the Tar Heels a 61-57 lead, their largest in more than 10 minutes. Lubin then hammered home a pair of dunks to secure his double-double and essentially seal the win. UNC outscored Wake Forest 11-2 in the game’s final 3:14.
“That’s a game, earlier in the year, that we lost,” said Hubert Davis. “I think it shows tremendous growth in where we are right now.”
Thursday’s win improves UNC to 22-12 overall on the season. The Tar Heels will face No. 1 Duke in the ACC semifinals Friday night at 7 p.m. in Charlotte. This marks the first time UNC has reached the ACC semifinals in consecutive seasons under Hubert Davis.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
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