UNC nearly let a 15-point second-half lead slip away but held on by the skin of its teeth to defeat Wake Forest 87-84 at the Smith Center Saturday night. It’s the 500th win for the program at the Smith Center.
UNC began the game on the front foot in a major way, leading 16-4 at the 13:53 mark. But in a sign of things to come, Wake Forest quickly cut into that lead with three consecutive three-pointers from Juke Harris and Nate Calmese to get within 16-13 in just 1:20 of game time. Carolina would restore its 12-point lead and carried a double-digit edge into halftime, 49-38. The Tar Heels shot 19-32 (59.4 percent) from the floor in the first half, their best shooting performance in the first half this season.
Despite repeated pushes from the Demon Deacons, UNC pushed that advantage to 15 points at 72-57 with 9:50 remaining. That’s when Wake finally made its move, using a 17-3 run over the next 5:47 to whittle nearly all of Carolina’s lead away. Calmese came alive during the stretch, scoring 12 of the Deacons’ 17 points during that stretch to cut the deficit to 75-74. As a team, Wake Forest shot 16-30 (53.3 percent) from the floor and 6-13 (46.2 percent) on threes in the second half.
“After SMU and then having a week of talking, addressing and watching where we need to get better defensively, at times it looked where I wanted it to be,” said head coach Hubert Davis. “But not even close to where it needs to be moving forward.”
“They definitely hit some crazy shots on me,” said freshman Caleb Wilson. “At the same time, you try to play defense, try to foul, try to get a good contest. But it’s college. Everybody’s good. Some people are gonna hit tougher shots. But the easy buckets we gave up, especially off of offensive rebounds, that’s definitely something we can control.”
UNC never did give up the lead, with a Seth Trimble steal and dunk at the 2:59 mark serving as the team’s first made basket since taking its 15-point lead with 9:50 remaining. Trimble would make four free throws in the final minute to keep the Deacons at bay, despite more tough shot-making from Calmese. He made a fadeaway three-pointer over the outstretched arm of Wilson to cut the deficit down to 85-84 with seven seconds to go, but missed a final heave to potentially tie the game as the final buzzer sounded.
Wilson recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 22 points and 12 rebounds. He nearly posted a double-double just in the first half, scoring 17 points on 7-7 shooting with nine rebounds in 18 minutes. But his offensive production lagged in the second half, as the freshman phenom managed just two shot attempts and five points. Henri Veesaar picked up the slack, scoring 14 of his 25 points in the second half while not missing a shot from the floor. He missed his ninth double-double by a single rebound.
Wilson and Veesaar did just enough to counter Wake’s duo of Calmese and Harris, who combined for 56 of the Deacons’ 84 points overall and 34 of their 46 in the second half. For UNC, Jaydon Young recorded his best performance in a Tar Heel uniform with 12 points in 19:30 off the bench. He made a team-high three threes.
“We don’t win the game without him,” Davis said of Young.
UNC is now 14-2 overall and 2-1 in ACC play. Up next for the Tar Heels is a west coast swing, which begins with a visit to Stanford Wednesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
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