CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina won its third consecutive game Tuesday night, defeating Wake Forest, 93-83, at the Smith Center on the heels of big games by its two best players.

Cole Anthony scored 28 points and handed out seven assists and Garrison Brooks scored 25 points and pulled down seven rebounds as the Tar Heels scored on 12 of their final 13 possessions to secure the victory.

UNC improved to 13-17 overall and 6-13 in the ACC while the Demon Deacons dropped to 13-16 and 6-13.

Here are 5 Takeaways from UNC’s win over Wake Forest:

Garrison Brooks is on quite a roll. The junior forward finished Tuesday’s game with 25 points and seven rebounds, so spanning the last five games he’s played (he missed the Louisville game), Brooks has scored 123 points while shooting 63 percent from the field.

He’s scoring on the lower block, masterfully getting defenders on his hip. He’s scoring spinning and drop-stepping into the middle of the lane using a high release point getting shots over opposing bigs, he’s stepping away for mid-range jumpers and getting to the free throw line a ton. Brooks drew at least eight fouls making offensive moves Tuesday night, a reason he attempted 11 free throws, of which he made seven.

“I’ve called him this before, he’s a beast, he’s a grown man," Cole Anthony said about Brooks. "I mean, it’s awesome having that dude down there who can just dominate the low post, dominate the paint, who’s going to rebound and is just a really good basketball player.”

Brooks is first Tar Heel with 25 or more in three straight games since Tyler Hansbrough in 2008.

Roy Williams was rather complimentary of Cole Anthony’s game management following the win at Syracuse and was again on this night. After handing out seven assists versus just two turnovers up north, he had seven more dishes against Wake with only a single turnover. That’s 14 assists and three turnovers in the last two games.

Furthermore, Anthony’s field goal attempt numbers the last three games have been 12, 13 and 14, respectively, yet he’s scored 72 points. His game has grown a few levels in the last couple of weeks.

“Several games ago, I told him I wanted him to be more efficient and I wanted his shot attempts to do down and his makes to go up," UNC Coach Roy Williams said. "I wanted his assists to go up and his turnovers to go down and his defensive play to keep getting player because I think that he really can be a very efficient point guard.

"We put him in a spot a couple games where he felt like he had to score every possession himself and his shot is much better than his percentage has been. I grabbed him in shoot around today and said, ‘remember, more efficient tonight…’ but I think he is that kind of player.”

UNC was 9-for-14 from 3-point range in the second half at Syracuse on Saturday and backed up that effort by converting 10 of 17 for the game here Tuesday night. So, in their last three halves of basketball, the Tar Heels are 19-for-31 from the perimeter.

Anthony hit 4 of 5 against the Deacs and Brandon Robinson was 5-for-9. For Anthony, he’s 11-for-16 in his last two games from beyond the arc. The 21 made threes overall versus the Orange and Deacons is a two-game high on the season for Carolina. In fact, the Heels have netted 10 or more threes in just four games, including the last two.

“I think we’re more free," said Christian Keeling, who hit one of UNC's 3-pointers. "No hesitation, we just shoot our shot. Coach always preaches all year, ‘you’ve got to have the balls to make a shot.’ So, right now we’re making it and I’m glad we’re making it right now.”

Remember when the Tar Heels couldn’t shoot free throws to save their hoops lives, literally? It wasn’t that long ago, but like so many other elements of this team, that trend appears to have reversed, too. UNC connected on 21 of 28 free throws Tuesday night, and during the current three-game win streak, the Heels are 58-for-76 from the charity stripe, which is good for 76.3 percent.

Perhaps most responsible for this turnaround is Brooks, who is 27-for-33 from the line during the streak. Keep in mind, he had a stretch of 15 consecutive misses at home earlier this season.

Against the Deacs, the Heels his 11 of 14 from the line over the final 4:47 of the contest.

One of the reasons Williams brought in grad transfers Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce was their vast experience at the college level and that they’d give the team some needed gravitas. That showed in their final home game Tuesday night, as both put their bodies on the line several times, combining for three drawn charges on the night, all of which came in the first half – two by Pierce and one by Keeling.

A small part of the game, sure, but for a team that has struggled connecting positive performances, the Heels needed some early juice injections coming off their best performance of the year in a win at Syracuse, and the old guys gave it to them.

By the way, Anthony drew a charge with 8:14 left in the game that was key in that stretch for the Heels, too, so one of the young guys also got into the act.