CHARLOTTE – North Carolina exorcised a demon Thursday afternoon.

Quite literally.

The Tar Heels closed out Wake Forest on an 11-2 run in advancing past the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament at Spectrum Center with a 68-59 victory over the Demon Deacons.

UNC fell in Winston-Salem to Wake by a point in January, a game the players said marked one of their worst nights of the season. They corrected that wrong and will get a chance to do something similar in the semifinals Friday night against Duke.

But first things first.

The Tar Heels survived a slow start enabling Wake to open with a 14-3 lead, and the Heels overcame a period of 10:40 without scoring from the field. But RJ Davis rising to the big stage, Ven-Allen Lubin’s play down the stretch, and a gritty performance across the board by the Heels helped them advance and maintain their hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Davis led UNC with 23 points while Lubin added 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Seth Trimble added 10 points. Jae’Lyn Withers finished with 9 points and 9 rebounds.

UNC improved to 22-12 while the Deacs are 21-11.

Here’s a Deep Dive into Carolina’s performance: