CHARLOTTE – With 5:21 remaining in its game at Wake Forest on January 21, North Carolina was in position to grab a Quad 1 win, something the Tar Heels would love to add to their resume right now.
An 11-2 run moved them ahead of the Demon Deacons, 54-53, and all they had to do was to finally close out a solid team down the stretch.
Up to that point, doing so had been a source of contention for anyone with an interest in UNC Basketball, not to mention a continuous deflater for a team that had played well enough to beat a lot of really good teams until the final minutes.
Well, it happened again, as the Deacs promptly went on a 12-2 run taking a 9-point lead with 1:17 left. A late flurry by the Tar Heels, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer by RJ Davis, made it a 67-66 final. But the loss ticked off fans, had the media questioning, and the Heels in the deep end.
It wasn’t Carolina’s low point on the season, but may have been to that date. Junior guard Seth Trimble called it, “a game where we may have collapsed in some aspects.”
The loss dropped the Heels to 12-8 overall and 5-3 in the ACC.
*Elliot Cadeau had a personal 10-point streak that put UNC ahead 16-7 but the Heels then went 4:21 without scoring. This was one of those occasions in which the Heels left the door open too much instead of adding to the run to gain bigger separation, like they did at 17-5 and 15-2 in the first half Wednesday against Notre Dame.
*After Jae’Lyn Withers’ 3 made it 54-53 UNC with 5:21 remaining, the bottom fell out.
The next 4:04 saw Wake reel off a 12-2 run for a 65-56 lead with 1:17 remaining. The game was essentially over at that point, even though the Heels made a push but time ran out.
---Wake converted 4 of its next 6 shots from the floor.
---UNC missed 4 of its next 5 shots from the floor.
---Wake’s first bucket was a put-back after a Deacon miss.
---Wake’s second bucket was a slam in transition after a missed 3 by Withers.
---Wake’s next three points came from the free throw line.
---Hunter Sallis hit a jumper in the paint.
---And another second-chance bucket for the Deacs.
---A second-chance free throw, giving Wake 5 second-chance points during the run.
*Wake attempted 27 free throws (making 21) while UNC attempted only 10 (making 6) and none in the second half.
*The Deacons entered the game minus-6 per contest in rebound margin while Carolina was plus-1.9 against a much tougher schedule. The Heels had to own the boards to win, but they didn’t, as Wake won that battle 41-33.
---Offensive boards: Wake 10, UNC 8
---% of own misses grabbed: Wake 30.3, UNC 20.5
---Second chance points: Wake 13, UNC 7
---And during Wake’s decisive 12-2 run after UNC took a 54-53 lead with 5:21 left, the Deacons outrebounded the Tar Heels 7-0 with 4 of the boards on the offensive glass leading to 5 points.
