By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — While RJ Davis’ 36 points were the most impressive part of No. 3 North Carolina’s 85–64 victory Monday over Wake Forest, the trend of solid defense and rebounding continues to be a big reason for the nine-game winning streak.

During a high-energy speech to his team at halftime, Coach Hubert Davis challenged his team to eliminate defensive mistakes and play better on that end. The Tar Heels delivered by holding Wake Forest to 26.7% shooting from the floor and 0 of 9 shooting from 3-point range in the second half.

The Deacons settled for many one-and-done possessions with only two offensive rebounds. That was a season-low for Wake Forest and a UNC opponent, and the fourth consecutive game with the Tar Heels allowing five or fewer.

“Rebounding is the main ingredient of success,” Coach Davis said. “Another part is our commitment to the defensive end.”

UNC (16–3, 8–0 ACC) leads the ACC in defensive rebounding (20.1 per game) and rebounding margin at (+7).

The Tar Heels have outrebounded nine consecutive opponents after having a 43–30 edge against the Deacons, allowing them to rebound only 9.7% of their misses. Those rebounds on the defensive end led to transition opportunities, particularly in the second half.

“It allows us to get out on transition,” Coach Davis said. “We’re just really good in transition. All five guys are running, pitching the ball ahead. We’ve got great spacing, so we can get to the basket, we can spray 3s. We can hit our bigs in the middle of the post. Once we started, that got us going. But it all started on the defensive end.”

Seth Trimble didn’t score but consistently is a terrific defender off the bench.

“Seth is our most gifted on-ball defender,” Coach Davis said. “He just is, with his athleticism and strength. He can pick up full-court and make it hard for you to get across half-court. He can play on the ball, and he can get through screens off the ball.”

Elliot Cadeau’s improvements game-by-game on defense are obvious, and he might face more challenges in practice guarding RJ Davis than he does during games.

“It’s a good challenge for me,” said Cadeau, who had one steal. “One of the things I have been getting better at throughout the year is my defense. Having to guard him and every other guard on the team is making me better every day.”

Coach Davis said that Cadeau is figuring out how to be a good defender in high-level college games and distribute better on the offensive end.

“I feel like he gets better and improves every day of practice and every day of the game,” Coach Davis said.

Hunter Sallis led Wake Forest with 18 points, but Carolina made him earn every point and held him to seven after halftime on 1 of 5 shooting. UNC disrupted the Deacons’ offense and often made them play faster than the would prefer.

Carolina leads the ACC in defensive 3-point shooting percentage at 29.1%.

Louisville is the outlier, making 44.4% of its 3-point attempts, but the seven other January ACC opponents only made 13.8% (18 of 103) of their shots from outside the arc.

Wake Forest entered the game making 39.3% of its 3-point attempts but was only 3 of 20 against UNC’s defensive pressure that forced numerous tough shots. That was a season-low for the Deacons, but only the third-lowest by a UNC opponent (N.C. State shot 10% and Clemson shot 5.6%).

The Deacons shot 35.6% from the floor, leading to many UNC rebounds and transition opportunities, particularly in the second half.

“We were really good in transition. All five guys were running. We pitched the ball ahead. We’ve got great spacing, so we can get to the basket. We can spray 3s. We can hit our bigs in the middle of the post, and once we started, that got us going.”

The Tar Heels will try to keep the momentum going at 2 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) at Florida State (12–7, 6–2), which won Tuesday at Syracuse 85–69

UNC season statistics

ACC standings

Team	League	Overall
No. 4 North Carolina	17–3	25–6
No. 11 Duke	15–5	24–7
Virginia	13–7	22–9
Pittsburgh	12–8	21–10
Clemson	11–9	21–10
Syracuse	11–9	20–11
Wake Forest	11–9	19–12
Virginia Tech	10–10	18–13
Florida State	10–10	16–15
N.C. State	9–11	17–13
Boston College	8–12	17–14
Georgia Tech	7–12	14–17
Notre Dame	7–13	12–19
Miami	6–14	15–16
Louisville	3–17	8–22

Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington

Date	Month/day	Score	Opponent/event (current ranks)	Record
	October
27	Friday	W, 117–53	vs. St. Augustine’s	Exhibition
	November
6	Monday	W, 86–70	vs. Radford	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 90–68	vs. Lehigh	2–0
17	Friday	W, 77–52	vs. UC Riverside	3–0
			Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas
22	Wednesday	W, 91–69	Northern Iowa	4–0
23	Thursday	L, 83–81, OT	Villanova	4–1
24	Friday	W, 87–72	Arkansas	5–1
			ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
29	Wednesday	W, 100–92	vs. No. 6 Tennessee	6–1
	December
2	Saturday	W, 78–70	vs. Florida State	7–1, 1–0 ACC
			Jimmy V Classic in New York
5	Tuesday	L, 87–67	No. `1` Connecticut	7–2
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
16	Saturday	L, 87–83	No. 12 Kentucky	7–3
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
20	Wednesday	W, 81–69	Oklahoma	8–3
			—————————
29	Friday	W, 105–60	vs. Charleston Southern	9–3
	January
2	Tuesday	W, 70–57	at Pittsburgh	10–3, 2–0 ACC
6	Saturday	W, 65–55	at Clemson	11–3, 3–0 ACC
10	Wednesday	W, 67–54	at N.C. State	12–3, 4–0 ACC
13	Saturday	W, 103–67	vs. Syracuse	13–3, 5–0 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 86–70	vs. Louisville	14–3, 6–0 ACC
20	Saturday	W, 76–66	vs. Boston College	15–3, 7–0 ACC
22	Monday	W, 85–64	vs. Wake Forest	16–3, 8–0 ACC
27	Saturday	W, 75–68	at Florida State	17–3, 9–0 ACC
30	Tuesday	L, 74–73	at Georgia Tech	17–4, 9–1 ACC
	February
3	Saturday	W, 93–84	vs. No. 13 Duke	18–4, 10–1 ACC
6	Tuesday	L, 80–76	vs. Clemson	18–5, 10–2 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–72	at Miami	19–5, 11–2 ACC
13	Tuesday	L, 86–79	at Syracuse	19–6, 11–3 ACC
17	Saturday	W, 96–81	vs. Virginia Tech	20–6, 12–3 ACC
24	Saturday	W, 54–44	at Virginia	21–6, 13–3 ACC
26	Monday	W, 75–71	vs. Miami	22–6, 14–3 ACC
	March
2	Saturday	W, 79–70	vs. N.C. State	23–6, 15–3 ACC
5	Tuesday	W, 84–51	vs. Notre Dame	24–6, 16–3 ACC
9	Saturday	W, 84–79	at No. 13 Duke	25–6, 17–3 ACC
			ACC tournament Washington
14	Thursday	W, 92–67	Quarterfinals: Florida State	26–6
15	Friday	W, 72–65	Semifinals: Pittsburgh	27–6
16	Saturday	L, 84–76	Final: N.C. State	27–7
			NCAA tournament
21	Thursday	W, 90–62	First round in Charlotte: Wagner	28–7
23	Saturday	W, 85–69	Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State	29–7
28	Thursday	L, 89–87	Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama	29–8