By R.L. Bynum
WINSTON-SALEM — Carolina’s perimeter shooting was as frigid as the temperatures outside Joel Coliseum, and that has squarely put the Tar Heels on the NCAA tournament bubble.
Intent on living or dying by 3-point attempts, the latter led to UNC’s second consecutive one-point loss in a game that wasn’t that close. The Tar Heels continually settled for perimeter shots that — other than a stretch of three consecutive makes in the second half — rarely fell, leading to an ugly 67–66 loss Tuesday night to Wake Forest.
“I don’t think the offense was stagnant,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “I think we had some open shots, and we had some good looks. Sometimes shots go in, sometimes they don’t.”
It was an emotional team after the game, with walk-on Elijah Davis, Coach Davis’ son, weeping in the hallway outside the dressing room after the game. Coach Davis wouldn’t say what his message was to the players other than saying that he loves coaching them, but Ian Jackson said that the coach was reassuring.
“We can do it,” Ian Jackson said, describing what the coach had told them. “He has a lot of faith in us. He sees it, and we all see what we can be. It’s what we see and what we know we can be, adapting and get it done.”
Sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau, who put up a double-double with 13 points, two 3-pointers and 13 assists against only three turnovers, said it came down to not playing good defense and failing to hit open shots.
“I’m definitely not concerned. I feel like all the games we’re losing are by one point, so I’m definitely not concerned,” Cadeau said.
Settling for perimeter shots also led to UNC never getting to the line in the second half, after the Tar Heels probably should have built a comfortable lead when the Deacons were struggling in the first half. Meanwhile, the Deacs were 8 of 11 from the line in the second half.
The one-two punch of Cameron Hildreth (20 points, 6 rebounds) and Hunter Sallis (14 points, 9 rebounds, 10 of 12 at the free throw line) was too much for the Carolina (12–8, 5–3 ACC) as the Demon Deacons (15–4, 7–1) won their sixth consecutive game.
“They were able to keep the score close in the first half because of their ability to get to the free throw line,” Coach Davis said. “Their ability to keep it close and to get back into the game was really Hildreth, his ability to get to the free throw line.”
RJ Davis tried to shoot Carolina to a win with 21 points and three 3-pointers, but didn’t get a lot of other help.
“Obviously, not a great shooting night as a team and we fouled a lot,” RJ Davis said. “That didn’t really help us for our rhythm of the game. We kept putting them on the foul line, and they shot more free throws than us. But then weof just had a lot of self-inflicted plays that just didn’t go our way.”
Jackson, who had a highlight tomahawk dunk in the first half, struggled offensively again, finishing with seven points and making only 1 of 7 3-point attempts.
Carolina was 8 of 32 from 3-point range (25%) despite getting a lot of open shots, tied for their fourth-worst perimeter performance this season. That came one game after shooting 27.8% in Saturday’s 72–71 home loss to Stanford.
Cadeau started a UNC run with a 3-pointer. He then drove for three consecutive layups, completing a three-point play on the third, for 10 consecutive Carolina points in a 13–2 run for a nine-point lead 6½ minutes into the game.
After Jalen Washington and Ven-Allen Lubin picked up two fouls, James Brown and Ty Claude both played in the first half.
Sallis’ first bucket, on a jumper to beat the shot clock more than 10 minutes into the game, came during a 12–5 Deacs run that cut UNC’s lead to two with 5:53 left in the first half. Wake tied it on two Hildreth free throws with 1:33 left. A Hildreth jumper with four seconds left followed four straight Davis points as UNC held on for a 31–29 lead, the seventh time in eight ACC games the Heels have led at halftime.
Wake Forest took a two-point lead 3½ minutes into the second half on a 6–0 run. After two brief two-point UNC leads, Wake Forest scored 12 straight points, taking a 10-point lead on Sallis’ drive with 9½ minutes left. A Drake Powell jumper ended a nearly six-minute drough shortly afterward.
After UNC had missed 19 of its first 22 3-point attempts, Davis, Cadeau and Jae’Lyn Withers made consecutive attempts outside the arc to cap an 11–2 run and take a one-point lead with 5:21 left.
Wake responded by putting the game away with a 12–2 run to go up by nine with 1:17 remaining. Carolina made it interesting with Davis’ jumper cutting it to five with 24 seconds, Washinton’s 3 trimming it to four with 11 seconds left, and Davis hitting a 3 at the buzzer.
NOTES — UNC returns home for a 2:15 Saturday home Quad 4 game (The CW) against Boston College (9–10, 1–7), which lost 74–56 Tuesday night at Virginia for its fifth consecutive loss … UNC’s nine one-possession games tied with the 2010–11 season for the most in the 3-point-shot era, which began with the 1986–87 season. Carolina is 5–4 in those games. … Claude hadn’t gotten into the previous five games, last playing three minutes at Louisville on Jan. 1. … Wake Forest shot 29.6% in the first half, the third time in five games UNC has held an opponent under 30% in the first half. … UNC has lost by a single point in consecutive games for the first time since 1968 (since losing to South Carolina on Feb. 28 and Duke on March 2. … UNC has won 14 of the last 19 meetings with Wake Forest and leads the series 165–70, including 15–14 at Joel Coliseum. … This was the eighth consecutive win by the home team in the series. UNC was the last visiting team to win, beating the Deacs 95–57 win on Feb. 11, 2020.
Wake Forest 67, UNC 66
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 2 Duke | 8–0 | 16–2 |
| No. 25 Louisville | 8–1 | 15–5 |
| Clemson | 7–1 | 15–4 |
| Wake Forest | 7–1 | 15–4 |
| SMU | 5–3 | 14–5 |
| North Carolina | 5–3 | 12–8 |
| Florida State | 4–3 | 13–5 |
| Stanford | 4–3 | 12–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–4 | 12–6 |
| Syracuse | 3–4 | 9–9 |
| Virginia Tech | 3–4 | 8–10 |
| California | 2–5 | 9–9 |
| N.C. State | 2–5 | 9–9 |
| Notre Dame | 2–5 | 8–10 |
| Virginia | 2–6 | 9–10 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–6 | 8–11 |
| Boston College | 1–7 | 9–10 |
| Miami | 0–7 | 4–14 |
Tuesday’s results
Wake Forest 67, North Carolina 66
Virginia 74, Boston College 66
No. 25 Louisville 98, SMU 73
Wednesday’s games
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Syracuse at Clemson, 7 p.m., ACCN
Florida State at California, 9 p.m., ACCN
Miami at Stanford, 11 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday’s games
SMU at N.C. State, noon, The CW
Pitt at Syracuse, 12:30, ESPN2
Boston College at North Carolina, 2:15, The CW
No. 2 Duke at Wake Forest, 4:40, ESPN
Clemson at Virginia Tech, 5 p.m., ACCN
Notre Dame at Virginia, 6 p.m., ESPN2
Florida State at Stanford, 7 p.m., ACCN
Miami at California, 8:30, ESPNU
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 84–76 | at No. 24 Memphis | Exhibition |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 127–63 | vs. Johnson C. Smith | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 4 | Monday | W, 90–76 | vs. Elon | 1–0 |
| 8 | Friday | L, 92–89 | at No. 12 Kansas | 1–1 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 107–55 | vs. American | 2–1 |
| 22 | Friday | W, 85–69 | at Hawai’i | 3–1 |
| Maui Invitational | ||||
| 25 | Monday | W, 92–90 | Dayton | 4–1 |
| 26 | Tuesday | L, 85–72 | No. 1 Auburn | 4–2 |
| 27 | Wednesday | L, 94–91, OT | No. 8 Michigan State | 4–3 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Wednesday | L, 94–79 | vs. No. 4 Alabama | 4–4 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Saturday | W, 68–65 | vs. Georgia Tech | 5–4, 1–0 ACC |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 93–67 | vs. LaSalle | 6–4 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 90–84 | No. 5 Florida | 6–5 |
| CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden | ||||
| 21 | Saturday | W, 76–74 | UCLA | 7–5 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | W, 97–81 | vs. Campbell | 8–5 |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | L, 83–70 | at Louisville | 8–6, 1–1 |
| 4 | Saturday | W, 74–73 | at Notre Dame | 9–6, 2–1 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 82–67 | vs. SMU | 10–6, 3–1 |
| 11 | Saturday | W, 63–61 | at N.C. State | 11–6, 4–1 |
| 15 | Wednesday | W, 79–53 | vs. California | 12–6, 5–1 |
| 18 | Saturday | L, 72–71 | vs. Stanford | 12–7, 5–2 |
| 21 | Tuesday | L, 67–66 | at Wake Forest | 12–8, 5–3 |
| 25 | Saturday | 2:15 p.m. | vs. Boston College | The CW |
| 28 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | 6:30 p.m. | at No. 2 Duke | ESPN |
| 8 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 10 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Clemson | ESPN |
| 15 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ESPN |
| 19 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 22 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Virginia | ESPN |
| 24 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Florida State | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | Noon | vs. Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 4 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU |
| 8 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 2 Duke | ESPN |
| 11– 15 | Tues.–Sat. | ACC tournament Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo by Smith Hardy
tarheeltribune.com 