By R.L. Bynum
Wake Forest (10–6, 1–2 ACC) at No. 17 North Carolina (13–2, 1–1)
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Smith Center
TV: ACC Network: Wes Durham play-by-play, Dennis Scott analyst
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (affiliates list; streams on the Varsity Network app);
Jones Angell play-by-play, Tyler Hanbrough analyst
Coaches: Steve Forbes (232–114 in 11 seasons; 102–71 in 6th season at Wake Forest) and Hubert Davis (114–47 in fifth season, all at UNC; was 228–95 in nine seasons as a UNC assistant coach)
UNC projected starters: Kyan Evans, Seth Trimble, Luka Bogavac, Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar
Series: UNC leads 166–70 (see list below), including 26–5 in the Smith Center, winning three of the last five and five of the last eight overall games and the last nine Smith Center meetings. The Deacons’ last win in Chapel Hill was 92–69 on Jan. 20, 2010.
Quad designation: Wake Forest’s NET ranking is 70, making this the first of five remaining games currently classified at Quad 2 (also Notre Dame on Jan. 21, Syracuse on Feb. 21, Virginia Tech on Feb. 27 and Clemson on March 3).
Common opponents: Both won at home against ETSU: Wake Forest 89–70 in an exhibition game and UNC 77–58.
Wake Forest results
— 0–4 in Quad 1 games: Michigan, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech and N.C. State
— 2–2 in Quad 2 games: wins vs. Virginia Tech and West Virginia, loses vs. Miami and Oklahoma
— 8–0 in all other games
Oct. 29: 89–70 exhibition win vs ETSU
Nov. 3: 88–74 win vs American
Nov. 7: 81–65 win vs. Morehead State
Nov. 11: 84–64 OT loss to No. 2 Michigan at Detroit
Nov. 16: 109–74 win vs. UMass Lowell
Nov. 20: 84–83 loss to No. 14 Texas Tech in Nassau, The Bahamas
Nov. 21: 69–68 win vs. Memphis in Nassau, The Bahamas
Nov. 25: 99–51 win vs. Campbell
Nov. 28: 86–73 win vs. Northeastern
Dec. 2: 86–68 loss vs. Oklahoma in ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
Dec. 6: 75–66 win vs. West Virginia in Charleston, W.Va.
Dec. 14: 111–73 win vs. Queens
Dec. 17: 71–68 win vs. Longwood
Dec. 21: 98–67 loss vs. No. 11 Vanderbilt
Dec. 31: 70–57 loss at N.C. State
Saturday: 81–78 win at Virginia Tech
Wednesday: 81–77 loss vs. Miami
Projected Wake Forest starters
No. 2 | G | Juke Harris (top photo) | 6–7, 200 | sophomore
— Team-leading 19.9 points (5th in the ACC), 45.4 FG% (16th in the ACC); 2.2 3-pointers per game (13th in the ACC), 33.0 3P%, 76.6 FT% (21st in the ACC), team-high 6.3 rebounds (20th in the ACC), 1.6 steals (14th in the ACC), 31.7 minutes (12th in the ACC); totals of 25 assists and 33 turnovers
— Scored career-high 29 points and three 3-pointers on Nov. 7 against Morehead State, and collected 28 points twice: Dec. 6 against West Virginia (career-high 7 3-pointers on a career-high 12 attempts) and Wednesday (highlights below) against Miami (4 of 8 from 3-point range)
— Has two double-doubles: 26 points, 10 rebounds on Nov. 20 against Texas Tech and 10 points, 10 rebounds on Nov. 21 against Memphis
No. 6 | G | Myles Colvin | 6–5, 212 | junior | Purdue transfer
— 13.3 points, 45.6 FG%, 39.2 3P%, 80.5 FT%, 4.6 rebounds, team-high 1.6 steals (9th in the ACC); totals of 20 assists, 30 turnovers and 5 blocks
— Played first two seasons at Purdue, including 36 games and eight starts last season, averaging 5.4 points per game
— Had career-highs of 33 points and seven 3-pointers Dec. 14 vs. Queens (first video below)
— Registered only career double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds on Dec. 21 against Vanderbilt.
— Hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat Memphis (second video below)
No. 24 | F | Tre’Von Spillers | 6–7, 215 | senior | Appalachian State transfer
— 11.7 points, 54.9 FG%, 16.7 3P%, 80.6 FT%, 5.9 rebounds, team-high 1.4 blocks (8th in the ACC); totals of 28 assists, 20 turnovers, 18 steals
— Scored career-high 24 points against Memphis on Nov. 21 and 21 points Nov. 16 against UMass Lowell (highlights below)
— Has two double-doubles: 16 points, 10 rebounds on Nov. 7 vs. Morehead State and 17 points, 10 rebounds on Nov. 28 against Northeastern.
No. 1 | G | Nate Calmese | 6–2, 181 | senior | Washington State transfer
— 9.8 points, 45.4 FG%, 39.6 3P%, team-high 94.4 FT%, 2.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists (8th in the ACC), 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio (12th in the ACC); totals 35 turnovers, 3 blocks, 22 steals
— Wake Forest is his fourth school after playing at Lamar as a freshman (Southland Conference Freshman of the Year), Washington as a sophomore and Washington State as a junior (All-West Coast Conference honorable mention).
— Started all 33 games last season at Washington State, leading the team at 15.2 points per game
— Scored a career-high 32 points for Lamar against Houston Christian on Feb. 16, 2023
— Scored a season-high 25 points in Saturday’s win at Virginia Tech, tying season-high with three 3-pointers (highlights below)
No. 8 | G | Mekhi Mason | 6–5, 202 | senior | Washington transfer
— 7.9 points, 34.5 FG%, 31.2 3P%, 55.3 FT%, 3.4 rebounds; totals of 22 assists, 25 turnovers, 5 blocks, 20 steals
— Wake Forest is his third school. After playing his first two seasons at Rice, he played at Washington last season, averaging 24.3 minutes and 9.9 points.
— Scored a career-high 30 points for Rice against UTSA on Feb. 3, 2024
— Scored a season-high 20 points on Nov. 3 against American, pulling down 10 rebounds for his only double-double of the season
More on Tar Heels
— Watch, read about best games, biggest individual efforts in Smith Center history
— Davis’s positionless calculus: inside rotation math after Wilson, Veesaar and Trimble
— Davis explains why UNC switching more on defense this season
— ‘It came from every direction’: Davis says UNC’s defensive lapses at SMU need to be ‘one-game thing’
— UNC, other top ACC teams, fall in NET rankings; another game becomes Q1
Keys to game for UNC
— Protect the paint and rebound: UNC averages more rebounds (especially defensive) than Wake Forest. Controlling the boards will limit second-chance points and fuel the transition game.
— Contain Juke Harris: He’s the second consecutive player wearing No. 2 who leads the opponent’s scoring at 19.2 points per game coming into the game. SMU’s Boopie Miller went off for 27 points on Saturday. Harris can break loose with a big scoring game at any time. Seth Trimble will have to lock him down, not get switched out, and force the Deacs to score from less efficient options.
— Get balanced scoring: If UNC can get scoring from somebody in addition to Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and Seth Trimble, it will make it harder for the Deacs to key in on Wilson.
— Force turnovers: Wake Forest’s 3-point shooting has been streaky (but was 11 of 21, a season-high 52.4%, Wednesday against Miami), so forcing tough possessions and turnovers can swing momentum. The Deacons have made less than 30% of their 3-point attempts in nine of 16 games but have scored double-digit 3-pointers in six games.
Notes
— A Carolina victory would be the 500th in the Smith Center. Get a look at highlights of the best games and the most outstanding individual performances in arena history here, including a comeback against Wake Forest that still stands as the greatest in program history.
— UNC is 10–0 at home this season, but this is one of only two January home games (also vs. Notre Dame on Jan. 21). That’s the fewest since the 1990–91 team played at home twice in January.
— UNC is off to its first 13–2 start since the 2015–16 national championship team started 19–2.
— The Deacons lead the ACC in steals at 9.5 per game, paced by junior Purdue transfer Myles Colvin with 26.
— Wake Forest is 17th in defensive rebounding (23.4 per game) in the ACC, 16th in scoring defense (74.7 points per game), 15th in opponent field-goal percentage (43.3%), 15th in rebounding margin (+0.3) and 14th in field-goal percentage (45.2%) but fourth in free-throw percentage (75.9%) and turnover margin (+3.44).
— Caleb Wilson, one of 25 players on the midseason Wooden Award watchlist, leads the country with 48 dunks, and Henri Veesaar is fourth with 33. One of the two has led UNC in scoring in 13 of 15 games; they have accounted for 43.9% of UNC’s scoring, 48.2% of its rebounds, 46.1% of its field goals and 49.7% of its free-throw attempts.
— Wilson (10) and Veesaar (8) are fourth and 11th in the country in double-doubles, both getting double-doubles in seven games, the third most by a UNC duo in program history. The only freshmen with more double-doubles in program history were Antawn Jamison (13; 1995–96) and Armando Bacot (11; 2019–20).
Double-doubles in same game by UNC duo
John Henson and Tyler Zeller (2011–12) 9
Rusty Clark and Larry Miller (1966–67) 8
Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson (2025–26) 7
Pete Brennan and Lennie Rosenbluth (1955–56) 7
Phil Ford and Mitch Kupchak (1975–76) 6
Lee Dedmon and Charlie Scott (1969–70) 6
Brennan and Rosenbluth (1956–57) 6
Brennan and Joe Quigg (1956–57) 6
— Wilson is one of four freshmen in program history with double-digit 20-point games (10), currently tied with Phil Ford. He should easily pass the totals of Tyler Hansbrough (14; 2005–06) and Rashad McCants (12; 2002–03).
— Wilson’s averages for scoring (19.3) and rebounding (10.9) are higher than any other freshman in program history, ahead of Hansborough (18.9 points; 2005–06) and Antawn Jamison (9.8 rebounds; 1995–96).
— UNC’s average of 25.6 3-point attempts per game is more than any team in program history (the 2018–19 team has the record for a full season at 23.94), and the 8.60 3-pointers per game is just shy of the full-season record of 8.67 by the 2018–19 team.
— Carolina’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.77, which leads the ACC and is 14th in the country, tops the full-season record of 1.65 by the 2015–16 national-championship team. The average of only 9.9 turnovers is fewer than the full-season school record of 10.08 in the 2023–24 season.
— The Tar Heels are averaging 16.3 fast-break points in the six games with Seth Trimble and averaged 9.6 in the nine games he missed. Trimble’s streak of six double-figure scoring games matches his career-high set last season.
UNC season statistics
Wake Forest season statistics
Statistical comparison
All games/ACC games
| Category | WF | UNC |
| Points per game | 81.6/71.7 | 81.3/81.0 |
| Scoring defense | 74.7/76.3 | 65.9/81.5 |
| Scoring margin | +6.9/-4.7 | +15.4/-0.5 |
| FG% | 45.2/43.3 | 47.2/45.3 |
| 3P FG % | 33.6/34.2 | 33.6/33.3 |
| 3P per game | 8.9/8.7 | 8.6/9.5 |
| FT% | 75.9/76.7 | 68.5/69.2 |
| FG% defense | 43.3/46.4 | 37.6/46.8 |
| 3FG% defense | 30.1/29.0 | 30.0/38.8 |
| Opponent 3P/game | 8.3/6.7 | 7.1/13.0 |
| Rebounds per game | 35.1/29.7 | 41.8/38.5 |
| Offensive rebounds/game | 11.6/9.0 | 12.1/12.5 |
| Rebounding margin | +0.3/-7.0 | +8.1/+5.5 |
| Assists per game | 15.3/14.0 | 17.5/19.5 |
| Turnovers per game | 12.3/13.0 | 9.9/9.0 |
| Assist-to-turnover ratio | 1.3/1.1 | 1.8/2.2 |
| Turnovers forced/game | 15.7/15.7 | 9.5/8.0 |
KenPom comparison
| Category | WF | UNC |
| Overall ranking | 68 | 27 |
| Offensive efficiency | 113.0 (99) | 119.1 (44) |
| Defensive efficiency | 100.6 (51) | 98.3 (27) |
| Effective FG% | 52.4 (131) | 54.4 (71) |
| Turnover % | 16.7 (143) | 14.3 (26) |
| Offensive rebound % | 32.7 (131) | 35.0 (62) |
| FTA/FGA | 35.1 (193) | 39.1 (107) |
| Strength of schedule | 61 | 112 |
Series: UNC 166, Wake Forest 70
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 6 Duke | 3–0 | 14–1 | 4 |
| Clemson | 3–0 | 13–3 | 32 |
| Miami | 2–0 | 13–2 | 33 |
| No. 23 Virginia | 2–1 | 13–2 | 21 |
| Stanford | 2–1 | 13–3 | 69 |
| N.C. State | 2–1 | 11–5 | 36 |
| No. 17 North Carolina | 1–1 | 13–2 | 22 |
| No. 24 SMU | 1–1 | 12–3 | 27 |
| Notre Dame | 1–1 | 10–5 | 60 |
| Syracuse | 1–1 | 10–5 | 84 |
| California | 1–2 | 13–3 | 68 |
| Virginia Tech | 1–2 | 12–3 | 58 |
| No. 20 Louisville | 1–2 | 11–4 | 15 |
| Georgia Tech | 1–2 | 10–6 | 151 |
| Wake Forest | 1–2 | 10–6 | 70 |
| Boston College | 0–2 | 7–8 | 196 |
| Florida State | 0–2 | 7–8 | 115 |
| Pittsburgh | 0–2 | 7–8 | 112 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Wednesday’s results
Stanford 69, Virginia Tech 68
Miami 81, Wake Forest 77
No. 23 Virginia 84, California 60
Clemson 74, No. 24 SMU 70
Saturday’s games
Boston College at No. 20 Louisville, noon, The CW
Georgia Tech at Miami, noon, ESPN2
N.C. State at Florida State, noon, ACC Network
No. 24 SMU at No. 6 Duke, 2 p.m., ESPN
Syracuse at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at No. 23 Virginia, The CW
California at Virginia Tech, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Wake Forest at No. 17 North Carolina, 6 p.m, ACC Network
Clemson at Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ESPN2
Tuesday’s games
No. 23 Virginia at No. 20 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Miami at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Boston College at Clemson, 7 p.m, ACC Network
Florida State at Syracuse, 9 p.m, ACC Network
Wednesday’s games
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 17 North Carolina at Stanford, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Virginia Tech at No. 24 SMU, 9 p.m., ESPN2 or ESPNU
No. 6 Duke at California, 11 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 9 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 22 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 12 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at No. 24 SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 14 | Wednesday | 9 p.m. | at Stanford | ACCN |
| 17 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at California | ACCN |
| 21 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ESPN2 |
| 24 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at No. 23 Virginia | ESPN |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via godeacs.com
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