UNC Basketball: Uninspired Tar Heels embarrassed by Wake Forest

The UNC basketball program put on one of its worst performances of the season, falling to (former) last-place Wake Forest.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have their fans in a continued state of disbelief, and for all the wrong reasons. Just when it looks like a two-point overtime loss to Duke might be something to build on, the Tar Heels turn around and lose to a last-place Wake Forest team that’s lost eight of its last 11 games. And just when you think the Tar Heels can’t look much worse than the last time they went out and got shelled by a seemingly lesser opponent, they prove you wrong.

That’s exactly what the Tar Heels did on Tuesday night when they traveled to Winston-Salem to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. And while they may have physically been in the building, their effort, intensity, enthusiasm and passion were all left at the dorms in Chapel Hill.

Despite breaking a number of streaks this season — including a 59-game home winning streak against Clemson, the Tar Heels may have hit a new low during a lopsided 74-57 loss at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. They hit just 21-of-63 shots from the floor, and 1-of-16 attempts from three-point range. About the only thing they did right — shoot 14-for-16 from the free throw line — is the one thing that would have helped them beat the Blue Devils on Saturday night.

They never led in the game, and allowed the Demon Deacons to knock down 15 of their first 27 shot attempts. They were down by double-digits early in the first half, and trailed by 20 points just a minute before halftime. The lead grew to 26 points shortly after the intermission. A late run got the Tar Heels within nine points, but Wake went on an 8-0 run over the final minute-and-a-half of the game to eliminate any hopes of a comeback.

The Tar Heels’ typical dominance on the boards wasn’t displayed against the nation’s 77th-best rebounding team, as they pulled down just three more rebounds than the Demon Deacons. They also committed 23 fouls, putting Wake Forest on the free throw line 22 times; 19 of which they converted. They also turned the ball over 14 times, many of which were senseless, unforced errors.

Christian Keeling was the long bright spot on an otherwise dark day for the Tar Heels. He had his best game of the season, scoring 15 points on a 7-for-14 shooting performance. Cole Anthony added 15, too, but shot a miserable 5-for-19 from the floor, and 0-for-6 from beyond the arc. He did have six rebounds and four assists, but turned the ball over seven times. Garrison Brooks missed all five of his shot attempts, but surprisingly knocked down 7-of-8 free throw attempts. North Carolina assisted on just nine of 21 buckets for the game, and managed just 57 total points.

Wake Forest was led by Andrien White, who scored 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Brandon Childress added 14 points, and a game-high 10 assists in 37 minutes of play. Wake shot 42.6 percent for the game, and 39.1 percent from long-range. The win improves Wake Forest’s record to 11-13, and out of last place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. North Carolina, on the other hand, falls to 10-14 overall, and 3-10 in conference play.

The Tar Heels will be back in action when they take on the Virginia Cavaliers at the Dean Smith Center on Saturday night.

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