UNC Basketball picks up much-needed victory over Wake Forest

The UNC basketball program opened up the new year on a good note, as they defeated Wake Forest on Wednesday night at the Dean Smith Center.

In their first contest of 2023, the UNC basketball program got the job done, as they defeated Wake Forest on Wednesday night in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The early storyline in this game was Pete Nance, who left the game within the first two minutes due to a lower back injury. Nance would not return, leaving Hubert Davis to have to mix and match, especially in the first half.

Jalen Washington got the first crack off the bench but was limited due to early foul trouble. Insert Justin McKoy, who was very good in his season-high 17 minutes of action.

Leaky Black stole the show in the first half, as his 14 points led the Tar Heels at the break. Although North Carolina trailed by one, Black’s offensive production was huge, given the backcourt duo of Caleb Love and RJ Davis combined to make just two of their 10 combined shot attempts over the first 20 minutes of action.

After the break, the UNC basketball program came out firing. After Black paced the offense in the first half, it was the trio of Armando Bacot, RJ Davis, and Seth Trimble who led the second-half charge.

Let’s start with Davis, who scored his 1,000th career point in the first half. The junior guard from White Plains, New York scored 22 points in the second half, and made four shots from beyond-the-arc, en route to a season-high (and game-high) 27 points).

As we’ve been saying all along: when Bacot touches the basketball, good things tend to happen. The senior big man was once again as good as advertised, posting his fourth consecutive 20+ point outing. He finished the evening with 21 points and 9 rebounds over 38 minutes of action.

Trimble arguably had his best performance so far as a Tar Heel, even more impressive given he played just five total minutes in the team’s recent loss to Pittsburgh. The freshman guard made all four of his shots to finish with 11 points.

The momentum took a major shift in the second half, as two key transition plays really set the tempo. On the first fast break, Davis hit Bacot with a lob pass down the court, and the senior big man finished with a mighty dunk. On the ensuing play, Bacot recorded a steal and once again led the charge, this time slowing things down to find an open Davis for a three-point field goal.

After eight first-half turnovers, North Carolina did a tremendous job protecting the ball in the second half, as they recorded just a single turnover. On the other hand, Wake Forest struggled in that department, as they recorded 15 turnovers that led to 32 Tar Heels points.

Black, who we mentioned earlier, finished with a career-high 18 points, and his production offensively was a major contribution, especially given that Caleb Love struggled mightily essentially throughout.

A lot of good can be taken away from this game, as the UNC basketball found a way to finish with a strong second half. The hope is that the Tar Heels can build off this win and carry the momentum into Saturday morning’s contest at home against Notre Dame.

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