UNC Basketball: Staff Picks vs Wake Forest

The UNC basketball team will be looking to bounce back from Friday’s discouraging loss at Pittsburgh.

North Carolina enters the new calendar year off to a rough 1-2 start to ACC play.  The Tar Heels need to start stacking wins if they are going to contend for the regular season conference title.  Will Carolina turn things around and bounce back with a victory against Wake Forest on Wednesday?  Find out what our staff thinks below!

Nick Delahanty

As much as I want to believe the UNC basketball program will win this one, I need this team to show me that the good version of this team could show up for a full 40 minutes.

If the Tar Heels stick to their strengths, which focuses on feeding the post, I believe they will be in good shape. However, this group tends to shy away from that, which continuously has come back to haunt them this season.

Wake Forest absolutely dominated North Carolina in their last meeting, but I don’t think the Tar Heels will get blown out on their home floor.

What I do expect is to see some of the same issues that we’ve watched through the early portion of the season, as things won’t change fully until the players completely buy into the formula that translates to victories.

Prediction: Wake Forest 81, North Carolina 77

Mark DeMott

Carolina comes home in need of a bounce-back win after a blown opportunity at Pittsburgh.  The Tar Heels need to find a groove back in the Smith Center in their next two games against Wake and Notre Dame.

Wake Forest is a tricky opponent that has already knocked off some quality opponents so far (Wisconsin, Duke, and Virginia Tech).  They have one of the most explosive guards in the ACC in Tyree Appleby and plenty of other guys who can put the ball in the hole.  The Demon Deacons embarrassed UNC in Winston-Salem last year and will not lack confidence on Wednesday night.

I think that the Heels need to get much better guard play if they are going to win this one.  At times Carolina’s guard looked timid against Pitt, and I think that for UNC to really turn things around RJ Davis and Caleb Love need to get their mojo back.

Hopefully, at least one of them can have a big scoring night and take some of the load off of Armando Bacot.  I think that will happen and Carolina will pull out a close one.

Prediction: North Carolina 79, Wake Forest 71

Aaron Conrad

The Tar Heels return home after a series of tough road games that saw them go 2-1. The good news was the two wins were against the Big Ten. The bad news is that the loss was in the ACC.

Wake Forest is 10-4 overall, 8-0 at home but only 1-2 on the road. They have already knocked off Duke and Virginia Tech and sit 2-1 in the ACC.

This UNC team seemed to have turned the corner but then stumbled again versus Pitt. It’s hard to predict at this point which team will show up but I’m going to go with good thoughts and dreams for 2023. Being back at the Smith Center might be just what they need.

Prediction: North Carolina 74, Wake Forest 68

Spencer Schultz

After it seemed the Heels figured things out, the loss at Pittsburgh was quite disappointing. Hubert Davis needs better play from his talented guards moving forward, point blank.

On a positive note, Armando Bacot has looked like himself lately, as he’s averaged 25.3 points and 11.0 rebounds over the past three contests.

UNC needs to start stacking wins together if they want to avoid being on the bubble at season’s end.

Prediction: North Carolina 79, Wake Forest 71

Follow us @KeepingItHeel on Twitter and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of UNC basketball news, updates, and recruiting.