Cameron Hildreth scored 20 points as Wake Forest won its sixth straight game, beating visiting North Carolina 67-66 on Tuesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Hildreth also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals as the Demon Deacons (15-4, 7-1 ACC) remained unbeaten at home this season. Hunter Sallis added 14 points and nine rebounds, Tre’Von Spillers had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Efton Reid chipped in 12 points.
In the second straight loss for the Tar Heels (12-8, 5-3), RJ Davis scored 21 points while Elliot Cadeau collected 14 points and a career-best 13 assists.
UNC led by as much as nine points in the first half, but Wake rallied to trail by just two points at the break. Early in the second half, the Demon Deacons caught fire and broke off a 20-6 run to take a 10-point advantage. It was a run kickstarted by a dunk from Reid, and capped off by a mid-range jumper from Sallis.
The Tar Heels stormed back and briefly took a one-point lead following a 3-pointer from Jae’Lyn Withers, but Wake went on a 12-3 run to help seal the win. That crucial stretch started with Spillers tipping in a missed shot by Hildreth, then dunking one home on a feed from Reid.
UNC ended the game on a 10-2 run, but couldn’t catch all the way up to Wake. Additionally, to make the finish seem a bit more bizarre, UNC didn’t attempt a free throw in the second half and Wake Forest never used a substitution.
Wake Forest won despite shooting an abysmal 13.3 percent from 3-point land, their worst shooting clip from behind the arc in ACC play this season. Wake outrebounded UNC 41-33 and made 21 of 27 free throws, while UNC shot just 6 of 10 from the charity stripe.
Despite having a 165-70 record all-time against Wake Forest, the Tar Heels have now lost four consecutive games at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. UNC is also now 5-4 in one-score games this season.
This is the first time Wake Forest has started the ACC play 7-1 or better since the 1996-97 season — back when Tim Duncan was the star for the Demon Deacons.
–Field Level Media
