Wake Forest University
North Carolina
Deacons Take Down No. 19 North Carolina 73-67
1/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2014
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By Gary Petit, Wake Forest Athletic Communications
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - A great defensive effort and contributions from a number of players led Wake Forest to a thrilling 73-67 victory over No. 19 North Carolina in the ACC opener for both teams.
The win was Wake Forest's first victory over North Carolina (10-4, 0-1 ACC) since 2010 and improves the Demon Deacons to 11-3 on the year and 1-0 in the ACC.
Despite being out-rebounded by 19, Wake Forest held UNC to just 39 percent (29-of-75) from the floor and 2-of-15 (13 percent) from beyond the arc.
Senior Travis McKie led the Deacons offensively in what was the team's most complete win of the season. McKie scored a game-high 16 points on 7-of-11 from the floor and grabbed a pair of rebounds. Sophomore Codi Miller-McIntyre finished with 12 points and a team-high tying four assists.
Arnaud William Adala Moto had his best game of the season as he finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, one-off his career-high. Fellow sophomore Tyler Cavanaugh also had 11 points with nine coming from the free throw line.
Devin Thomas played just eight minutes in the first half but played 18 of the 20 minutes in the second half and came up big for the Deacs. Thomas scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds and had four assists on the night.
The Deacons used an 11-0 run over a three-minute span in the second half to take what was a two-point lead and push it out to 53-40 with 10 minutes to play. North Carolina made a push in the final three minutes and closed to within three but the Deacon defense stepped-up and helped preserve the victory with back-to-back stops and a huge three-point play by McKie.
North Carolina opened the game shooting 50 percent and took a 19-12 lead through the first eight minutes. Williams then knocked-down his second three-pointer of the half to spark a 7-0 Wake Forest run that gave the Deacons their first lead of the night at 21-20. Adala Moto finished a lay-in off a nice feed from Madison Jones and Cavanaugh had a put-back bucket during the run.
The rest of the half was played within a four-point margin as the lead changed hands four times and there were four ties over the final eight minutes. Despite getting out-rebounded 36-14 and shooting just 8-of-18 from the free throw line Wake Forest held the Tar Heels to 32 percent shooting and would take a 34-32 lead at the break.
After trading baskets in the early part of the second half, McKie sparked an 11-0 run for the Deacs as he had a lay-in off a nice feed from Thomas. McKie then had a steal and found Miller-McIntyre for a lay-in on the break and Adala Moto would follow with an old-fashioned three-point play to push the lead to 49-40. Coron Williams scored on a jumper and Jones capped the run with a floater in the lane to put the Deacons in front 53-40 with 10 minutes remaining.
A dunk by North Carolina's Brice Johnson jump-started a mini Tar Heel run that was aided by a pair of Deacon turnovers. Leading 56-50, Wake Forest turned the ball over a third-straight time but UNC's Leslie McDonald was called for a technical foul in a scrum on the floor with Cavanaugh and the Deacons took full advantage. McKie hit 1-of-2 free throws and Thomas had a lay-in to shove the lead right back out to 59-50 with just over five minutes to play.
North Carolina wouldn't go quietly, however. Trailing 64-54, a jumper by McDonald followed by a three-pointer from Marcus Paige and a dunk from J.P. Tokoto brought the Heels within three at 64-61 with 1:59 to play. The Deacons missed a three-pointer on their end but a steal by Cavanagh eventually led to an old-fashioned three-point play for McKie, bringing the Joel crowd to its feet. A final defense stop with just under a minute to go sealed the Deacons' victory.
Wake Forest has now opened ACC play with a win for the fifth time in the last seven seasons. The Deacons will look to keep rolling next week with a pair of ACC road games. Wake heads to Virginia on Jan. 8, and then to Pittsburgh on Jan. 11.
