Wednesday, January 4
Chapel Hill, NC
9 p.m.
Wake Forest University
at
North Carolina
Photo by: Trevor Bowens
Wake Forest Hits Tobacco Road for Second Big Four Matchup of the Season
1/3/2023 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's basketball team will have their first road contest of the new year this week against the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. Tipoff is slated for 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday (Jan. 4) and the game will air live on ACC Network.
The Demon Deacons (10-4, 2-1) are coming off a 77-75 win over Virginia Tech at home to close out 2022. The win snapped a Hokies four-game winning streak against the Deacs in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest is now 8-0 at home for the second season in a row and just the second time since 2013-14 when the Deacs went 12-0. This is the first time Wake has had back-to-back 8-0 home starts since 2007-08 and 2008-09 when they went 12-0 and 8-0 inside LJVM.
Wake Forest is now an astounding 26-2 inside Joel Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season. The Demon Deacons have now won 13-straight games inside Joel Coliseum, which is tied for the longest streak since the Deacs won 13 in a row from March 10, 2013, to Jan. 25, 2014.
Virginia Tech entered Saturday allowing its opponents to shoot just 12 free throws per game, but the Deacs got to the charity stripe 26 times and hit 77 percent of those attempts. Opponents were shooting under 30 percent (.297) from downtown against the Hokies, but Wake Forest shot 39 percent (11-of-28) from three-point land on Saturday. Wake Forest's 77 points are tied for the most allowed by Virginia Tech this season.
For the seventh time this season, Tyree Appleby led the Deacs with 24 points and a game-high tying seven assists. He also recorded a game-high 10 makes on 13 attempts at the free throw line. Appleby played at least 40 minutes for the third time this season. Saturday marked the seventh 20-point-plus performance this season for the graduate transfer from Florida. Appleby went 4-of-6 from downtown, which matched his season-best performance (at Wisconsin).
Cameron Hildreth snared eight rebounds on Saturday, marking the fourth time this season he has reached that total. Hildreth's four assists on Saturday ties the second-highest mark he has totaled this season. Daivien Williamson hit four three-pointers on Saturday, which tied for the most he has hit in a game this season (App State). He was four-of-eight from downtown, which tied him for the highest percentage he has shot from three this season (LMU). After scoring 12 points on Saturday, Williamson is 46 points away from reaching 1,500 career points.
The Tar Heels, led by second-year head coach Hubert Davis, are 9-5 overall this season and have started league play 1-2, with a 75-59 win over Georgia Tech and losses to Virginia Tech (80-72) and Pitt (76-74).
Four of Carolina's five starters are averaging double figures and senior forward Armando Bacot is averaging 11.2 rebounds on top of his conference-best 18.5 points per game. Bacot also paces the team with a 56.7 field goal percentage. Junior guard RJ Davis leads the team from the free throw line, shooting 88.7 percent from the stripe. He has made 55 of 62 attempts.
Wednesday night's tipoff inside the Dean Dome is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ACC Network.
Fans can follow along via the Demon Deacons' Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts (@WakeMBB).
Standout Stat
Series History
Versus North Carolina
Upcoming
The Demon Deacons (10-4, 2-1) are coming off a 77-75 win over Virginia Tech at home to close out 2022. The win snapped a Hokies four-game winning streak against the Deacs in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest is now 8-0 at home for the second season in a row and just the second time since 2013-14 when the Deacs went 12-0. This is the first time Wake has had back-to-back 8-0 home starts since 2007-08 and 2008-09 when they went 12-0 and 8-0 inside LJVM.
Wake Forest is now an astounding 26-2 inside Joel Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season. The Demon Deacons have now won 13-straight games inside Joel Coliseum, which is tied for the longest streak since the Deacs won 13 in a row from March 10, 2013, to Jan. 25, 2014.
Virginia Tech entered Saturday allowing its opponents to shoot just 12 free throws per game, but the Deacs got to the charity stripe 26 times and hit 77 percent of those attempts. Opponents were shooting under 30 percent (.297) from downtown against the Hokies, but Wake Forest shot 39 percent (11-of-28) from three-point land on Saturday. Wake Forest's 77 points are tied for the most allowed by Virginia Tech this season.
For the seventh time this season, Tyree Appleby led the Deacs with 24 points and a game-high tying seven assists. He also recorded a game-high 10 makes on 13 attempts at the free throw line. Appleby played at least 40 minutes for the third time this season. Saturday marked the seventh 20-point-plus performance this season for the graduate transfer from Florida. Appleby went 4-of-6 from downtown, which matched his season-best performance (at Wisconsin).
Cameron Hildreth snared eight rebounds on Saturday, marking the fourth time this season he has reached that total. Hildreth's four assists on Saturday ties the second-highest mark he has totaled this season. Daivien Williamson hit four three-pointers on Saturday, which tied for the most he has hit in a game this season (App State). He was four-of-eight from downtown, which tied him for the highest percentage he has shot from three this season (LMU). After scoring 12 points on Saturday, Williamson is 46 points away from reaching 1,500 career points.
The Tar Heels, led by second-year head coach Hubert Davis, are 9-5 overall this season and have started league play 1-2, with a 75-59 win over Georgia Tech and losses to Virginia Tech (80-72) and Pitt (76-74).
Four of Carolina's five starters are averaging double figures and senior forward Armando Bacot is averaging 11.2 rebounds on top of his conference-best 18.5 points per game. Bacot also paces the team with a 56.7 field goal percentage. Junior guard RJ Davis leads the team from the free throw line, shooting 88.7 percent from the stripe. He has made 55 of 62 attempts.
Wednesday night's tipoff inside the Dean Dome is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ACC Network.
Fans can follow along via the Demon Deacons' Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts (@WakeMBB).
Standout Stat
- For the seventh time this season, Tyree Appleby led the Deacs with 24 points and a game-high tying seven assists.
- He also recorded a game-high 10 makes on 13 attempts at the free throw line.
- Appleby played at least 40 minutes for the third time this season.
- Saturday marked the seventh 20-point-plus performance this season for the graduate transfer from Florida.
- Appleby went 4-of-6 from downtown, which matched his season-best performance (at Wisconsin).
Series History
Versus North Carolina
- Series: North Carolina leads 163-68
- Wake record at home: 33-64
- Wake record on the road: 19-77
- Last Meeting: Jan. 22, 2022
- Result: W, 98-76
- Last Home Win: Jan. 22, 2022, 98-76
- Last Road Win: Jan 10, 2010, 82-69
Upcoming
- Saturday, January 7 - at Louisville - 3 p.m. ET - ACC Network
- Wednesday, January 11 - vs Florida State - 9 p.m. ET - ACC Network
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballFootball Media Availability (10/16/25)
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