Notable stat takeaways
As mentioned earlier, the most impressive players for North Carolina were Luke Maye, Cam Johnson, Theo Pinson, and Joel Berry.
Maye’s 15 rebound, 17-point, and two block night led the way for the Tar Heels, but solid contributions from Garrison Brooks (seven rebounds, six points) and Kenny Williams (three rebound, two steals, four assists, and 13 points) helped out too.
UNC’s bench failed to get it going outside of Johnson, but that could likely be chalked up to high minutes for the starters due to the close nature of the game. No other Tar Heels’ bench player played more than eight minutes, and, apart from Johnson, they went a combined 1-7 from the floor.
Wake Forest found their success through their two stars, Bryant Crawford and Keyshawn Woods, as we would expect. The pair combined for a total of 29 points, six rebounds, and 12 assists, all while going 4-9 from behind the arc. Brandon Childress also played extremely well off the bench for the Demon Deacons, but the rest of the team failed to get it going offensively and it really hindered the chances of an upset in this one.
Wake Forest did limit turnovers, however. Their seven turnovers to North Carolina’s 12 really kept them in the game.
You can view the full box score, here.