Takeaways from Wake Forest's 92-85 win over North Carolina

Davion Bradford stepped up big as a first-time starter on Armando Bacot

Wake Forest notched their second-straight win on Tuesday night, toppling the UNC Tar Heels 92-85 behind a historic performance at the foul line from Tyree Appleby (23/28 FTs). The Deacs now sit at 8-6 in conference play — here’s what we learned from the home victory.

The big men answered the call

Wake Forest’s center duo of Davion Bradford and Matthew Marsh were at their best, combining for 18 points, 10 rebounds on 8/9 shooting for a +14 point differential. Bradford got the start this time around, with Forbes making the call to stick him on Armando Bacot to open things up. Though Bacot (17 points, 7/15 FGs), wasn’t shut down by any means, Bradford and Marsh did make things more difficult for him and responded to his physicality. Bacot was in foul trouble a lot of the game, sitting out a key portion of the second half before fouling out with around four minutes to go.

I think Tuesday’s performance was the best version of what Wake’s big men have to offer — neither of them tried to do too much, and the offense flowed smoothly as a result. There’s no doubt that Wake Forest needs their centers to be playing at a high level with the stretch run of ACC play looming, and Tuesday offered plenty of reason for encouragement.

READ: Appleby's historic night propels Deacs past UNC

I’m also interested to see how Forbes handles the starting duties at the five moving forward. I’m sure it will continue to be matchup-based, but I really liked what I saw from Bradford in creating some looks for himself down low. That’s something Marsh doesn’t excel at and offers a nice change of pace within the offense.

Tyree Appleby is something special

Tyree Appleby’s statline alone on Tuesday was extraordinary — 35 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and only one turnover in 37 minutes. How he got there is perhaps even more impressive. Appleby broke the all-time ACC record for free-throw makes and attempts in a single game, going 23/28 and attempting 15 foul shots over the last two minutes of the game to put things on ice.

Lost in the chaos, though, was the fact that Appleby had another inefficient shooting night, going 6/20 from the field and 0/6 from three. I don’t write this to detract from his performance — quite the opposite in fact.

I think great players find a way to leave their imprint on the game even when they don’t have their fastball. For Appleby, that meant finding a way to score, pass, handle the ball and rebound at an elite level even when his shots weren’t falling. He managed to control every aspect of the game on a night where he couldn’t buy a bucket from the field for the most part.

The fact that Appleby only turned the ball over once also warrants praise. Down the stretch, he had the ball in his hands every single possession, and seldom coughed the ball up or gave UNC any reason to hope they could make a legitimate comeback.

Appleby is everything Wake can hope for in a point guard, team captain and leader. Steve Forbes has been coaching a long time, and he offered the highest possible praise to Appleby after the game:

“As far as an individual performance in my memory bank for a point guard, [that was] the best.” 

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