Wake Forest defeats North Carolina 92-85
A full game story with quotes and analysis will be available tomorrow morning at 6am ET.
In what could be seen as a “do or die” game for Wake Forest’s NCAA Tournament at-large hopes, the Demon Deacons thoroughly dominated North Carolina for nearly a full 40 minutes. Despite a late-game comeback attempt by the Heels, Wake Forest took home the much needed 92-85 victory, advancing to 16-9 overall and 8-6 in the ACC.
Tyree Appleby led the way with 35 points and 11 assists, notching his first double-double of the season and most points of his career at Wake Forest.
After leading by just one with 15 minutes remaining in the first half, Wake Forest stunned North Carolina with a 14-0 run. During the stretch, Tyree Appleby hit two hard-fought layups, Matthew Marsh notched two dunks and Damari Monsanto drained a three-pointer that sent the Joel into a frenzy.
With Appleby taking a brief break on the bench, Armando Bacot scored six-straight points for the Tar Heels to get within 11. But, from there, Wake Forest scored 13 of the final 15 points in the half, and went to the locker rooms with a 22-point lead.
For the first seven minutes of the second half, the closest UNC got to the Wake Forest lead was 17. But the Heels picked it up with eight minutes remaining, scoring eight of 11 to cut the Deacs’ lead to 14 with just under four minutes left.
Despite allowing North Carolina to get as close as seven, Wake Forest shot their way to victory from the free-throw line, picking up one of their biggest wins of the season.
Wake Forest Stats:
27-62 FG (43.5%)
5-19 3PT (26.3%)
33-42 FT (78.6%)
35 rebounds
5 turnovers
North Carolina Stats:
30-74 FG (40.5%)
4-18 3PT (22.2%)
50 rebounds, 15 offensive
12 turnovers
28 fouls
Wake Forest Key Players:
Tyree Appleby: 35 pts, 6-20 FG, 0-6 3PT, 23-28 FT, 11 ast
Damari Monsanto: 16 pts, 4-11 FG, 3-9 3PT, 7 reb
Matthew Marsh: 10 pts, 5-5 FG, 4 reb
North Carolina Key Players:
Caleb Love: 24 pts, 9-25 FG, 4-9 3PT
Armando Bacot: 17 pts, 7-15 FG, 11 reb, 5 PF
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Essex is the lead football writer and a managing editor for Deacons Daily. Essex served as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black for two years, in addition to roles as a beat and feature writer.