The Tar Heels can’t sleep on Wake Forest.
History says UNC’s 500th win in the Smith Center won’t be easy against the Deacons, who have gone 3-3 in their last six games against Hubert Davis’ teams although each has won on its home court.
Wake is better than its 10-6 record overall and dangerous. The Deacs lost one-pointers against top-ranked Michigan and No. 14 Texas Tech and last week beat Virginia Tech by three at home and lost by four at Miami. They are well-coached by Steve Forbes and have no real headliners.
Rest assured they think Saturday at 6 p.m. is a golden opportunity to get their first Quad 1 win and jeopardize Quad 1 status for Carolina, which is coming off a blowout loss at SMU.
Since the days of two-time ACC Player of the Year Dickie Hemrich in the ’50s and legendary coach Bones McKinney in the ’60s, Wake and UNC have gone on long winning streaks against the other – from Woolen Gym to Carmichael Auditorium to the Dean Dome and Memorial Coliseum to Joel Coliseum.
The Heels won 27 out of 30 between James Worthy’s national champions in 1982 to the Eric Montross NCAA champs in 1993. The Deacons won five straight in the 1990s that included All-American Randolph Childress’ record-breaking 1995 ACC tournament, scoring 107 points including 37 in the championship game win over the Tar Heels. In Tim Duncan’s All-ACC years, they split 4-4.
In Roy Williams’ first season as UNC’s head coach his team lost a triple overtime game to the Deacons in the Smith Center when freshman Chris Paul burst onto the ACC scene against the fourth-ranked Tar Heels. The 119-114 upset was one of the wildest games ever played in the Dean Dome, with the Deacons scoring the most points there to that point.
Paul grew up a Carolina fan in Winston-Salem with his bedroom walls painted light blue. The Heels already had Raymond Felton at point guard and Paul went on to be a first-round draft pick in 2005 and was Rookie of the Year and a 12-time NBA All-Star. UNC avenged that loss in the rematch at Joel Coliseum.
The late Skip Prosser was the head coach of the Deacons, who have been to only three NCAA Tournaments since his death in 2007. Forbes is a veteran coach in his sixth season at Wake who has yet to take a team to the Big Dance, so an upset Saturday would be a great launching pad and help him get off the hot seat.
Carolina and Wake are close in ACC scoring offense but far apart in scoring defense with the Tar Heels No. 2 and the Deacs No. 16. Their leading scorer is sophomore forward Juke Harris, who has raised his average to 19-plus points from 6 points as a freshman. His best game so far was against Texas Tech, when he had 26 points and 10 rebounds.
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Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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