Turnovers cost Wake Forest in road loss to UNC
Wake Forest’s lack of ball security was their Achilles' heel in Chapel Hill on Wednesday night, as the Deacs coughed it up 15 times en route to an 88-79 loss. The Tar Heels totaled 32 points off Wake’s turnovers, and Wake’s solid shooting night (49% FG, 48% 3PT) wasn’t enough to get the job done.
“I thought that the last 10-12 minutes they turned up the intensity on defense and got way more aggressive,” Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes said after the game. “I thought that rattled usI thought we caved to the veteran intensity in the defense. I think we had four [turnovers] in the second half where they just went down and dunked it. You can’t do that.”
The game was neck-and-neck for a long time — the Deacs went into halftime with a 38-37 lead and led by five a little over five minutes into the second half. But despite Wake Forest’s best efforts, the Tar Heels simply had more firepower down the stretch.
“Going into halftime with the lead is really exciting, [we were] happy about that,” Forbes said. “We thought the first five minutes are going to be really important. We came out and made shots, and we didn’t stop them and they made shots. When we did get stops, they got a couple big offensive rebounds, we just couldn’t get the ball. It’s a tough loss because it was there for the taking.”
RJ Davis and Armando Bacot led the way for UNC, wreaking havoc on the Demon Deacon defense. Bacot was outstanding, finishing the game with 21 points (7/11 FG), nine rebounds, five assists, one block and two steals. His 5:0 assist-to-turnover ratio was a career best. Davis had a game-high 27 points, including a scorching hot 5-8 mark from three-point land. In the end, Wake Forest just didn’t have enough answers, struggling to defend the pick and roll.
“Davis is a really good player, and he got going in the second half,” Forbes said. “He’s just really good. He’s got great pace. Armando’s a handful. We double-teamed him, we tried to play him one-on-one. He made a few shots where I just [said], 'shake his hand.' We did a poor job in pick and roll coverage, our bigs just didn’t have their head on the ball.”
Several Demon Deacons played well in the loss — Tyree Appleby and Andrew Carr each had 16 points, and Daivien Williamson added 12. The play of Damari Monsanto was also a bright spot. He was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three deep balls. However, he also had four costly turnovers, including a cough-up that led to an easy bucket for UNC at a critical point in the second half. His up-and-down statline was representative of Wake’s performance as a team.
“He made some big shots when we needed him to,” Forbes said. “[He had] four turnovers trying to do things he can’t do. It’s not just him, it’s all of them. You have to play to your strengths and stay away from your weaknesses. He had 17 points and seven rebounds. If not for that, we wouldn’t have been in the game.”
Though Wake Forest fell short, there were plenty of positives to take away from the loss. The Deacs made a lot of big shots and competed well in a rowdy road environment.
“It’s not for a lack of trying hard, but you can’t let the pressure affect your pace on offense,” Forbes said. “Credit to Carolina. I’ve played in about every big venue there is in college basketball and the crowd was really loud. Anytime you go on the road, it’s hard. It’s a blown opportunity for us, but it’s a credit to Carolina. They buckled down and played how they needed to play to win.”
Wake Forest returns to action on the road against Louisville on Jan. 7. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. on ACC Network.
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