Old-school win: UNC holds off Wake Forest to reach ACC semifinals, keep NCAA hopes alive

Chip Alexander, The News & Observer on Mar 13, 2025

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It felt as much like a grudge match as a basketball game in March, and was played that way.

It also had the distinct feel of an elimination game in March, which it might turn out to be.

After 40 minutes of elbows thrown, bodies falling, rushed shots, blocked shots, hard fouls and board crashing mixed in with some hard-earned baskets, North Carolina emerging with a 68-59 victory over Wake Forest in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament at the Spectrum Center.

That set up another meeting of UNC and Duke. They’ll go at it in the semifinals, with the status of Duke star Cooper Flagg in doubt because of a sprained ankle.

The Tar Heels (22-12), after blasting Notre Dame by 20 points in their tournament opener, came in Thursday’s game 36th in the NET rankings used to help set the NCAA tournament field. Wake Forest (21-11) was at No. 68, sharing the need to move up.

The Heels got the win they needed as R.J. Davis had 21 points and Ven-Allen Lubin again turned in a double-double. Wake’s Hunter Sallis had a game-high 25 points but was hounded defensively by UNC’s Drake Powell in the second half.

UNC coach Hubert Davis has said this season that the Heels needed to play with a sense of emergency, not just urgency. With the underlying feeling that the loser might be sitting out the NCAAs, it only heightened the intensity level of the game.

And the physicality, Things became so heated in the second half that UNC’s Elliot Cadeau and Wake’s Cameron Hildreth got into a wrestling match on one possession, resulting in a double foul being called. Neither bench was happy about the result.

Not long after, Hubert Davis all but charged on the floor demanding a play be reviewed and a foul be called against the Deacons. After review, Wake’s Juke Harris was charged with a flagrant foul and UNC shot free throws.

Moments later, a technical foul was called on the UNC bench. So it went.

It was tight in the last five minutes. The Heels’ Jae’Lyn Withers, whose seven 3-pointers against Notre Dame set a UNC tournament record, knocked in one for a 57-56 lead, then rimmed about another.

After a high-rise block by UNC’s Ven-Allen Lubin on a Sallis shot, R.J. Davis hit a 3-pointer from the wing for a 61-57 lead with 2:43 left. Lubin then smashed through a pair of dunks and it was 65-59, UNC.

Hubert Davis and Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes were probably both hoarse by halftime. They liked some of what they saw, some that they didn’t and had some disagreements with the referees’ calls throughout the ultra physical game.

The Deacons, fresher, excited, jumped out to an 11-2 lead in their first tournament game. That had Davis calling a quick timeout to sort things out.

The Deacons didn’t have to work too hard on one aspect of the game plan: keeping UNC’s Withers well covered defensively. After his barrage of 3-pointers against Notre Dame, Withers had defenders running at him whenever the ball came to him.

The Heels led 33-31 at the half despite 35.7% shooting that only improved as the half moved along and a few 3-pointers fell for UNC — Davis had a team-high 10 points at the break and made a couple of deep 3s.

The Heels looked smoother just after halftime, surging to a 42-32 lead on a Davis 3 that had an angry Forbes red-faced as he pulled his team to the bench for a few choice words.

Sallis responded by making a tough jumper and moments later a driving layup as UNC had a shot blocked — the UNC coaches, to a man, were howling for a foul — and then a turnover as things tightened up again.

Hildreth, never bashful in taking shots, had a poor first half but had a run of three baskets along with a Tre-Von Spillers dunk as the Deacs moved back ahead, 46-45, with an 8-0 run.

The defensive matchups Thursday were intriguing. Davis started the game head to head with Sallis, giving up five inches to the senior — a first-team All-ACC pick — and Drake Powell later got the assignment. The Deacons had Sallis, Ty-Laur Johnson and Cameron Hildreth alternating on R.J. Davis.

The battle inside the paint was intense, at times brutal. Every shot was contested and there was constant banging.

In the game in Winston-Salem this season, the Deacons took 21 more free throws than the Heels in their 67-66 win on Jan. 21. UNC also was 8 for 32 on 3s, a season high for 3-pointers taken.