Balanced attack leads UNC men's basketball to 93-87 win over Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM — With Wake Forest down 84-81 and needing a stop, the Demon Deacons had no clue who the No. 11 North Carolina men’s basketball team would turn to down the stretch.

Juniors Joel Berry and Justin Jackson were playing well on the perimeter, but Wake Forest couldn’t ignore senior forwards Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks when they were both in double figures.

“I’ve always felt that if you have everybody in your club that can score, it’s harder to guard you,” head coach Roy Williams said. “Then the other team’s defense can’t focus on one guy.”

Berry found Jackson coming off a screen, and the wing hit a 3-pointer to put the Tar Heels up six points to fend off the Wake Forest comeback attempt and leave Winston-Salem with a 93-87 victory on Wednesday.

Although North Carolina (15-3, 3-1 ACC) has won games during the 2016-17 season when one player was able to shoulder the scoring load, the Tar Heels are at their best when all five starters are a threat to score at any point in the game. Against the Demon Deacons, all five starters finished in double digits.

Instead of relying on players to score in isolation, North Carolina had 22 assists on its 33 baskets on Wednesday night.

Even when the Demon Deacons (10-7, 1-4 ACC) cut a 19-point deficit all the way down to one late in the second half, North Carolina was able to maintain its poise under pressure.

“It’s a basketball; it’s a game of runs,” Berry said. “I think that especially down the stretch where sometimes you can get a little rattled.”

“But I think that with the experience that we have, we’re gonna get a good shot at the end of the day.”

While the Tar Heels would have preferred to put it away earlier — especially against an inferior opponent — they kept the game from getting away from them.

“I would say it’s our experience and not getting overwhelmed when a team starts to make a run,” Hicks said. “We can just take a deep breath and get back to doing what we were doing.”

On Jackson’s 3-pointer, the Tar Heels didn’t have to panic trying to get him an open look.

They just had to execute a play they’ve run countless times.

“Coach just called ‘box right’,” Jackson said. “I got in that spot and guys set good screens. And J.B. hit me and I shot it, and it felt good coming out of my hand.”

Jackson said the balanced scoring is ultimately what can take North Carolina as far as it wants.

“It’s huge,” Jackson said. “That’s what we know we can have. We’re not a team that will have three guys in double figures.”

“We’re a deep team and we have a lot of guys that can contribute.”

The North Carolina depth was on full display when the team needed it the most. The Tar Heels forced Wake Forest to constantly switch its defenses and guard every player on the floor.

“When you have balance like that, the defense can’t be concerned with one guy,” Hicks said. “We took them out of man and they don’t know what to do because a lot of people are scoring.”

But whenever the Demon Deacons left a player unguarded, North Carolina made sure they paid for it.

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