UNC’s men's basketball 3-point shooting wakes up in blowout against Wake Forest

North Carolina, donning white Nike retro jerseys inspired by the 1982 team’s uniforms, set season highs in 3-point shooting percentage and free-throw percentage in a dominating 105-72 win against Wake Forest.

The Tar Heels shot 73.3 percent from beyond the arc and 82.8 percent from the free-throw line.

In other words, UNC (20-7, 10-4 ACC) looked nothing like the Jan. 5 version of itself that fell out of the Associated Press rankings after a 73-67 road loss to the Demon Deacons (14-13, 4-10) — down to its uniforms.

That night in Winston-Salem, the Tar Heels shot 2-for-15 from long range, and began a descent toward a 0-3 start in the ACC. Since then, UNC has won nine straight by making opponents respect scoring threats not named Marcus Paige.

“We took our threes early in possessions at Wake. We took some tough ones, some contested ones,” Paige said. “Tonight we worked the ball inside first. We tried to get guys in foul trouble, tried to attack the basket.

“Then we had some good screens, and Leslie got open for a couple really good looks, and after that the threes started falling for us.”

Leslie McDonald , who scored 19 points including five of his six 3-point attempts, used off-ball screens set by James Michael McAdoo three times to find space for an open shot.

The Tar Heels broke the school record for 3-point percentage in games when UNC has made 10 or more 3-pointers, flouting the notion that this year’s roster isn’t a shooting team.

“Of all the teams to break that record,” coach Roy Williams joked after the game.

Paige shot 3-for-5 from beyond the arc Saturday, and freshman guard Nate Britt, who was previously 2-for-10 on 3-pointers all season, added one more in the game’s waning minutes. Even walk-on senior Wade Moody got in on the action, surpassing his five career points in 22 previous games with two late 3-pointers.

Upon the second 3-pointer, which clinched discounted sausage biscuits for all fans in attendance, the Smith Center crowd of 19,248 erupted to a noise level seldom heard near the end of 33-point wins.

McDonald dropped to one knee, outstretching three fingers to the floor to celebrate his unheralded and relatively unknown teammate, but that doesn’t mean he was surprised.

“People don’t understand. Behind the scenes, Wade Moody kills us in practice,” McDonald said. “He literally destroys us in practice with threes … When I seen him shoot it in the game, I was so happy for him because people finally get to see what he’s been doing the whole time.”

While Moody delivered the final blows, it was McDonald who struck first, sinking a 3-pointer to give UNC a 9-6 lead — its first lead — fewer than four minutes into the game. The Tar Heels would cruise to a 19-point halftime advantage, essentially showing the Demon Deacons the door.

UNC’s success made Paige wish the team could wear the retro uniforms again. Just don’t ask him to wear the mid-thigh length shorts the 1982 team used to wear.

“I like the length of our shorts a little bit better,” Paige joked. “I’ll just leave it at that.”