The race to the top continues.
After No. 1 Oklahoma's loss Monday night, the North Carolina men’s basketball team entered the Smith Center on Wednesday night in prime position to ascend atop the polls.
A wire-to-wire win over Wake Forest was a good start.
The No. 2 Tar Heels (17-2, 6-0 ACC) extended their best conference start under Coach Roy Williams, dismantling the mismatched Demon Deacons (10-8, 1-5 ACC) in an 83-68 blowout for UNC’s 10th consecutive victory.
Senior Brice Johnson led both teams with 27 points and 11 rebounds, strengthening his candidacy as one of the nation’s most outstanding players this season.
Despite playing just 24 minutes, Johnson scored three times as many points as any other Tar Heel. And although his team collectively shot 38.4 percent from the floor, the forward finished 8-for-12 from the field and 11-for-12 from the free-throw line.
Johnson asserted himself early, forcing a midcourt turnover four minutes into the game and striding into the lane for an easy layup. When Wake Forest pulled within seven points with 4:41 left in the first half, the senior buried a shot and recorded one of his two blocks on the other end to spark a 12-0 UNC run.
In addition to seven blocks, UNC secured 15 steals — including three by Johnson — and converted 19 Wake Forest turnovers into 21 points.
North Carolina entered the contest ranked second in the country in scoring, tallying 86.4 points per game. While Johnson was UNC’s only double-digit scorer, the Tar Heels topped 80 points for the 16th time in 19 games.
