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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Tar Heels Can't Slow Down Wake Forest, 84-62
January 5, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Jan 5, 2002
By AARON BEARD
Associated Press Writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Wake Forest made sure there would be no letdown this time.
Josh Howard scored 20 points, and Steve Lepore added 15 as No. 23 Wake Forest beat North Carolina 84-62 Saturday, the Tar Heels' worst defeat at the Smith Center.
The Demon Deacons blew a second-half lead two weeks ago in a loss to St. John's and nearly let a double-digit lead slip away last week against Marquette. On Saturday, however, the Demon Deacons (11-3, 2-0 ACC) jumped to an early lead and never let the Tar Heels back into the game.
Wake used a 21-3 run and held the Tar Heels (5-6, 1-1) without a field goal for 11:42 of the second half, turning a nine-point game into a rout.
"We kept talking throughout the game, at halftime: 'Don't even glance at the scoreboard,"' Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. "Just keep attacking and attacking and attacking."
It was Wake Forest's biggest margin of victory in Chapel Hill, surpassing a 20-point win in the 1938-39 season. North Carolina's previous biggest defeat at the Smith Center was a 20-point loss to Duke in 1998-99.
It was the worst home loss for the Tar Heels since a 22-point loss to Maryland at Carmichael Auditorium in 1975.
Things got so bad for the Tar Heels that coach Matt Doherty broke a clipboard by throwing it to the ground during a timeout with 11:53 to play.
"It's tough to stand here after getting beat like that," Doherty said.
The Tar Heels struggled all day with Wake's full-court pressure defense, committing 21 turnovers and often taking nearly all of the 10 allotted seconds to get the ball across midcourt. In addition, the Demon Deacons outrebounded North Carolina 48-41.
Trailing 48-34 at halftime, North Carolina hit three 3-pointers to open the second half - two from Jason Capel and one from freshman guard Jackie Manuel. Capel's second 3 pulled the Tar Heels to 52-43 with 16:59 to play.
ut North Carolina didn't get another field goal until Adam Boone's layup off a turnover with 5:17 left, making it 73-48.
"The shots just weren't falling and their press bothered us," said forward Kris Lang, who finished with four points on 2-of-6 shooting. "Once we'd break the press we'd rush shots and even when we had great shots we weren't hitting."
Wake Forest, meanwhile, was too athletic for the Tar Heels, getting easy baskets in the paint and scoring off the dribble to blow the game open.
"When they made baskets, we did a good job of getting (the ball) out and getting it up the floor quick," Lepore said. "That's how we got some open looks: We'd sprint out and get down there a little faster than those guys."
Added Howard, "I think at every position we were a step quicker or a little larger than our opponents. We just exploited those things after we rotated the ball a lot."
The Deacons led 21-17 midway through the first half before going on a 12-2 run over 4{ minutes. Lepore hit two 3-pointers - one banked in from the right wing - and a short jumper in the lane during that span. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, were only 2-of-9 in the stretch.
The Deacons scored 29 points in the first half, pushing the lead to as many as 17 in the first half. North Carolina never got closer than eight points the rest of the way and trailed by as many as 28 in the second half.
The Tar Heels shot 36 percent and hit 7-of-27 3-pointers in the game. They were led by Capel's 13 points and Brian Morrison's 12.
