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Off the cuff: Yes Wake Forest killed Carolina from behind the three-point line but few of the nine triples they hit were contested and most were wide open.

Before the three-point shot, I thought I would like the game more with it. I thought it would keep the little guy in the game of basketball. But Wake's big three-point gun is 6-foot-7 and it's not unusual to see someone 6-10 or so hit one. The game has gotten so it's about who is hot from three-point land. I really thought there would be five to 10 three-point shots taken in a game but there were 42 taken in this game. There is no going back but I might just break out an old VHS tape of a game prior to the three.

It's a little early to give up on the season but if Ed Davis doesn't come back 100 percent and if Marcus Ginyard doesn't contribute more, it's going to be a long season. Ginyard had several shots blocked or tipped and several passes that were knocked away. Plus, he couldn't even hit a layup. As a result, he hit just two of nine from the field. He must not be fully healthy.

Wake Forest 82, Tar Heels 69
Barrage of 3s sends NC to seventh loss

Wake Forest broke open a tight game with a barrage of threes in the second half to send North Carolina to its third straight loss, the most in the Roy Williams era, by an 82-69 score in Chapel Hill. (1/20)

The Deacons, coming off a loss to Duke, drilled seven of eight three pointers to extend a 40-39 advantage to 72-54 with five minutes to play. An 18-6 run, highlighted by three three pointers by Wake's Eric Stewart, put the Deacs up 58-45 and it didn't get much closer the rest of the game.

Carolina, playing without arguably its best player in Ed Davis, who was out with an ankle injury, led 18-16 at the second TV timeout after four straight points by Travis Wear, who started in place of Davis.

However, with five freshmen on the floor, the Tar Heels were outscored 10-0 over the next three and a half minutes. The Tar Heels cut the deficit to three by the half at 36-33 and got it down to one at 40-39 on a Will Graves three early in the second half before Wake hit seven of its next eight threes to open it up.

Deacon Ish Smith controlled the tempo and quickly answered on the other end of the court whenever Carolina scored to cut into the lead a bit. The point guard finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Will Graves led the Tar Heels with 16 points but he only hit one of seven attempts from beyond the arc. In fact, Carolina tossed up 26 threes, many in desperation, and only hit six. Deon Thompson and Travis Wear, who had a freshman-season high, each added 13 points. The Tar Heels shot just 36 percent from the field, their lowest output of the season.

"It's very disappointing and we're extremely frustrated," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "(After the game) I didn't give them a long speech - I just told them we have no chance if we fold, if we give in." He went on to say that "there's only so much I can do."

He said the freshmen are trying but they haven't been through these Atlantic Coast Conference wars yet. Carolina falls to 12-7 overall and 1-3 in the ACC while Wake improves to 13-4 and 3-2 in the league. The Heels play at N.C. State Tuesday.

Boxscore

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