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Off the cuff: A good start for one team and a bad start for another can end a game early. Wake Forest missed 10 of its first 11 shots as Carolina raced out to a 25-3 lead midway through the first half.

"Wake Forest had some open shots that they missed," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

But it was more than that. The Heels ended up hitting 15 of their first 19 shots. Carolina was moving fluidly and getting good shots and hitting them.

The only two negatives were 15 turnovers and a poor showing at the free throw line (three of 11).

Carolina has now won three ACC road games by 20 or more points for the first time in a season under Coach Williams.

It was fun to see reserves play the last 5:45. Caleb Ellis and K.J. Smith especially did well. Ellis put one in above the rim and picked up a rebound. Smith hit a three from the corner and made a nifty pass to Brandon Huffman for a dunk.

Nassir Little, coming off an ankle injury, got banged up a bit and didn't play in the second half as a precautionary move.

Tar Heels 95, Wake Forest 57
Carolina scores early and often in romp

North Carolina, coming off a loss at home to Virginia, went on the road and came out on fire at Wake Forest, scoring the first 18 points of the game and rolling over the Deacs, 95-57. (2/16)

The 38-point win is the largest in the long, storied 227-game history between the two teams.

"We caught Wake Forest on a good day for us and a bad day for them," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

UNC's Cam Johnson hit his first eight shots of the game, six of them three pointers. He didn't miss a shot until five minutes into the second half after tweaking an ankle on a dunk seconds earlier.

Five different Tar Heels scored in getting out to an 18-0 lead with Johnson scoring eight of them on his way to a 14-point first half and a 27-point final tally.

Carolina got its biggest lead of the first half with seven minutes left as reserve Brandon Robinson stroked a three from the right side to go up 28 at 35-7. The Heels hit 10 threes in the first half.

The 49-21 halftime advantage was the largest at the break this season for Carolina. It could have been an even larger lead if not for a plethora of turnovers. The Heels had more turnovers (11) than missed shots in the first half (7).

In the second half, the margin never got fewer than 26 points as the lead swelled to 38 points at 83-45 with six minutes to go after a 7-0 run. Robinson sunk a three from the left side and then scored on a breakaway dunk to finish off that run.

The subs came on with 5:45 to go with a 36-point lead and managed to hold the advantage and add a pair.

The Tar Heels finished shooting 62 percent from the field and came up one short of the UNC three-point record of 17 scored against Florida State in 1995. Wake shot only 32 percent for the game.

Joining Johnson in double figures for the Tar Heels were Luke Maye and Coby White, who each scored 10.

With the win, Carolina moves to 20-5 and 10-2 in the conference, tied for second place. With the loss, Wake falls to 9-15 overall and 2-10 in the ACC, tied with Pitt for last place.

The Tar Heels play at first-place Duke Wednesday at 9 p.m.

Box score

UNC's Cam Johnson, left, gets an open three as Wake coach Danny Manning can only grimace. (UNC Sports Information photo.)

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