Jan 25, 2007, 4:05 GMT
Winston-Salem, NC - Wayne Ellington paced five North Carolina players in double figures with 18 points, as the fourth-ranked Tar Heels added to Wake Forest's conference struggles after an 88-60 victory over the Demon Deacons.
Ty Lawson finished with 15 points and five assists for the Tar Heels (18-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot 57 percent from the floor on the way to their third straight victory.
Tyler Hansbrough added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Brandan Wright and Danny Green each had 12 points. Wright also grabbed seven boards and blocked three shots.
North Carolina netted 25 points off 19 Wake Forest turnovers. The Tar Heels won with ease, despite turning the ball over 19 times themselves.
Kyle Visser paced Wake Forest with 16 points as the Demon Deacons (9-10, 1-6) dropped their fifth straight game to remain at the bottom of the ACC standings. Ishmael Smith had nine points and five assists in the loss.
'I have to give them (North Carolina) the credit,' said Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser. 'We missed a lot of open looks. They weren't guarding us at the foul line, that I can remember, and we shot worse there than we did from the field. I really give them the credit.'
Wake Forest got within 44-41 early in the second half after consecutive baskets by Kevin Swinton, but the Tar Heels answered with eight straight points -- the first six coming from Lawson -- to move ahead by 11.
North Carolina finally broke the game open with an 18-2 run. Ellington had five points during the spurt, while Reyshawn Terry's layup made it 74-51 with 7:56 on the clock.
The Tar Heels led by as much as 31 from there and were never threatened.
'We feel very good about a road win in the ACC as you always should,' North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said. 'The first 10-12 minutes in the second half we played pretty well offensively, and we had been struggling. We didn't do a very good job on the backboards in the first half, but we did a much better job in the second.'
Wake Forest used a 6-of-13 performance from three-point range in the first half to stay close, but it wasn't enough to offset the Tar Heels and their 17- of-30 (57 percent) clip from the floor.
The Demon Deacons went back and forth with North Carolina early and led 23-22 until the Tar Heels went on a 12-2 run to go in front 34-25. Green started the burst with a three-pointer and free throw, while a jumper from Ellington closed it out with 3:41 remaining.
A pair of jumpers by Wright upped North Carolina's lead to 40-30, but the Demon Deacons later cut it to five at 42-37 on a jumper by Visser and a three from Anthony Gurley and that was the score heading into the break.
Game Notes
Terry had six points in the win.Jamie Skeen donated seven points in the loss, while L.D. Williams had six points and six rebounds, all offensive.The Tar Heels had 15 fastbreak points.North Carolina improved to 3-1 in true road games, while Wake Forest fell to 7-4 at home.The Demon Deacons shot 32 percent from the floor overall.
Terry had six points in the win.
Jamie Skeen donated seven points in the loss, while L.D. Williams had six points and six rebounds, all offensive.
The Tar Heels had 15 fastbreak points.
North Carolina improved to 3-1 in true road games, while Wake Forest fell to 7-4 at home.
The Demon Deacons shot 32 percent from the floor overall.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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