Feb. 9, 2007

By Lauren Brownlow

The Basics

No. 5 North Carolina (21-3, 6-2) will return to the Smith Center for the first of its final four home games of the year to welcome Wake Forest (11-12, 2-8). The Deacons will travel to Chapel Hill for the first time since December 20, 2003. Carolina is coming off a 79-73 victory over Duke in Durham that capped off a stretch of six out of eight games on the road. Wake Forest is coming off an 87-71 win over Winston-Salem State on Tuesday night.

Game Time: Wake Forest at North Carolina, 1:30 p.m.

Last Time: Carolina beat Wake Forest 88-60 in Winston-Salem on January 24, 2007. It was Carolina's largest margin of victory over Wake since a 29-point win in 1986, and the largest ever road victory against the Deacons. Wake Forest shot 38.9% from the field and 46% from the three-point line (6-of-13) and trailed 42-37 at halftime. Carolina's defense clamped down in the second half, holding the Deacons to just 25.7% from the field and 3-of-16 from the three-point line.

Five Tar Heels scored in double figures, and Wayne Ellington led the way with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 2-of-5 from the three-point line. Ty Lawson scored all 15 of his points in the second half, and added five assists and three steals. Tyler Hansbrough had 13 points and nine rebounds. Danny Green led the Tar Heels in made three-pointers, shooting 3-of-5 from the three-point line and adding 12 points. Brandan Wright had 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and added seven rebounds, an assist, a steal and three blocks.

Kyle Visser was the only Wake Forest player to score in double figures with 16 points. Ishmael Smith added nine points and five assists. Harvey Hale and Jamie Skeen combined for 13 points and made two three-pointers each.

Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 12:30 p.m.

Injury Report: Bobby Frasor is still somewhat limited with the foot injury, but should play.

Storylines

Intensity: The last two games had a lot in common. For example, both opponents had stretches of hot shooting. Both games saw the freshmen struggle a bit in Carolina's rivals' gyms. The older, veteran players understand what it's like to be a team not expected to win and have proved better able to respond. In one game, they were able to get the freshmen over the hump and in the other, they weren't.

Reyshawn Terry, as always, was the x-factor. Against State, he did not pull down one rebound but his board work was key against the Blue Devils as he pulled down a season-high ten rebounds.

"I loved Reyshawn Terry, his effort, his defensive work, his work on the backboards. I've been on his case since Saturday because he and Danny Green together played 25 minutes Saturday and they got one more rebound than my wife," Coach Williams said. "I told him that several times since Saturday. He got 10 more rebounds than Wanda did tonight, so I think that really helped us."

Teams are going to go at Carolina hard, as both State and Duke did, in terms of both effort and throwing everything in the book in terms of coaching tricks and strategies to get the Tar Heels off-balance on both ends of the floor. Carolina was down as many as ten points against the Blue Devils, but they fought back.

"I told our guys if we keep attacking and do a little bit better job of covering the screen on the ball and not hit every screen that they set that we would be there at the end, and I really felt that way. I just wanted to make sure that my club kept attacking," Coach Williams said.

A big part of the reason Carolina was able to slow down Duke's scorers like Jon Scheyer was the defensive work of veterans like Bobby Frasor, Wes Miller and Marcus Ginyard. All three had enough experience to get around tough screens and play tough defense down the stretch.

"Marcus, Bobby, Reyshawn, Tyler, those guys just showed their toughness tonight and we really buckled down. We limited them to one shot by working hard on defense, then we boxed out and we got the rebound and we went down on the other end and executed. We didn't try to get it all back in one possession. We just stayed solid, played our fundamentals and we showed some toughness," Wes Miller said.

Though the younger players are the "flashier" ones, Carolina fans should feel lucky that veterans like Bobby Frasor, Wes Miller, Marcus Ginyard, Danny Green and Reyshawn Terry were there on Wednesday and have been there most of the season to come in and do the little things.

"We put the younger guys on our back and told them to follow us - me, Wes, Marcus, Tyler and all the guys that have been here before. We just tried to show the younger guys how it's done," Terry said.

Teams are going to give Carolina their best shot and the young Tar Heels need to be ready for that. It didn't matter in the first match-up that Carolina was the top-ranked offense in the ACC and Wake Forest had the last-ranked defense (both still are), or Carolina and Wake were and are the top and bottom teams in field-goal percentage and field-goal percentage defense, respectively. It won't matter this time, either. The Deacons are one game under .500 on the year and desperately need a win for NIT consideration. The Tar Heels are coming off a big win over their arch rival, but they need to avoid complacency.

Defense: Duke made its first nine of 11 shots against Carolina, which, in case you're counting, pushed the opponents' shooting streak against the Tar Heels to 22 made baskets out of their last 28 attempts. The Tar Heels faced deficits early as three-pointers swished through the hoop while often defenders were still fighting their way past a screen. The Tar Heels did not panic through the crowd explosions at Cameron Indoor Stadium and just kept plugging along, forcing their tempo until they got what they wanted and the shots started falling.

"First half, they came out hot and made a lot of shots. In the second half, we played better defense and limited them to one shot so their shooting percentage went down. Offensively, I think we just kept pushing the ball, attacking them, getting them in foul trouble and making more shots. I think that helped us out a lot this game," Danny Green said. "If we shoot better percentages, it helps any team out if you make shots. On the other hand, you've always got to play defense. You can't just make shots; you've got to play some defense. So we wanted to make shots, play better defense, limit them to one shot and then run the ball."

The Deacons came out fast against the Tar Heels in their last meeting, out-rebounding Carolina 20-17 and trailing by just five points, 42-37 at the half.

In the second half of the game, the Tar Heels held the Deacons to just nine field goals, a low by a Carolina opponent in league play in a half. The 23 points in the second half tied the 23 points allowed in the first half of the Georgia Tech game as the lowest scoring output by a Carolina opponent in league play.

At The Game

Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency in the Smith Center will be FM 92.7. That station will have a non-delayed feed of WCHL 1360, the local affiliate.

Halftime: The 1957 and 1982 national championship teams will be honored at halftime to mark the 50th anniversary and the 25th anniversary, respectively, of each. All players except for Bob Cunningham (who is deceased) and Matt Doherty (who has to coach a game that day) are expected to be in attendance.

Watching At Home

Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.

A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.

Raycom-LF coverage: The game will be available on Raycom-Lincoln Financial.

Names To Know

Brandan Wright: Wright scored nine points on 9-of-12 shooting against Duke, and it was his best shooting performance (75%) since the Clemson game. His nine field goals made were the most since the ACC opener against Florida State. Ten of Wright's 19 points came both at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, and helped keep Carolina in the game. His nine rebounds were the most since the Virginia game. He's averaging 6.6 rebounds a game in league play, and in the last five games he had only averaged 5.6. His 24 minutes played were the fewest since the Rutgers game, as Coach Williams went to a smaller line-up for much of the second half. He has just a three-assist to seven-turnover ratio in the last three games. He has blocked six shots in the last three games and nine in the last four. He is still second on the team and 14th in the league in scoring, averaging 15 points per game.

Wright seems to like the Smith Center floor, shooting 65.3% in home games. Next-closest on the team is Marcus Ginyard, who shoots 56.5%. By contrast, in conference play Wright is shooting 59.8%, still very good but second behind Deon Thompson (60.7%).

At times, it seems like he and Hansbrough's spacing issues have not yet worked themselves out. However, when he and Hansbrough are spaced properly on the offensive end, it prevents opponents' big men from clogging the middle and double-teaming Hansbrough. Before ACC play, his assist-turnover ratio was 17 assists to 25 turnovers. In conference play, it is eight assists to 15 turnovers. Hansbrough had an assist-turnover ratio of 23 assists to 26 turnovers, and now has eight assists and 22 turnovers in conference play.

Wayne Ellington: Ellington was the only one of the "Big 3" freshmen that could not get it going at any point in the game. He played just 18 minutes, his fewest since the Rutgers game and tied for the lowest amount all season. Was there a bit of anxiety going into a rivalry game like this and playing against one of his best friends in Gerald Henderson? Yes, but there is no doubt that Ellington was seemingly unable to shake the jitters. He shot 2-of-8 from the field and 0-of-2 from the three-point line, marking the first time he was unable to hit a three-pointer since the St. Louis game. After the game, Coach Williams used him as an example of why this team's depth was so valuable and the team could overcome a game in which Ellington struggled.

"Wayne Ellington, for example, he made two shots in a row and other than that I didn't think he played very well, but I think he's going to be a great player and he's extremely important to us," Coach Williams said.

In ACC play, Ellington's 40.7% from the field is third-lowest on the team, ahead of only Wes Miller (33.3%) and Alex Stepheson (37.5%). His 31% from beyond the arc in league play is now last on the team, although he still leads the team in made three-pointers in conference. Ellington does lead the team in assist-turnover ratio in conference with 25 assists to just eight turnovers, or a 3.1 ratio. Those 25 assists are third on the team in conference play. Ellington has just seven steals in conference play, but has one steal in the last four conference games and even nabbed two steals against Arizona. He has had at least one assist in every game this season since the Gardner-Webb game.

After starting out the season shooting 40% or higher from the field in 12 of Carolina's first 14 games, in conference play he has shot 40% or higher three times and shot 40% against Arizona. He has shot 30% or lower five times this season - two came in losses, and two have come in league wins (Florida State, Virginia and Duke).

The irony is, though Ellington has a great-looking three-point jumper, his two-point baskets have been falling fairly well. He is shooting 51.6% from two-point range all season, and 50% in ACC play. Even in the last four games, when he has struggled some, he has shot 9-of-21 (42.9%) from two-point range. He shot his highest field-goal percentage since the Rutgers game against Wake Forest last time (66.7%) and had a fantastic game. At home, Ellington is shooting 48.9% from the floor and 49.2% from beyond the arc. All the ingredients are there for Ellington to bounce back on Saturday and bring him back into the top 25 in scoring in the league. He still ranks fifth in the league in three-pointers made per game with 1.96 - he just needs to keep shooting.

Ishmael Smith: Last time out against Carolina, Smith had nine points on 4-of-8 shooting and 1-of-3 from behind the arc. He added five assists, three turnovers and one steal. He ended up fouling out of the game.

Smith still ranks second in the league in assists, averaging 5.7 a game, more than freshman phenoms like Ty Lawson, Javaris Crittenton, and even senior Sean Singletary. Since the last time the Deacons and the Tar Heels met, Smith has moved into the top 10 in the league in assist-turnover ratio with a 1.64 ratio. He has also pulled down 20 rebounds (5.0 a game), including 15 in the last two games. He has 23 assists to just 11 turnovers in the last four games (2.1 ratio) Smith still ranks second on his team in scoring with 9.0 points a game. He is shooting 45.2% from the field.

In the last meeting, Smith's quickness seemed to surprise Carolina quite a bit as he penetrated the defense seemingly at will in the first half. However, in the second half Ty Lawson played one of his best defensive games and frustrated Smith. Carolina will need to play aggressive - and intelligent - defense on the quick Smith.

Kyle Visser: Against Carolina last time, Visser had 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. He also pulled down five rebounds. Visser still ranks in the top-10 of the league in scoring - seventh - with 17.5 points a game. He is sixth in rebounding with 7.5 a game, third in field-goal percentage with 60.2% and seventh in blocks with 1.39 a game. He also ranks fourth in offensive rebounds with 3.1 a game and tenth in defensive rebounds with 4.4 a game.

Visser did not have a block against UNC, but has six blocks in his last three games. After starting out his first two ACC games averaging 11.5 boards a contest, he averaged 8.1 in the last eight ACC games and 6.4 overall in league play. He seems to have gotten back into a rhythm; he has pulled down nine rebounds in each of the Deacons' last two league games and got 11 boards in Wake's win against Winston-Salem State.

Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.