Andy Hancock

Men's Basketball

North Carolina Beats Wake Forest 68-59 to Advance to ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament Semifinals

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — RJ Davis had 23 points and five 3-pointers, Ven-Allen Lubin added 10 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 5 seed North Carolina beat No. 4 seed Wake Forest 68-59 on Thursday, March 13, in the 2025 T. Rowe Price ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals for coach Hubert Davis’ 100th victory with the program.
 
North Carolina (22-12), which has won eight of its last nine games, advances to play No. 1 seed Duke in the semifinals on Friday, March 14, at 7 p.m. ET.
 
Wake Forest (21-11) was looking to advance to its first ACC Tournament semifinals since 2006.
 
Jae’Lyn Withers rattled in a 3-pointer from the corner with 4:35 left in regulation to give North Carolina a 57-56 lead and the Tar Heels never trailed again.
 
North Carolina went ahead 63-57 with 2:04 left after six straight points. Lubin went 1-of-2 at the free-throw line, but he blocked a shot at the other end and Davis sank his fifth 3-pointer in six attempts. Lubin capped the Tar Heels’ run with an alley-oop dunk.
 
After Hunter Sallis ended Wake Forest’s field-goal drought that lasted nearly five minutes, Lubin threw down a putback dunk to make it 65-59 with 1:27 left.
 
North Carolina guard Drake Powell jumped to intercept an inbounds pass and Seth Trimble was fouled with 31.8 seconds left before making 1-of-2 free throws for a seven-point lead.
 
Trimble also finished with 10 points for North Carolina, which avenged a 67-66 loss at Wake Forest on January 21.
 
Sallis led Wake Forest with 25 points. Tre’Von Spillers had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Efton Reid III grabbed 10 rebounds.
 
Davis turned his left ankle with 6:49 left in the second half when he stepped on the foot of Juke Harris on a drive. After a short break, he made two free throws to give North Carolina the lead at 54-53.
 
Of Note
  • Hubert Davis became the third-fastest coach in North Carolina history to reach the 100-win mark, doing so in 143 games. Roy Williams did so in just 129 games, while Frank McGuire reached the milestone in 139 games.
  • Wake Forest went on an early 11-0 run to lead by 11 with 13:23 remaining in the first half. North Carolina almost immediately responded with a 10-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to one.
  • Thursday’s game featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes.
  • RJ Davis led the Tar Heels in scoring with 23 points, while also connecting on five 3-pointers. The five 3-pointers matched Davis’ season-high.
  • Davis surpassed Georgia Tech’s Dennis Scott for the fourth-most made 3-pointers in ACC history. The Tar Heel guard has made 352 throughout his career.
  • North Carolina’s Ven-Allen Lubin logged his second double-double of the ACC Tournament, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
  • The Tar Heels held Wake Forest to just 9.1% from 3-point range (2-of-22).
  • Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis led all scorers with 25 points in the loss. Sallis also pulled down five rebounds and recorded two assists.