Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
When: Wednesday, January 20th, 7:00 PM
TV: ESPN
Livestats: SCACC Hoops
Records: UNC 12-6, 1-2 ACC; WF 12-4, 2-2 ACC
I was on the verge of writing some kind of conditional preview since I have no idea if Ed Davis is playing or not. Yes, some key aspects of the Tar Heel's performance hinges on having him in the lineup. Except I am going to go out on a limb and say it won't matter if he plays or not. UNC is bringing it tonight. Drew, Strickland, Graves and especially Ginyard and Thompson are going to bring it. This is a must win game and if the sense of urgency isn't there then screw it. So I am going to go out on the optimistic limb and say the Heels show up tonight, take care of business, stop the bleeding and find a stash of confidence to build the rest of this season on.
Wake Forest has excellent play at PG in Ish Smith and plenty of size on the interior so the matchup is a tough one. Wake also has yet another player Roy recruited liked made but did not get in Al-Farouq Aminu. The counter is simple. Take care of the basketball, hit some shots so offensive rebounding is not nearly as important and step up the defense. UNC is long overdue for a complete game. Heck I am not sure they have played a complete game all season. Now would be a good place to start.
UNC 88 Wake 71
Then again I might be crazy, but this sounds better than dooming and glooming it.