Deacs and Heels duke it out in Chapel Hill
Sports Network | February 24, 2008
Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Fresh off a tremendous upset victory, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons will try to pull off another shocker as they take on the third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in ACC action.
Wake Forest has been idle since last Sunday when it thrilled the home crowd with an 86-73 victory over Duke. That win was the third in a row for the Demon Deacons, who are 16-8 overall and 6-5 in conference. Not much was expected of the team this season, and the winning league record has to be looked upon as a positive. On a down note, the club is just 2-7 in true road games this season.
As for North Carolina, it is tied with Duke atop the ACC standings at 10-2, and considering that no other team in the league has more than seven conference wins, it appears that the bitter rivals will fight it out for the regular- season league crown over the next two weeks. The Tar Heels have won their last four games, including an 84-70 triumph over NC State on Wednesday, and they are 25-2 overall.
North Carolina owns a 150-63 lead in the all-time series with Wake Forest.
James Johnson racked up 24 points and 16 rebounds to power Wake Forest to victory over Duke last week. Jeff Teague led the way in the scoring column with 26 points, and Jamie Skeen contributed 10 points off the bench. The Demon Deacons finished with only 10 assists against 19 rebounds, but a 27-13 rebounding advantage proved to be key to the victory. It also helped that the club forced 22 giveaways and earned a 45-38 rebounding advantage. Through 24 games, Johnson is averaging 14.8 ppg on 49.5 percent shooting from the floor. He is also pulling down 8.3 rpg and has blocked 33 shots to go with 37 steals. As for Teague, he checks in with 12.8 ppg. Wake Forest is generating 72.8 ppg while surrendering 67.2 ppg to the opposition.
North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough has led his team in scoring in each of the last 10 games, and he is a leading candidate for national player of the year honors. Hansbrough is scoring 23.1 ppg on 55.3 percent shooting from the floor, and he is pulling down 10.7 rpg as well. Wayne Ellington is contributing 16.7 ppg, and Ty Lawson checks in with 13.6 ppg and 120 assists. Lawson, the team's outstanding point guard, has been out of action with an ankle injury, and he is listed as questionable for this evening's contest. Danny Green rounds out a foursome of double-digit scorers for the Tar Heels with 11.4 ppg. North Carolina is racking up 90.2 ppg while limiting foes to 72.5 ppg on 42 percent shooting from the floor. In the 14-point win over NC State on Wednesday, UNC forced 18 turnovers and shot 53.1 percent from the field. Hansbrough was brilliant as usual, as he finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and five steals. Ellington posted 21 points and eight boards, while Marcus Ginyard tallied 13 points.
