Wake Forest @ North Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 11, 2020 ) North Carolina 57, Wake Forest 74

North Carolina showed some life in its last two outings and the Tar Heels look to extend their winning streak to three games for the first time since opening the season with five straight victories when they host improving Wake Forest for an ACC matchup Tuesday. North Carolina had lost seven in a row before knocking off North Carolina State on Tuesday and shooting 51.6 percent to win at Syracuse 92-79 on Saturday.

“Everything looks better when the ball goes in the basket,” Tar Heels coach Roy Williams told reporters after his team shot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line for the first time this season Saturday. “I thought that was the key to the game - to say the least.” Wake Forest has also won two straight after defeating 11th-ranked Duke in double overtime 113-101 along with Notre Dame 84-73 last week and it beat North Carolina 74-57 at home on Feb. 11, giving the Demon Deacons a chance to sweep the season series for the first time since 2003. Junior Olivier Sarr played a big part in the last two wins for Wake Forest as the 7-0 center poured in 25 points against Duke before scoring 30 and hauling in 17 rebounds in the victory over Notre Dame. “He’s coming into his own,” Demon Deacons coach Danny Manning told reporters of Sarr after the latest win. “He’s really starting to hit his comfort zone.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ACC Network

ABOUT WAKE FOREST (13-15, 6-12 ACC): Sarr is second on the team in scoring (13.6, 52 percent from the floor) and the Frenchman leads the way in rebounds (8.8) along with blocks (1.2) after his latest surge. Senior guard Brandon Childress scored 14 to go along with six assists against Notre Dame in his final home game Saturday and leads the team in both categories (15.1 points, 4.6 assists) while draining 5-of-8 from 3-point range the past two games. Junior guard Chaundee Brown is averaging 17.3 points and 8.7 boards over the last three contests to boost his season marks to 12.7 and 6.5, respectively.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA (12-17, 5-13): The Tar Heels will have to shock everyone and win the conference tournament next week to reach the NCAA Tournament for the 10th straight year, but Williams was ecstatic with his team’s performance Saturday. Freshman guard Cole Anthony (team-high 19.7 points per game) led the way by scoring 25 points on 7-of-11 from 3-point range with seven assists and just two turnovers in 36 minutes. Junior forward Garrison Brooks (16.1 points, team-high 8.7 rebounds) is shooting 60.7 percent from the field in four games since going 0-for-5 with seven points in the loss to Wake Forest last month.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Wake Forest senior G Andrien White (9.4 points) scored 15 and grabbed seven rebounds in the earlier win over the Tar Heels.

2. North Carolina senior G Christian Keeling (6.8 points) has combined to score 34 points on 14-of-20 shooting the last two games.

3. The Tar Heels, who could be without freshman F Armando Bacot (ankle), lead the ACC in rebounds per game (42.3) and Wake Forest is fourth (38.3).

PREDICTION: North Carolina 76, Wake Forest 70