Davis, Bacot combine for 48; UNC beats Wake Forest 88-79

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Leaky Black finishes off career-high night with big jam

Leaky Black rocks the rim with slam dunk

Jan 5, 2023, 04:42 am

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- — RJ Davis scored 22 of hit 27 points in the second half and Armando Bacot had 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists to help North Carolina beat Wake Forest 88-79 Wednesday night in a back-and-forth game that featured nine ties and 20 lead changes.

Davis made 9 of 14 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range and Bacot was 7-of-11 shooting and hit 7 of 10 from the free-throw line.

Seth Trimble made a layup to give North Carolina (10-5, 2-2 ACC) the lead for good, 65-64, with 8:55 to play. Bacot followed with a fast-break dunk then stole a pass and hit Davis for a 3-pointer to spark a 12-3 run that gave the Tar Heels an eight-point lead when Caleb Love hit a 3-pointer with 6:41 to play that capped the spurt.

Damari Monsanto led Wake Forest (10-5, 2-2) with 17 points, Andrew Carr had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Tyree Appleby also scored 16 points and had nine assists.

Play was paused shortly midway through the second half as a fan a few rows up from the court received medical attention. Emergency medical technicians eventually wheeled the fan — who was sitting up and talking — from the building and the game resumed less than 10 minutes later.

Leaky Black made 6 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 5 from behind the arc, and finished with 16 points for UNC. Trimble, a 6-foot-3 freshman who went into the game with 34 points this season, added a career-high 11 on 4-of-4 shooting.

UP NEXT

Wake Forest remains on the road to take on Louisville on Saturday.

North Carolina plays the second of back-to-back home games Saturday against Notre Dame.

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