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Check back prior to the 2008 season for a preview and a program outlook.

Click here for Carolina baseball analysis.

Off the cuff: What a difference a year makes. Carolina went into Winston-Salem last season and swamped the Deacons by 38 points.

The Deacons and Coach Danny Manning got some revenge, getting out to a good start from which the Heels could never recover.

“I thought that the momentum that we created in the first half gave us a lot of energy and a lot of juice going into halftime,” Manning said.” We shot the ball at a really high clip, made some tough shots, we shared the ball and there was great ball movement.

"In the second half not as much. We struggled from the field so to speak in terms of our shooting percentage and amount of makes. We had some looks that we didn't knock down.

“We knew North Carolina was going to make runs and we knew going into it we wanted to limit their fast break opportunities and their second chance opportunities. We didn't limit their second half opportunities enough and they had 17 offensive rebounds. That's who they are and what they've done for an extremely long time."

Yeah, well, this isn't your typical Carolina team.

Wake Forest 74, Tar Heels 57
Wake drubs uninspired Tar Heels team

Wake Forest built a 20-point lead in the first half against a North Carolina team that seemed defeated from the start as the Deacons cruised to a 74-57 victory in Winston-Salem. (2/11)

Coming off a backbreaking loss to rival Duke, the Tar Heels seemed uninspired and afterwards was embarrassed about the way it lost to Wake Forest, which hadn't beaten Carolina since 2014.

"We just sucked tonight. There is no other way to say it describe it," UNC's Andrew Platek said. "Our effort was terrible. We couldn't get anything going. We just didn't get up tonight. We were awful."

"I felt like our focus really wasn't there as a team. We weren't locked in and focused. We're not good enough to just show up and play... we've got to lock-in."

The Deacons scored on 14 straight possessions in the first half and the Heels could never recover.

Down 44-26 at the half, the Heels didn't make a run until late in the game when they went on a 16-5 run to cut the lead to single digits at 66-57 with 2:37 to play.

Christian Keeling, who along with Cole Anthony, led the Heels with 15 points had a chance to cut the margin to six but his open 3 was well off and Carolina never threatened again.

"Wake Forest had more 'want-to,' more effort, more enthusiasm," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

"We've gotta player harder. We've gotta play smarter."

While not using it as an excuse, Coach Williams pointed to the fact that Garrison Brooks was hampered by scratched cornea that he suffered in the Duke game. "He couldn't see very well so it's hard to be a good basketball player," he said.

Brooks was 0 of 5 from the field and turned the ball over twice.

As a team, the Tar Heels had their worest three-point shooting game of the year, turing in a 1 of 16 effort.

Carolina, now 10-14 overall, had fought hard in losses to top 10 teams Florida State and Duke before losing to the lowly Deacons. The Heels return home to play a 16-7 Virginia team Saturday at 8 p.m.

Box Score

With injuries and foul trouble, Carolina has used sub Walker Miller a lot lately. (UNC Athletic Communications)

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