CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina forward Armando Bacot had some simple advice and an altogether uncomplicated message for teammate Caleb Love during one of their recent conversations, as he sought to help pull the highly touted freshman point guard out of the slump that has plagued his season.
Just be yourself.
Love looked capable Wednesday night of fulfilling the promise that has been expected of him, while pumping in a season-best 20 points as the Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest 80-73 in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball at the all but empty Smith Center.
“I was telling him to just play his game and just be him,” Bacot said after the game, recounting their talk. “Be that guy he was coming in and the guy he was all summer, and he took it well.
“He can score the ball, assist it. He’s fast, physical, all that stuff. I’m glad he got to show that and I hope he can springboard on to the rest of the season, and he can really turn it around.”
With Love perhaps shedding his prolonged struggles and delivering a possible breakout performance, North Carolina (9-5 overall, 4-3 ACC) picked up its fourth victory in the last five games. His pair of big dunks during the final 2½ minutes served as exclamation points, helping the Tar Heels cap an assertive second half that subdued the visiting Demon Deacons (3-6, 0-6).
Bacot supplied 18 points, RJ Davis added 13 points, Garrison Brooks chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds, and Leaky Black had eight points and eight assists for North Carolina, which is scheduled to face another in-state rival here Saturday afternoon in the form of North Carolina State.
The Tar Heels scored 49 points in the second half against Wake Forest, their best output during a half in an ACC game this season. They connected on 54.8-percent shooting from the field in the second half, and registered 12 of their 18 assists.
“I feel like we just played harder,” Black said. “The talent’s there, everything’s there, we have all the horses. But it doesn’t mean anything if we’re not playing hard, playing with a motor.”
Love, the five-star prospect and top-rated recruit among North Carolina’s celebrated six-player freshman class, has been viewed as the high-powered engine that could drive the team into ACC contention and national relevance.
But he has been best by turnover problems and poor shooting, and in some ways has become a prime example for those observers who consider the Tar Heels to be lagging behind their potential.
Coach Roy Williams said he’s seeing signs of step-by-step progress from Love. Across the course of this season, Williams repeatedly has said the freshman guard’s confidence has been too dependent on whether he’s connecting on shots and scoring, which has been an issue.
Love entered Wednesday night shooting just 27.9 percent from the field, worst on North Carolina’s team among the 12 players who have made at least one bucket this season. Before hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 11 points last weekend at Florida State, Love languished through a six-game stretch of 15-for-64 shooting from the field (23.4 percent).
“I do think he’s getting better,” Williams said. “I told him yesterday or the day before, we had a little meeting and I told him that I think he’s getting better a little bit each and every day. And we’ve just got to keep getting him some opportunities.”
Love went 7-for-12 from the field, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range, against Wake Forest, marking his first time shooting better than 45 percent in a game this season.
Later, about an hour after the Tar Heels completed their defeat of the Demon Deacons, Love returned to the Smith Center floor for extra shooting work, with a team manager rebounding and passing to him. It was a postgame scene that’s becoming routine. Love did the same thing here after last week’s victory against visiting Syracuse.
“I’m always in the gym, I’m always working on my shot,” Love said, “and I think it was more mental with me, more than just ability. Because in my opinion I know I can shoot, my teammates know I can shoot, my coaches know I can shoot. It was just all about mental and getting out of that slump.”
Isaiah Mucius and Daivien Williamson poured in 27 points apiece, both juniors piling up career nights for the Demon Deacons, who remained in search of their first ACC victory under first-year coach Steve Forbes.
Mucius arrived just 4-for-24 on the season from beyond the 3-point arc, yet erupted for seven successful 3s against North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Love provided nine points during the game’s final 6:17, after Wake Forest pulled within 60-57 of the Tar Heels’ lead. The 6-foot-4 guard grabbed an offensive rebound of his own miss in traffic and muscled in a put-back entangled between the 6-8 Mucius and 6-10 Emmanuel Okpomo of the Demon Deacons, on the way to a three-point play that moved North Carolina ahead 67-59.
During the last 2½ minutes, Love, racing in the open court, took off for two dunks that upped North Carolina’s lead to 79-67.
“I thought Love made some really timely shots when they needed it,” Forbes said.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Caleb Love’s progress, potential breakthrough effort power UNC past Wake Forest
