Shock, anger, disappointment and disbelief filled North Carolina's locker room last night after a 92-89 loss to Wake Forest in Joel Coliseum.
UNC dropped to 0-2 in the ACC for the first time since the 1997 season, Dean Smith's last in Chapel Hill as coach. Danny Green has experienced many highs and lows in his four seasons at UNC, and occupying the ACC cellar has not been one of them.
The conference standings, after eight weeks atop the national polls, is a first Green would rather have avoided, but UNC could not handle Jeff Teague, could not hit shots after halftime until it was too late, and could not get Tyler Hansbrough, its All-America center, going against Wake Forest's tough defense.
"Am I shocked? I think everybody's shocked," Green said. "I think everybody's shocked that we lost one game. Of course I'm upset. I hate to lose. Everybody on this team hates to lose."
Hansbrough scored 17 points. He generated 11 on free throws. He was 3 of 12 from the field.
Nothing is coming easily or flowing smoothly for Hansbrough this season, and he is stunned that his senior season has started off with two ACC losses.
"We're just frustrated," Hansbrough said. "Obviously we're mad right now about some things but I think (after) these next practices we'll look forward to playing again."
Hansbrough said that his anger and the team's stem from losing games that they thought they could have won with better play.
"It's frustrating; we'd much rather win these games," Hansbrough said. "There's going to be some learning things for us. We'll go from there."
UNC's struggles were apparent early. Deon Thompson's shooting was off and he had trouble inside against Wake Forest's big men. He also got into foul trouble in the first half, drawing his third and sitting out the last 4:35 before halftime.
Nobody could handle Teague, who scored 34 points doing exactly what Coach Roy Williams said that he would. He drove to the basket, often moving past UNC defenders with ease to score or set up teammates for baskets. Marcus Ginyard, UNC's best defender, didn't dress for the game in a decision by Williams to rest him and help recover from foot surgery.
Even Hansbrough, a bull of player, had difficulty getting what he wanted. Establishing position low was difficult against Chas McFarland and Al-Farouq Aminu. Tony Woods also helped off the Wake Forest bench.
Hansbrough was surrounded by two players and sometimes three on shots. Arms were raised, and hands were waved in his face. Hansbrough had to work extra hard for any shot he could attempt.
"They swarmed me," Hansbrough said. "They played physical. There were bumps here and there. That's the way the game's played sometimes. If they want to play that way, then I'll play. I'll try to play my game."
UNC fought back from nine points down in the first half to force a 44-44 deadlock at halftime. Williams set a play for Ellington, his best 3-point shooter, to start the second half but Ellington's long-range shot missed.
The misfire was an indication of how UNC's second half was going to go. UNC missed 18 of its first 22 shots. It stayed close by making free throws. Wake Forest countered every UNC stab at the lead and carried a 79-72 advantage into the final 4:57.
"Their guards are really aggressive," Green said. "They were attackers. They kept attacking the basket and getting us in foul trouble. It kind of set the tone a little bit. It's hard for us to keep playing defense aggressively when we're in foul trouble."
UNC has three days to get ready for its next ACC game, at Virginia on Thursday night. Williams' sixth UNC team will try to duplicate the feat of Smith's last one, which overcame losing its first three games in the conference by winning 11 of its last 13 ACC games, capturing the conference tournament title and reaching the NCAA Final Four.
"I'm stunned; I'm a competitor and I love to win," Ty Lawson, UNC's point guard, said. "It's hurting right now. This was a tough game we were all up for and we still lost it. We've got to change something."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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