hort of any championships that don't appear to be in the near future, the Wake Forest Deacons will attempt to accomplish the next best thing tonight at Joel Coliseum.
They'll attempt to beat fifth-ranked North Carolina, the team many among their fan base would love to beat above all others.
Tipoff is set for 9 o'clock (ESPNU, Ch. 502).
Coach Jeff Bzdelik of Wake Forest said that ideally, his team would approach every game with the same commitment and intensity. But he recognizes the level of emotion invested in such a rivalry game and what an upset would mean to his rebuilding efforts.
UNC, 18-3 overall and 5-1 in the ACC, won 93-81 at home on Sunday against Georgia Tech. Wake Forest (11-10, 2-5) lost 71-60 at Clemson on Saturday.
"It is part of it, and I get it,'' Bzdelik said. "I'm juiced up. I am. And I'm doing everything I can to get my young players to understand that too.
"Trust me. I'm juiced up, fired up and ready to go''
Junior C.J. Harris of the Deacons grew up in Winston-Salem dreaming of playing ACC basketball. He said he never lived and died with the fortunes of the Tar Heels but that he has countless friends and acquaintances who do.
He also recognizes the significance of the rivalry on campus.
"To get a big win like this, a top-10 team in the nation, does a lot for the morale at our school,'' Harris said. "It just gives everybody confidence, and it makes people happy.
"At the end of the day, it comes down to more than a game, in the sense of people went to Carolina, people went to Wake, they have stuff to talk about and memories to look back on from this game.''
UNC has responded to a 90-57 debacle at Florida State on Jan. 14 with three straight victories against Virginia Tech (82-68), N.C. State (74-55) and Georgia Tech. Not even the loss of starting guard Dexter Strickland to a torn knee ligament against the Hokies has knocked them off stride, as Reggie Bullock has moved seamlessly into the lineup.
Bullock, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Kinston who missed much of his freshman season with a knee injury, has made 8 of 16 shots from the floor and 6 of 11 from 3-point range and is averaging 11 points and 4.5 rebounds in his two starts.
"Reggie has really been playing fairly consistently for us all year long,'' coach Roy Williams of the Tar Heels said. "He had a couple of games where the shots just didn't go in, but his effort defensively and his work on the backboards is what has been able to keep him in the game even when his shot wasn't going in. And I told him that.
"I wanted to encourage him to keep playing and not just judge his worth on whether or not a shot went it. I think he bought into that and continued to work on the defensive end and continued to do some things for us on the backboards. Now, I think he's been more productive because of those time periods earlier and getting more minutes.''
Few college teams match up well with the Tar Heels because of their front line of 7-0 senior Tyler Zeller, 6-11 junior John Henson and 6-8 sophomore Harrison Barnes — with 6-9 freshman James Michael McAdoo coming off the bench. But the Deacons have a better shot with the return of Ty Walker from a concussion that knocked him out of the second half of last week's home loss to FSU.
Walker, a 7-0 senior from Wilmington, leads the ACC with 4.1 blocked shots a game.
"Obviously Ty is like one of their bigs — long and athletic,'' Bzdelik said. "Length covers up for a lot of mistakes.
"Ty erases a lot of our mistakes, and he is a factor in there because he is gifted with his ability to block shots and protect the rim. So obviously we need to be as strong as possible going against one of the nation's elite teams — no question.''
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