No. 8 North Carolina on the rebound at Wake Forest

The concerns have been rather different for No. 8 North Carolina and Wake Forest after games earlier this week.

The Tar Heels are fussing about their inability to execute at times late in games. Wake Forest is trying to keep games close against most nationally ranked foes.

North Carolina makes the trip for its first road game after a three-game homestand when the teams meet Saturday afternoon in Winston Salem, N.C.

"We got to get better," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "I got to do a better job coaching late-game situations."

Williams was bemoaning the shortcomings that were exposed in Monday night's 69-61 loss to fourth-ranked Virginia, which snapped the Tar Heels' seven-game winning streak.

North Carolina forward Garrison Brooks said the Tar Heels (19-5, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) were out of sync when it mattered most.

"We struggled with late clock management," Brooks said. "Our time management wasn't that good. We didn't execute late in the game."

That might have accounted for the Tar Heels' season-low point total.

Still, North Carolina enters the weekend just a game behind first-place Duke in the ACC standings. Those teams meet for the first time Wednesday night, in Durham.

Even with the loss to Virginia, North Carolina holds its best 11-game mark in ACC play in eight years.

Wake Forest (9-14, 2-9) was a blowout victim Wednesday night at No. 17 Florida State.

Other than an upset of North Carolina State, the Demon Deacons haven't finished closer than 16 points in any of the other six games against nationally ranked opponents this season.

The 88-66 loss to Florida State came when the Demon Deacons were without a solid response.

"There was a stretch in the second half where they got out and reeled off a few points really quickly," Wake Forest coach Danny Manning said. "We need to do a better job of handling the ball and then getting back in transition defense. During that run, we didn't get back the way we needed to."

Florida State held a 43-27 rebounding advantage. It marked the first time in ACC play that the Demon Deacons failed to secure at least 10 offensive rebounds. They were limited to six despite missing 35 shots from the field.

"We have to do a better job on the backboard," Manning said.

Wake Forest gave up 12 offensive rebounds to the Seminoles. That's a bad omen given that North Carolina is one of the country's top rebounding teams, and that the Tar Heels collected 18 boards at the offensive end against Virginia.

Freshman guard Coby White has led North Carolina in scoring eight times this season, including in the past two games.

North Carolina has some physical wounds to heal as well. Cameron Johnson missed time down the stretch and was hobbling at times in the Virginia game, although Williams said Friday he expects Johnson to be available. Plus, forward Nassir Little didn't return after exiting with a first-half sprained ankle. Williams said he was unsure if Little would be able to play Saturday.

Wake Forest had graduate transfer guard Torry Johnson back in action after a four-game absence with a shoulder injury. He played 23 minutes with five points off the bench at Florida State.

--Field Level Media