The Deacons, despite shooting a miserable 30 percent from the floor, trailed only 44-37 after Chase Fischer's jumper from the right corner with 10:58 remaining. The Tar Heels answered with a 16-1 run to clog the aisles with fans exiting the arena.
"In the second half, we cut it to seven points, and I thought we were going to make a run right there," junior C.J. Harris of the Deacons said. "But we went through another dry spell and made a couple of mistakes.
"And you can't do that against a team like North Carolina."
The Tar Heels, led by Tyler Zeller's 18 points, career-high 18 rebounds and three blocked shots, improved to 19-3 and 6-1 in the ACC with their fourth straight win and 13th in the past 14.
The Deacons (11-11, 2-6) lost for the sixth time in the past seven games.
North Carolina shot a season-low 31 percent, but compensated by outrebounding the Deacons 55-40, scoring 20 points off 22 offensive rebounds and committing a season-low six turnovers.
The shooting percentage was the lowest by the Tar Heels in a victory since Roy Williams' first season as coach. North Carolina shot 30.4 percent against Akron in a 64-53 win on Dec. 14, 2003.
"Do you guys smell something burning?" Williams asked the assembled media afterward. "I know it's not the nets.
"It was an ugly game, and sometimes you have to win ugly to have a great year."
John Henson, like most of his North Carolina teammates, struggled with his touch, making only six field goals on 16 attempts, but he still delivered 14 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and two steals. Harrison Barnes, the ACC's second-leading scorer, sprained his ankle in the first half and had to go to the locker room, but returned to play 15 minutes in the second half. He finished with four field goals on 12 attempts for 13 points.
"Harrison sprained his ankle and said he could play," Williams said. "They thought he could play, the trainer thought he could play. We tried to play him instead of letting him sit over there and get it stiff.
"He'll get a couple of days off now and hopefully will be ready to play on the weekend (at Maryland on Saturday)."
And point guard Kendall Marshall, in 35 minutes, scored a season-high 14 points to go with six assists, three steals and only one turnover.
Harris weathered a strong defensive effort by Reggie Bullock to make eight of eight free throws to lead the Deacons with 19 points, but no teammate scored more than eight.
Travis McKie, who entered the game averaging 16.3 points, made only two of 11 shots from the floor for eight points.
The Deacons still made a charge at North Carolina early in the second half, scoring on five of seven possessions over one stretch to pare a 12-point halftime deficit to seven. But after Fischer's basket cut it to 44-37, Wake Forest scored on just two of its next 11 possessions and was never again in the game.
"We had some looks," coach Jeff Bzdelik of Wake Forest said. "You know you've got to keep scoring. You've got to score the ball. You've got to score points.
"Again, you go back and watch the film, we had shots around the rim and we had some open shots. You've got to make them. You've got to finish plays."
The Deacons had one productive stretch in the first half, sparked by a flagrant intentional called against Henson. Ty Walker, who was fouled by Henson, hit both free throws, Nikita Merscheriakov hit a hook and Tony Chennault drilled a 3-pointer for a 7-0 run that tied the game at 17 with 8½ minutes left in the half.
The Tar Heels answered with an 11-2 surge to regain control. Barnes nailed a 3-pointer from the right corner with 48 seconds remaining for a 36-24 halftime lead.
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