Wake Forest wins showdown with North Carolina

Thanks to Chris Paul and Taron Downey, No. 4 Wake Forest made the most of its only regular season meeting with No. 3 North Carolina.

Paul dominated his point guard matchup with Raymond Felton, Downey had a season-high 18 points and the fourth-ranked Demon Deacons ran away from the third-ranked Tar Heels 95-82 Saturday at home in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wake Forest (15-1, 4-0) set an Atlantic Coast Conference record by making all 32 free throws -- falling two short of tying the NCAA mark -- with Paul finishing 9-for-9. The 6-foot sophomore finished with 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds to overshadow Felton, who shot only 5-for-18 and had 16 points.

Downey, a senior, gave his team an unexpected boost by making three consecutive 3-pointers during a 90-second stretch of the first half to give the Deacons their first lead at 14-13, and the score was tied only once after that.

The Tar Heels (14-2, 3-1), who lost for the first time since their opener at Santa Clara, struggled throughout with foul trouble. Jackie Manuel, Marvin Williams (15 points) and David Noel all fouled out, and Rashad McCants (19 points) had four.

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