When the end result is the desired one, it doesn’t matter how ugly everything else in the game was.

Wake Forest survived some ugly play, including in the final moments, to secure a 67-66 win against North Carolina on Tuesday night at Joel Coliseum.

“It was a great win for us. … we knew what UNC were going to come in and do and they definitely did that,” senior guard Cameron Hildreth said via post-game radio show. “When our offense isn’t always going, things we can control are our defense.”

Hildreth led the Deacons with 20 points, making 10 of 12 free throws. Hunter Sallis’ string of seven games with at least 20 points ended, but Wake’s other senior guard still had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Wake Forest (15-4, 7-1 ACC) surged to the lead with a 12-0 run across more than five minutes of the second half, taking the score from a 39-37 deficit to 49-39 lead.

That span included Wake’s only two 3-pointers of the game — first from Tre’Von Spillers, and then from Ty-Laur Johnson — and featured a couple of Hildreth buckets and one from Sallis.

As important as the points were, the more impressive part might have been holding an explosive UNC team scoreless for nearly six minutes.

“We were really good defensively the whole game,” coach Steve Forbes said via radio interview. “They only got 12 points in transition. It was an incredible effort. … No matter what happens on offense, you’ve gotta get back and play defense.”

The Tar Heels (12-8, 5-3) got back-to-back 3s from RJ Davis — who had a game-high 21 points — and Elliot Cadeau to make it a two-point game, and took a 54-53 lead a couple of minutes later, with 5:21 left, on a Jae’Lyn Withers 3-pointer. UNC missed its first eight 3s of the second half before those three fell.

Spillers scored on a put-back on Wake’s ensuing possession to regain the lead, and then scored again after Wake Forest got a stop to make it a three-point game. The Appalachian State transfer had 12 points and nine rebounds, along with four blocks, while playing nearly the entire game (39 minutes).

That’s a point worth mentioning here: Wake’s starters played the entire second half. Forbes said he liked the way they were playing in the second half and none of them wanted to exit the game.

Spillers’ pair of buckets was the spark of a 12-2 run that gave Wake Forest a 65-56 lead with 1:17 left. Two careless turnovers by Johnson and two missed front-ends of 1-and-1 situations by Sallis afforded the Tar Heels something of a chance to make things tight at the end; Davis made a 3 at the buzzer to give the game its final score.

The first half wasn’t for the faint of heart — unless you’re a fan of fouls, free throws and turnovers.

UNC led 31-29 at the break. The Tar Heels were either slightly better or just less worse than the Deacons; the visitors shot 11-for-31 (35.5%) and had seven turnovers. They were called for 14 fouls, which is how Wake Forest was 13-for-16 at the free-throw line.

That buoyed Wake’s offense, as the Deacons shot 8-for-27 (29.6%) and committed 10 turnovers. Wake Forest didn’t have an assist in the first half, nor did it have a 3-pointer (0-6).

Wake Forest looked discombobulated early, which is how UNC led 16-7 after 6½ minutes.

The Deacons had committed six turnovers by the time they had attempted seven shots (of which, two were made). They were at least mostly equal in turnover distribution — each starter had at least one, and Hildreth had two.

The biggest difference in the first and second halves for Wake Forest, literally and figuratively, was Efton Reid III. The senior center picked up two early fouls and only played four minutes in the first half; he had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in the second half (finishing with 12 points and six rebounds).

TIP-INS: In four previous games against UNC, Hildreth had scored a combined 21 points. … Hildreth didn’t have a turnover after those first two, which were in the game’s first two minutes. … Wake Forest has won its first 10 home games of a season for the fourth straight year. … After going without an assist in the first half, the Deacons had seven of them on 14 field goals in the second half.