WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- North Carolina is going to have to find various ways to win and the No. 11 Tar Heels achieved that in somewhat scary fashion Wednesday night.

Justin Jackson scored 19 points as North Carolina survived a big comeback from Wake Forest to claim a 93-87 victory at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

"You need to win games in different ways," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "I think our guys kept battling, but I was extremely disappointed in our defense the second half."

Three days after a 51-point victory against North Carolina State, another in-state rival didn't go away when Wake Forest cut a 19-point deficit to one point in the second half.

Joel Berry's 18 points and Kennedy Meeks' 18 points and 11 rebounds were also huge for the Tar Heels. Isaiah Hicks added 16 points, including two clutch free throws in a 1-and-1 situation with 31 seconds to play, and Kenny Williams had 10 points for North Carolina (15-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which has won three games in a row.

"It's good to win, but I'd like us to play better," Williams said. "They got more aggressive and attacked us harder in the second half. Wake Forest made us play poorly at times."

Bryant Crawford scored 22 points before fouling out with 41 seconds left for Wake Forest (10-7, 1-4).

Freshman Brandon Childress scored all 16 of his season-high 16 points in the second half, while Dinos Mitoglou's 13 points and Mitch Wilbekin's 11 points helped the Demon Deacons.

After falling into a 19-point hole early in the second half, the Demon Deacons closed the gap to 57-47 with more than 16 minutes remaining. It was 64-59 with 12:24 left and then 66-65 at the 9:41 mark.

"We're doing OK, we just have to finish better," said Wake Forest coach Danny Manning, whose team was even with Virginia on Sunday before faltering down the stretch.

North Carolina responded with a tip-in from Meeks and a 3-pointer from Berry before baskets from Hicks and Meeks.

"Joel Berry's 3 from the top of the key was a big play," Williams said. "We were standing around wondering what we should be doing and he hit a big shot for us."

But after the Tar Heels rebuilt their lead to 78-69, the Demon Deacons recovered and pulled within 80-78 after Childress scored six points in a row.

Jackson's 3-pointer with 1:00 to play pushed the Tar Heels to an 87-81 edge.

"It felt good when it came out of my hands," Jackson said. "A lot of that goes to the guys screening for me."

Wake Forest threatened to pull an upset despite minimal contributions from scoring and rebounding leader John Collins, who finished with six points and three rebounds.

"They told me to just play," Childress said of his contributions. "I knew they trusted me."

Crawford shot 7-for-10 from the field, but didn't attempt a shot from the field in the last 10 minutes.

North Carolina, which began its winning streak with an overtime triumph at Clemson, scored the last five points of the first half to build a 49-34 lead.

Wake Forest scored the game's first eight points, but North Carolina followed that with a 15-3 run.

Collins picked up his second foul with 11:55 remaining in the first half and then his third foul eight seconds into the second half.

Crawford, who scored 11 points in the first 12 minutes, was tagged with his second foul at the half's 7:51 mark.

The Tar Heels stretched their edge to 34-24 for their first double-digit lead with five minutes left in the half.

North Carolina freshman center Tony Bradley didn't return after departing with 3:39 to go in the first half with concussion-like symptoms. He was fouled in the lane and his head appeared to strike the court hard as he fell.

NOTES: North Carolina leads the series with Wake Forest by 159-66, marking the most wins against any opponent for the Tar Heels, who've won four in a row in the series. ... North Carolina G Theo Pinson played in his second game since returning from a preseason broken foot. Two years ago, as a freshman, he suffered a broken foot during a game at Wake Forest. ... Wake Forest has lost its last nine home games against nationally ranked opponents. ... North Carolina has a showdown with No. 9 Florida State on Saturday at home. ... Wake Forest is off for a week before Miami visits next Wednesday night.