Well, it didn’t take long for one of the ACC’s top storylines to disappear. One conference game, to be exact.

That’s all it took for North Carolina to drop from the ranks of the unbeaten.

This much was apparent after UNC’s 85-78 loss to Boston College on Sunday: The 2008-09 Tar Heels didn’t have what it takes to match Duke of 1998-99 (the last team to go undefeated in ACC play), St. Joseph’s of 2003-04 (the last Division I team to finish the regular season undefeated) or Indiana of 1975-76 (the last Division I team to finish an NCAA championship season undefeated).

The Tar Heels were outshot, outworked and outsmarted, all of which led them to be outscored in their own building by a 23-point underdog.

Credit Boston College, which withstood a 13-0 UNC run early in the first half to take a 46-40 lead into halftime. Credit point guard Tyrese Rice, who dominated his highly anticipated matchup against Ty Lawson. And credit BC coach Al Skinner, who had the Eagles so ready to play that they dominated the glass in the first half and committed just 11 turnovers in the game.

But as well as Boston College played, the Tar Heels have only themselves to blame for their current position at the bottom of the ACC standings.

They were careless passing the ball on offense, offsetting 15 assists with 15 turnovers. They were carefree guarding the ball on defense, coming up with only five steals as the Eagles got whatever shots they wanted. And they made just 15 of 27 free throws, another sign of poor focus.

North Carolina looked more like the disinterested team that trailed Kansas 40-12 in last year’s Final Four than the squad that opened this season with 13 consecutive victories by at least 15 points. Given that the Tar Heels were playing at home in their conference opener, that’s disturbing.

But in retrospect, it’s not all that surprising. UNC now has lost to an unranked ACC team at home each of the last four seasons.

Great teams shouldn’t need a wakeup call, especially this early in the season. But with a trip to undefeated Wake Forest scheduled for this weekend, the Tar Heels might want to answer the ringing phone.

Ginyard ailing

As Boston College carved up North Carolina with its flex offense, the Tar Heels could have used big minutes from their defensive stopper. But that wasn’t possible. Senior swingman Marcus Ginyard, one of the best defensive players in the ACC, still is not 100 percent healthy after undergoing surgery on his left foot in October.

Ginyard missed the first 11 games of the season as he recovered from the injury, but he hasn’t looked like himself since he returned to game action. He played just 14 minutes against the Eagles, failing to score or come up with a steal.

“We don’t see him doing the things that we’ve seen him do in the past,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “He’s frustrated by it because he’d like to play better. I’m not frustrated because I know the kid is giving me everything he has.”

Miller nearing return

Georgia Tech received a big lift with its 67-62 win over Georgia on Tuesday night. Another boost could be on the way. Starting point guard Moe Miller, who has been sidelined because of a concussion and a broken nose, has been fitted for a mask and is scheduled to resume practice Thursday.

“When he’ll play again is really up to him,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “He’s been doing some conditioning exercises. He’s a little out of shape, as you can imagine, because he really didn’t do anything for 2½ weeks there. It will be a day-to-day thing once he gets back on the court.”

Miller’s return will relieve primary ball-handling responsibilities from freshman Iman Shumpert, who filled in adequately at the point but shot 3-for-14 with seven turnovers against Georgia. With Shumpert moving back to the wing, Zachery Peacock will be able to return to power forward from small forward.

Rising team: Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons are off to their first 13-0 start since the 1996-97 season, and they got there in memorable fashion. Wake Forest ended the nation’s longest home winning streak at 53 games when it defeated BYU 94-87 on Saturday night, knocking off the Cougars in front of the second-largest crowd (23,096) in the history of the Marriott Center.

Not bad for a team featuring a starting lineup of two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman.

“It was really a tough environment, and it was good for our kids to come out of there in that type of environment and win the game,” Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio said. “I really thought we showed a lot of character.”

Falling team: N.C. State

The Wolfpack played hard in a 68-66 loss at Florida, but they cracked under pressure on the road. N.C. State blew a 10-point halftime lead, and point guard Farnold Degand turned over the ball after failing to execute the play that Coach Sidney Lowe designed for his team’s final possession.

Swingman Courtney Fells has been banged up, and guards Javier Gonzalez and Trevor Ferguson have been out with injuries of their own. N.C. State will have a week to heal before its game at Clemson on Saturday, time off that couldn’t have come at a better time.

Player of the week: Tyrese Rice, G, Boston College

Rice put a scare into North Carolina last season, scoring 46 points in a loss to the Tar Heels. This time his huge individual effort didn’t go to waste. He tallied 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and he provided crucial leadership that helped the Eagles pull the upset.

Rice also was dominant in an 89-76 win over Sacred Heart, totaling 18 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

Freshman of the week: Reggie Jackson, G, Boston College

Jackson scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting against Sacred Heart, but he played even better against North Carolina. He finished with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting against the Tar Heels, making three baskets during BC’s decisive 12-2 run in the second half.

Stats and facts of the week

Duke has not trailed a second in any of its last three games. The last time the Blue Devils found themselves behind was early in the first half against UNC Asheville on Dec. 17.

Each of the last 11 teams to defeat North Carolina has done so by scoring at least 80 points.

North Carolina’s Ty Lawson reached 1,000 career points in the loss to Boston College, joining teammates Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green as a four-digit scorer. This season’s UNC squad is the fourth team in ACC history with four 1,000-point scorers, joining UNC 2005, UNC 2001 and Duke 1986.

N.C. State’s Brandon Costner has grabbed just one rebound in each of the last two games, a span of 66 minutes. Costner totaled 42 rebounds in his previous four games.

Virginia’s Mamadi Diane, who shot 41.4 percent from 3-point range last season, made his second trey of the season Tuesday in a 74-50 win over Brown. Diane is 2-for-25 this season on 3-pointers after starting the season 0-for-21 from behind the arc.

They said it

“For the program, it’s one league win right now. That’s all it is. I think our program has done OK, so it’s not like we haven’t had any success in the past. This is a league win, this is league play. We’ve got 15 more games to go, and it may be no more significant than that. Maybe at the end of the season, maybe it has some significance. But right now — I hope we don’t do this, but if we lose in the next 14, what good is this win? I mean, it’s a win. It’s a win in the league, and it’s a great win for us. Anytime you can win on the road, you have got to be extremely happy, and we are about that.” — Boston College coach Al Skinner after his team’s victory over North Carolina

“That’s what everybody says, and you guys have to have something to write about, but I don’t know what to do about it. I know that every game we’ve played, I haven’t ever considered taking the ball out of bounds and handing it to them 15 straight times or 10 straight times to make it a close game at the end.” — North Carolina coach Roy Williams on whether his team would have benefited from closer nonconference games

*“I think we definitely deserve more teams in the top 25 in the poll. I believe the Big Ten had more teams than we did in the polls last week, and we just had a series with them where we proved we were the better league. Hopefully those things will equal out as times goes on.” — Maryland coach Gary Williams on the lack of national respect for the ACC, the nation’s No. 1 RPI conference

Key upcoming games

January 7
Davidson at Duke
The Blue Devils put their NCAA-best streak of 66 consecutive nonconference home wins on the line against the Wildcats, who feature the nation’s leading scorer in Stephen Curry (29.2 points per game). Duke has won 21 straight games in the series, including a 79-73 victory in Charlotte last season.

January 10
Georgia Tech at Maryland
The Yellow Jackets have a decided advantage inside with Gani Lawal, but the Terrapins have an edge with their perimeter players. The all-time series (Maryland leads 34-33) is almost as close as the teams’ last meeting, an 88-86 win last season in Atlanta.

Miami at Boston College
The Eagles did the hard part, winning on the road against the No. 1 team in the country. The question now is whether they can defend their home court against another upper-echelon conference opponent.

January 11
North Carolina at Wake Forest
The scoreboard might explode in this game, which features two of the nation’s top five teams in scoring. The tempo will be fast, just the way both teams like it, but defense and rebounding likely will determine the winner.

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