Wake Forest University
William & Mary
Demon Deacons Top William & Mary 77-59 in Season Opener
11/10/2021 10:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Wake Forest’s stifling defense forced the Tribe to commit a turnover on 36% of their first half possessions and the Deacs tallied 17 points off those William & Mary miscues to create a sizable first-half lead.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Four Demon Deacons scored in double figures as the Wake Forest men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season with a resounding 77-59 victory over William & Mary on Wednesday night.
The Demon Deacons (1-0) never trailed the Tribe (0-1) and their defense led the way as Wake Forest forced 21 turnovers, including 14 steals and eight blocked shots, and limited its opponent to shooting just 38.6 percent from the floor.
Behind a balanced offensive attack, guard Alondes Williams led the Deacs in scoring with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. The Milwaukee native also tallied three assists and three steals in his Demon Deacon debut. His scoring output was the highest for a Wake Forest newcomer in their debut since 2010.
Meanwhile, junior forward Jake LaRavia scored an efficient 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also grabbed four steals, which marked the highest total since Jeff Teague recorded four steals in 2007.
Defensively, graduate transfer center Dallas Walton made his presence felt on Opening Night with four blocked shots. Those rejections mark the highest total by any Demon Deacon in their debut in the 21st century.
Daivien Williamson and Cameron Hildreth also scored in double figures, with 10 a piece.
Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes remains perfect in season openers, advancing to 7-0 in his Division I head coaching career.
How It Happened
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Alondes Williams opened up scoring for the Deacs with a transition layup 40 seconds into the contest.
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Jake LaRavia knocked down his first three-pointer of the evening and slammed home a dunk in transition moments later to wrap up a 9-0 run that gave Wake Forest an early 11-2 lead going into the under-16 timeout.
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The Demon Deacons forced five Tribe turnovers during the opening five minutes of the game.
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Cameron Hildreth scored his first points as a Demon Deacon on a layup, kicking off a 7-0 run that included a layup from LaRavia and a 3-pointer from Carter Whitt.
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That run gave Wake Forest an 18-4 lead with 12:48 remaining in the first half.
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Khadim Sy and Daivien Williamson responded to a William & Mary triple with back-to-back triples of their own.
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Those three's began a 14-0 run that featured a pair of layups from Hildreth, dunk from LaRavia and a transition layup from Williams.
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The run gave Wake Forest a 34-9 advantage with 6:02 remaining in the first half.
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Wake Forest entered intermission leading William & Mary 46-18. The 28-point lead represented the 15th-largest halftime lead in program history.
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The Demon Deacons forced 14 Tribe turnovers in the first half and held them to just 7-of-29 shooting from the field (24.1 percent).
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Wake Forest shot an efficient 61% from the field in the first half as five Deacs scored seven or more points.
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Williams kicked off the second-half scoring by converting a 3-point opportunity at the stripe after finishing a transition layup to give Wake Forest a 49-20 lead 45 seconds into the second half.
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Isaiah Mucius found the back of the net with his first made 3-pointer of the season to push Wake Forest's lead to 28 (52-24) with 18:16 left to play.
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Dallas Walton made consecutive baskets in the paint to give Wake Forest a 30-point lead (66-36) with 9:53 left to play, which turned out to be the largest lead of the game.
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After William & Mary cut the deficit down to 19 (70-51), Williams generated his own offense grabbing his third steal of the contest and finished at the rim.
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Wake Forest went on to defeat William & Mary, 77-59.
Stat of the Game
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Jake LaRavia and Dallas Walton had spectacular debut performances on the defensive side of the ball.
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LaRavia tallied four steals, coming one shy of tying Jeff Teague's five steals during his debut performance on November 9, 2007.
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Walton blocked four shots, the most by any Demon Deacon in their debut during the 21st century.
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In total, Wake Forest blocked eight shots, its most in regulation since the Demon Deacons blocked nine shots against North Carolina on January 11, 2017.
Key Moment
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With less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Wake Forest embarked on a massive 20-4 run to push its lead to 27 (40-13) prior to the under-4 media timeout (3:35).
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While Wake Forest converted 9-of-11 shot attempts during that span, the Demon Deacons defense forced five turnovers and held the Tribe to 3-of-8 shooting from the field.
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Coach's Comments
"We played a great first half, but I was not very happy about the second half. Carter (Whitt) did a good job in the first half and gave us a spark that helped extend the lead. All in all, we shared the ball and did a good job. In the second half, the ball stuck and we tried to play too much isolation and we did not take advantage of our size. We did not move the ball and we were just all over the place and not locked in. That's not a sign of a mature team that plays to a certain standard, so we will learn from it and move on. That was a well-coached and tough William & Mary team that would not go away and outscored us in the second half." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will be back inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 12 for a matchup against Western Carolina. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will stream live on ACC Network Extra.
