Wake Forest University
14-8,6-5ACC
NC State
17-5,7-4ACC
Wake Forest Battles, Falls Short in Big Four Test Versus Wolfpack
1/28/2023 4:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Four Demon Deacons once again registered double-figures in scoring.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Hosting a Big Four matchup in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the second time this season, the Wake Forest men's basketball team brought in NC State (17-5, 7-4) on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 28). Both teams went toe-for-toe for the game's entirety before the Demon Deacons narrowly fell, 79-77.
The Deacs (14-8, 6-5) were led by Damari Monsanto in scoring for the sixth time in 2022-23, as the redshirt junior poured in 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting.
Tyree Appleby was tenacious in drawing fouls for Wake Forest, ending with 18 points and making nine of 11 free-throw attempts. The Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) assists leader also handed out a game-high seven dimes.
Andrew Carr fell just short of a double-double, totaling 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Cameron Hildreth was the fourth Deacon to reach double-digits in scoring, posting 12. He also added five boards while fellow sophomore Matthew Marsh contributed eight points and eight rebounds.
The Deacons made the most of their looks at the charity stripe, going 18-for-22 on free-throw attempts (81.8 percent). Additionally, the team tied its season-low in turnovers (six).
Wake Forest hits Tobacco Road for the second of two matchups with the Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday (Jan. 31). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET in Cameron Indoor and the game will air live on ESPN.
Standout Stats
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Wake Forest only had six turnovers in the contest.
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This marked the fifth consecutive game that the team has had less than 10 turnovers.
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Four Deacs registered double-figures in scoring during Saturday afternoon:
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Damari Monsanto – 22 points
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Tyree Appleby – 18 points
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Andrew Carr – 14 points
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Cameron Hildreth – 10 points
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Wake Forest was at its best at the free-throw line, going 18-for-22 on free-throw attempts (81.8 percent).
How It Happened
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Monsanto opened the scoring for Wake Forest with a trip to the charity stripe at the 19:11 mark.
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The redshirt junior connected on the first Demon Deacon field goal of the contest with a catch-and-shoot jumper off an inbound pass from Appleby.
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Appleby gave the Deacs a 7-6 lead following a four-point play with 17:22 remaining in the first half.
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Wake Forest used a 10-2 run to take a 17-16 advantage into the under-12 media timeout.
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Carr and Monsanto recorded back-to-back threes to even the game at 13-13 before Appleby regained the lead with a driving layup at the 10:38 mark.
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Monsanto connected on a long two-point jump shot for his third basket of the game.
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Carr extended the lead to three with a pair of free throws with 8:32 remaining in the half.
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Wake Forest held NC State to 1-of-7 from the floor during the 12-2 run.
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Appleby knocked down a step-back jumper before he picked up his third assist on the next possession with an alley-oop lob to Marsh.
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Klintman intercepted a pass and assisted a Monsanto three-pointer to give Wake Forest a 28-24 lead with 5:26 to go.
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Monsanto and Hildreth led an 8-2 run to extend the lead to eight with 2:17 left in the half.
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The pair went 4-for-4 from the line in addition to back-to-back layups during the run.
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Wake Forest took a 37-31 lead into the locker room.
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Monsanto paced the Deacs with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers.
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Appleby finished the half with 11 points and three assists.
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The Demon Deacons held the Wolfpack to just 1-of-9 from the floor to close out the first half.
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Appleby opened the second half's scoring just 14 seconds in with a short jumper.
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Hildreth extended the Wake Forest lead to 10 with back-to-back baskets before assisting a Marsh slam.
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The Deacs opened the half with four-consecutive made field goals.
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Monsanto recorded his first points of the second half with his third triple of the contest at the 16:23 mark.
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Marsh sent the Decs into the under-16 media timeout with a 50-41 advantage following a second-chance layup.
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Appleby found Carr in-stride for a layup, which the junior forward converted despite the foul and completed the three-point play to make it 53-43 with 13:02 to go.
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Hildreth made consecutive layups, including a reverse layup through traffic, and Williamson knocked down a three-pointer and continued the Deacs' hot start to the second half.
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Wake Forest opened the half 10-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-3 from beyond-the-arc.
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Appleby picked up his sixth assist with another lob to Marsh at the 7:56 mark.
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Carr tied the game at 64-64 with a put-back layup.
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Monsanto reached the 20-point mark with a step-back jumpshot with 3:26 to go.
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Appleby earned his way to the line and went 2-for-2 to cut it to a one-point deficit with 2:10 remaining.
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Monsanto tied the game at the 1:35 mark with a catch-and-shoot jumper off an Appleby inbound pass.
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Wake Forest fell to NC State, 77-79.
Coach's Comments
"31,13, 48 as I look at the box score. 31 points by DJ Burns, it was an unbelievable performance by him. 13 offensive rebounds and 48 points in the second half. Those were the tales of the tape to me of how we lost the game. There were four keys going into the game that we had to do well. We had to do well in transition defense, which we did pretty much the entire game except for the last play in the first half, which is just a really poor play on our part. To go down and really not execute what we were supposed to do offensively, then come down and run away from the guy, they left him wide open for three, that was poor. Our ball screen defense was really good. We changed just over and over because we were trying to help our bigs and today we were in the drop, which means the bigs were way off the screen and our guards had to get over and get back and force tough twos. That way we didn't have to help on the roll. We could be out on the shooters so they couldn't play across the midline like Pitt did and we did a good job on that, but when there's tough twos then there's tough rebounds. You have to get those rebounds and that leads to those offensive rebounds.
The third thing was guarding the post, we knew that coming in. We watched film after film after film on this guy and he can pass. He's a great passer, so they just shot a three one time and we're not doing that. We knew going in we had to guard him and you have to make him go right. You have to make him shoot it over you, body between, and we did a good job of that in the first half. Second half we did not. The fourth thing was rebounds. When they average more than 10 offensive rebounds a game they win, and they got 13. It's a two-point game and those things come back to haunt you.
A lot of credit to DJ, he played well. I've coached against him before when he was at Winthrop, so it wasn't news to me. A big play for us was when we finally just put Damari on him to try to get him to pass it. Damari did and then he threw it out and we should have stolen the ball, but Terquavion made a really tough runner to kind of give them a little breather. After we called a timeout we had good looks, but giving up 48 points in the second half is not a winning play." - head coach Steve Forbes
Upcoming
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Tuesday, January 31 - at Duke - 7 p.m. // ESPN
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Saturday, February 4 - at Notre Dame - 1 p.m. // Regional Bally Sports Networks
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Tuesday, Feb. 7 - vs North Carolina - 7 p.m. // ESPN/ESPN2
