Friday, November 17
Charleston, S.C.
7 P.M.
Wake Forest University
2-2,0-0ACC
71
vs
61
Towson
2-3,0-0CAA
1
2
F
Towson
33
28
61
Wake Forest
35
36
71
Wake Forest Defeats Towson in Second Game of Charleston Classic
11/17/2023 10:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kevin Miller and Hunter Sallis each had career scoring nights in the win.
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Behind a 15-3 run over the final five minutes of the game, the Wake Forest men's basketball team (2-2) earned a 71-61 victory over the Towson Tigers (2-3) Friday night (Nov. 17) in the second game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic.
The Demon Deacons were led by sophomore guard Kevin Miller, who tied a career high with 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting (64.7 percent) in addition to three assists and team highs in steals (3) and plus/minus (+22) in 33 minutes of action. It marked the second time this season the Chicago native recorded 20 or more points.
For the second consecutive night, junior guard Hunter Sallis set a new career high in points, as the Omaha native finished the contest with 24 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting (66.7 percent), including a 4-of-6 (66.7 percent) clip from beyond the arc. Sallis now leads the team in points per-game with 19.0 through the first four games of the season.
Senior forward Andrew Carr edged closer to the 500-career rebound mark (453), as he hauled in a team-high eight boards. The West Chester, Pa. native also recorded multiple blocks (2) for the fourth-consecutive game to open the season. He leads the team in rebounds (28) and blocks (10) this season. Of note, he entered the contest second in the ACC in blocks per game.
The Demon Deacons finished the contest 26-of-53 (49.1 percent) from the field, including an 8-for-20 (40.0 percent) clip from beyond the arc. Additionally, the Deacs limited themselves to just five turnovers against the Tigers, the lowest mark in the Steve Forbes era.
Defensively, Wake Forest held Towson to just 23-of-63 (36.5 percent) shooting from the floor and 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from three. Towson's two three-pointers made is tied for the fewest allowed by the Deacs in the Forbes era.
The Deacs' final game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic will be Sunday, Nov. 19, against LSU at 3:00 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN2.
How It Happened
"I am really proud of our team, that was a really gritty win. They're a very physical, well-coached team. Towson plays kind of like a mid-major Houston. Sometimes their best offense is to miss and go get it. They do a great job of wedging underneath the basket, the guards flew in there and kept a lot of balls alive. During 10 of the last 11 possessions we got stops, so we won the game playing defense. We got two kills back-to-back at the 4:49 mark, that was really important. They made two threes for the game. Towson had to beat us two by two which is hard.
We had six kills for the game. Our first shot defense was really good, we just couldn't get the ball. We executed really well on offense. Early on they were blitzing us and trapping our ball screens but we got them out of that. We were attacking them with the pocket pass and quick pass across. Then they changed their coverage. Towson went 1-3-1 and we banged a three right away in that, which we didn't do a good job of last night. We really executed well tonight. We only turned it over five times and they were physical. Hunter and Boopie both had really good games.
We needed that win. Andrew didn't have a great offensive game, but he was worn out from having to battle down there. Zach did a good job and Marqus had some good moments. It was a team win and I knew it was going to be a hard game. I watched them the other day against Houston. I was like 'holy mackerel, they play a lot like we do.' I have a lot of respect for Pat and his program and it was a good win for us." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
The Deacs' final game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic will be Sunday, Nov. 19, against LSU at 3:00 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN2.
The Demon Deacons were led by sophomore guard Kevin Miller, who tied a career high with 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting (64.7 percent) in addition to three assists and team highs in steals (3) and plus/minus (+22) in 33 minutes of action. It marked the second time this season the Chicago native recorded 20 or more points.
For the second consecutive night, junior guard Hunter Sallis set a new career high in points, as the Omaha native finished the contest with 24 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting (66.7 percent), including a 4-of-6 (66.7 percent) clip from beyond the arc. Sallis now leads the team in points per-game with 19.0 through the first four games of the season.
Senior forward Andrew Carr edged closer to the 500-career rebound mark (453), as he hauled in a team-high eight boards. The West Chester, Pa. native also recorded multiple blocks (2) for the fourth-consecutive game to open the season. He leads the team in rebounds (28) and blocks (10) this season. Of note, he entered the contest second in the ACC in blocks per game.
The Demon Deacons finished the contest 26-of-53 (49.1 percent) from the field, including an 8-for-20 (40.0 percent) clip from beyond the arc. Additionally, the Deacs limited themselves to just five turnovers against the Tigers, the lowest mark in the Steve Forbes era.
Defensively, Wake Forest held Towson to just 23-of-63 (36.5 percent) shooting from the floor and 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from three. Towson's two three-pointers made is tied for the fewest allowed by the Deacs in the Forbes era.
The Deacs' final game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic will be Sunday, Nov. 19, against LSU at 3:00 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN2.
How It Happened
- Sallis gave the Deacs an early 3-0 lead with a three-pointer to open up the scoring at the 19:22 mark.
- Hildreth followed two possessions later with a eurostep jumper to keep the early lead, 5-4.
- Carr put the Deacs back out in front with a three from the top of the key at the 15:58 mark, 9-8.
- A turnaround jumper from Miller continued the back-and-forth for the sixth lead change ahead of the first media timeout, 11-10.
- A run by the Tigers forced a Wake timeout at 12:20.
- The Deacs' scoring drought was ended by a driving layup from Hildreth to cut Wake's deficit to five, 18-13, with 11:38 to go in the half.
- Miller got the Deacs within three with a jumper after three consecutive defensive stops for Wake.
- A crafty drive from Hildreth kept Wake within three on the following possession.
- A three-pointer from Hildreth got the Deacs within two, 22-20, with seven minutes to go in the half.
- Two from Carr at the free throw line tied it at 22 with six minutes to go in the first half.
- Miller kept it tied at 24 on the next possession with a driving layup.
- The Demon Deacons' defense held the Tigers to zero field goals over four-plus minutes of play, with their only point from points 23 to 26 coming off free throws.
- Friedrichsen's first three of the game got the Deacs within one, 27-28, with 3:26 to go in the half.
- After two defensive stops in a row, Wake took the lead with a three-pointer from Sallis, 30-28, and forced a Towson timeout.
- Sallis continued the scoring with another three on the next possession for the 33-28 lead with 1:30 to go in the half.
- Wake Forest went into the half with the 35-33 lead.
- Hildreth and Sallis led the Deacs with nine points a piece.
- Carr led the team on the boards in the first half with three rebounds.
- Wake started the second half with a three-pointer from Keller on the first offensive possession for the 38-34 lead.
- A driving layup from Miller kept the Deacs up by two scores, 40-36, with 18 minutes to go in the game.
- After a scoring drought on both sides, a contested three-pointer from Sallis and layup from Miller kept the Deacs up, 45-38, with 15 minutes to play.
- Sallis continued the offensive momentum with a contested jumper out of the media timeout.
- Another contested jumper, this time from Miller, kept the Deacs up by five, 49-44, with 12:08 to play.
- Sallis sparked a fuse with a steal and coast-to-coast dunk to give Wake its largest lead of the contest, 51-44.
- After a short Towson run, Sallis maintained Wake's lead with a jumper to stay up, 53-30, with under nine minutes to play.
- With 6:48 left to play, Towson tied it at 54.
- Back-to-back jumpers from Sallis and Miller tied it at 58 with less than five minutes to play.
- A steal and layup from Miller gave the Deacs the 60-58 lead with under three minutes to go.
- The Wake Forest defense held Towson to zero field goals for over two minutes down the stretch.
- On the very next possession, Miller drained a contested layup to give Wake the four-point lead and force a Towson timeout with 2:14 to go.
- Two more points from Miller gave the Deacs the six-point lead with 1:35 to go.
- During the run, Keller had two defensive stops to keep Towson without a bucket for four minutes.
- Two free throws from Sallis put the Deacs up eight with 1:10 remaining.
- Another defensive stop kept the Tigers without a bucket for over four minutes while the Deacs went on a 15-3 run.
- Wake Forest defeated Towson, 71-61.
- The Demon Deacons have had at least one player with 20-or-more points in each of the first four games this season.
- Cameron Hildreth - 33 points vs. Elon (11/6)
- Andrew Carr - 24 points vs. Elon (11/6)
- Kevin Miller - 22 points vs. Georgia (11/10)
- Hunter Sallis - 20 points vs. Utah (11/16)
- Hunter Sallis - 24 points vs. Towson (11/17)
- Kevin Miller - 25 points vs. Towson (11/17)
- Wake Forest limited itself to just five turnovers against the Tigers, the fewest in the Forbes era.
- Additionally, the Deacs' one turnover in the first half also marked the fewest in a half under Forbes.
- Kevin Miller led a 12-0 Wake Forest run beginning with 4:47 remaining in the contest to help seal the victory for the Demon Deacons. The sophomore scored eight-consecutive points and turned a two-point deficit into a six-point lead before he and Sallis sealed the victory at the free throw line.
"I am really proud of our team, that was a really gritty win. They're a very physical, well-coached team. Towson plays kind of like a mid-major Houston. Sometimes their best offense is to miss and go get it. They do a great job of wedging underneath the basket, the guards flew in there and kept a lot of balls alive. During 10 of the last 11 possessions we got stops, so we won the game playing defense. We got two kills back-to-back at the 4:49 mark, that was really important. They made two threes for the game. Towson had to beat us two by two which is hard.
We had six kills for the game. Our first shot defense was really good, we just couldn't get the ball. We executed really well on offense. Early on they were blitzing us and trapping our ball screens but we got them out of that. We were attacking them with the pocket pass and quick pass across. Then they changed their coverage. Towson went 1-3-1 and we banged a three right away in that, which we didn't do a good job of last night. We really executed well tonight. We only turned it over five times and they were physical. Hunter and Boopie both had really good games.
We needed that win. Andrew didn't have a great offensive game, but he was worn out from having to battle down there. Zach did a good job and Marqus had some good moments. It was a team win and I knew it was going to be a hard game. I watched them the other day against Houston. I was like 'holy mackerel, they play a lot like we do.' I have a lot of respect for Pat and his program and it was a good win for us." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
The Deacs' final game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic will be Sunday, Nov. 19, against LSU at 3:00 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN2.
Team Stats
Towson
WF
FG%
.365
.491
3FG%
.182
.400
FT%
.813
.647
RB
45
26
TO
10
5
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Pts
25
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
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