Deacs Reach Fifth-Consecutive Season Win, Down Hornets on Monday Evening

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Piecing together a strong showcase of big scoring runs, forced turnovers and unselfish play, Wake Forest men's basketball picked up a dominant 88-59 victory over Delaware State inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Monday (Dec. 18), returning to game action for the first time in nine days.

The Demon Deacons extended their win streak to five, with all five victories coming by 10-or-more points. The 29-point victory over the Hornets was the largest margin of victory for the Deacs so far this season and largest since the 31-point win over South Carolina State last season (11/23/22).

With the win, Wake Forest is now 37-5 inside LJVM Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season, and is 26-0 in LJVM against non-conference opponents dating back to December 2018.

For the third-straight showing, five Deacons reached double figures in scoring, led by 19 points from junior guard Hunter Sallis. The Omaha, Neb. native scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting clip from the floor.

With a team-high 11 rebounds against the Horners, Andrew Carr has now joined the 500-career rebound club. Carr is the 38th player in Wake Forest history to reach 500 career boards. It also marked his second double-double of the season, with the other coming against Charleston Southern (Nov. 24). The forward added 15 points to his stat line, missing only one of his field goal attempts (6-of-7). His 15 points edged him closer to the 1,000-career point club, as he is now 36 points away

Kevin Miller (17 points), Cameron Hildreth (14 points) and Parker Friedrichsen (12 points) combined to round out the quintet of double-digit scoring. Miller and Hildreth added five and four assists, respectively, with the total being a season high for the former. Defensively, Friedrichsen recorded a team-high four steals – his most in a single contest this year.

As a team, the Deacs forced a season-high 18 turnovers, the highest mark since the 19 against Clemson last season on Dec. 2. Wake Forest also held Delaware State to 3-of-14 (.214) from deep, the second-fewest three-pointers allowed by the Deacs this season.

From outside the arc, the Deacons splashed 10 three-pointers for the game, marking the third time this season in which the team made 10 or more triples.

Wake Forest remains in Winston-Salem for the final two games of 2023. The Deacs will next face Presbyterian College inside LJVM Coliseum Thursday afternoon (Dec. 21).

Tip is set for 3:00 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network Extra.

How It Happened

Back-to-back buckets from Miller started scoring for the Deacs and tied it at 5-5 in the opening minutes.
Carr drained a three to make the score 8-7, giving the Deacs their first lead of the game.
Hildreth cut the lead the deficit to two with his first three of the game making the score 13-11 at the 15:14 mark.
Miller made the first free throws of the game, going 2-of-2 from the line and cutting the deficit to 17-13.
- Hildreth then hit his second three of the night, this one from the left corner, to cut the Hornets' lead to one, 17-16.
With his first points of the game, Hunter Sallis went 2-for-2 from the line and cut the Hornets' lead to 21-18.
Parker Friedrichsen drained a three from the right wing for his first points of the game to tie it up at 21-21 with just under 10 minutes to go in the half.
Marqus Marion cut in from the left wing and slammed it home to give Wake Forest a 23-21 lead.
- Eight minutes and eight seconds remained in the first half.
In his second trip to the line, Sallis went 2-for-2 to give the Deacs a 25-21 lead after the under-eight media time out.
After grabbing a defensive board, Miller drove in for a layup to add to the Deacon lead, 27-21.
Friedrichsen drilled his second three of the night from the right wing to improve the Deacs' lead to 30-21 and continue a 14-0 run.
Keller added a second-chance bucket with his first offensive rebound of the night, giving the Deacs a 32-23 lead on the 16-2 run.
Friedrichsen hit his third-straight three of the night to add on to the Deacs' 19-2 run for the 35-23 lead.
After grabbing an offensive board, Carr was fouled on an and-one and converted the free throw, giving the Deacs a 38-25 lead and extending the run, 21-4 over more than six minutes of game time.
Carr added another second-chance bucket with a slam dunk to give the Deacs a 41-27 lead.
- The Wake Forest defense limited Delaware State to just two field goals in over six minutes of play.
With his first attempts of the night from the free throw line, Carr went 1-for-2, adding to the Deacs' 42-27 lead and 24-4 run.
The Deacs ended the first half with a 42-32 lead over Delaware State.
- As a team, Wake Forest went 7-of-17 from the three-point line during the first half (41.2 percent) and 9-of-11 from the free throw line (81.8 percent).
- Miller, Carr and Friedrichsen each ended the half with a game-high nine points.
Carr opened the second half with a strong offensive rebound and dunk to give the Deacs a 44-36 advantage.
After an Andrew Carr defensive rebound, Miller hit a step-back jumper to add to the Deacs' 46-36 lead.
With his first three of the night, Sallis continued a 7-0 push for the Deacs and extended the lead, 49-38.
- On the next possession, Sallis finished swiftly on an and-one make for the 52-38 lead and extended the run, 10-0.
Four points from Hildreth and Carr each kept the Deacs ahead, 60-43, with 13 minutes left to play.
A driving layup and two free throws from Miller put Wake Forest up, 64-44.
Sallis ended a scoring drought for the Deacs to maintain the lead, 66-49, with nine minutes to play.
Marion went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and Hildreth and Sallis had back-to-back drives for the 72-51 Wake Forest lead with six minutes to go.
Reid made his way to the free throw line, going 2-for-2 for the 23-point lead.
Friedrichsen drained his fourth three-pointer of the night from the right wing and Hildreth sank two from the free throw line to extend Wake's lead, 79-53.
Back-to-back slams from Sallis gave Wake Forest the 30-point lead with 3:28 to go in the game.
- Wake Forest went on a 15-2 run over 3+ minutes of game time and forced five Delaware State turnovers over a four-minute span.
Wake Forest defeated Delaware State, 88-59.

Stats of the Game

With a team-high 11 rebounds against the Horners, Andrew Carr has now hauled in 500 for his career. Additionally, his 15 points edged him closer to the 1,000-career point club, as he is now 36 points away.
- He is the 38th player in Wake Forest history to join the 500-career rebound club.
- It also marked his second double-double of the season (Charleston Southern).
The 29-point victory marked the largest win of the season for Wake Forest, and largest since the 31-point win over South Carolina State last season (11/23/22).
- It also marked the third win this season of 20-or-more points.
It also marked the ninth time this season that four or more Demon Deacons recorded double figures and the third-consecutive game with five.
- Kevin Miller - 17 points
- Andrew Carr - 15 points
- Hunter Sallis - 19 points
- Cameron Hildreth - 14 points
- Parker Friedrichsen - 12 points

Key Moment

At the 10:58 mark of the first half, Wake Forest locked in offensively to begin a big scoring push for its first double-digit lead of the evening – posting 14 unanswered points.
- Hunter Sallis kicked off the run with a pair of free throws, followed by baskets by freshmen Parker Friedrichsen and Marqus Marion.
- After Sallis again earned his way to the charity stripe, Zach Keller made a nice, short drive to the rim and Friedrichsen drilled his second three of the night from the right wing to improve the Deacs lead to 30-21 and continue a 14-0 run by Wake Forest.

Coach's Comments

"We obviously had a lot of time off. Maybe we were a little rusty coming out of the gate tonight, but that is not an excuse. We had great practices during our time off. I was disappointed in the way we started the game. We have to give credit to Delaware State tonight. Everyone likes to look at the record and this and that. I told their coaching staff this, but they hadn't realized that they were six points away from coming into this game on an eight-game winning streak. Delaware State was 75th in the country in offensive rebound percentage. Also, they were 18th in the country in turnover percentage, so I knew this game was not going to be a walk in the park.

In the second half, Delaware State was 9-for-28, they had 19 misses and they only had three offensive rebounds. Now, they are only rebounding 16 percent of their misses. That was the difference in the game. Parker played well defensively, I believe at one point in the game he had three steals in a row. We had seven kills and .81 points-per-possession, which is our best this season. That is because we forced 18 turnovers. That game was a grind and I know everybody wants to be up 30 at the first media timeout, me too, but it's not possible. We've all coached teams and watched teams in these kinds of games that let the other team hang around and then with five minutes left at the end of the game you have a problem. We didn't do that, we just kept pounding and grinding, which allowed us to get a nice win. Delaware State has some good players and I like their guards. I told their coach that before the game, and I think Delaware State can win some games in their conference." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next

Wake Forest remains in Winston-Salem for the final two games of 2023. The Deacs will next face Presbyterian College inside LJVM Coliseum Thursday afternoon (Dec. 21).

Tip is set for 3:00 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network Extra.

Deacs Reach Fifth-Consecutive Season Win, Down Hornets on Monday Evening

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Team Stats

Hunter Sallis

Kevin Miller

Andrew Carr

Cameron Hildreth

Players Mentioned

Andrew Carr

Parker Friedrichsen

Cameron Hildreth

Zach Keller

Marqus Marion

Kevin Miller

Hunter Sallis

Wake Forest Athletics

Deacs Reach Fifth-Consecutive Season Win, Down Hornets on Monday Evening

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Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Hunter Sallis

Kevin Miller

Andrew Carr

Cameron Hildreth

Players Mentioned

Andrew Carr

Parker Friedrichsen

Cameron Hildreth

Zach Keller

Marqus Marion

Kevin Miller

Hunter Sallis

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