Wednesday, December 6
Winston-Salem, N.C.
6:00 p.m.
Wake Forest University
5-3,0-0ACC
76
vs
57
Rutgers
5-3,0-1Big Ten
1
2
F
Rutgers
31
26
57
Wake Forest
37
39
76
Photo by: Seth Seebaugh
Deacons Shine on Both Ends to Down Rutgers, Pick Up Third Consecutive Win
12/6/2023 9:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Efton Reid III picked up a double-double in his Deacon debut!
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Stepping back onto its home floor for a second midweek test in as many weeks, Wake Forest men's basketball (5-3) played with exceptional effort on both sides of the court to knock off Rutgers in a comfortable 76-57 victory on Wednesday evening (Dec. 6).
The Demon Deacons have won their last three games and the 19-point win over the Scarlet Knights was their largest over a power five non-conference opponent since the 110-76 victory over LSU back on Dec. 22, 2016.
Wake Forest now stands at 35-5 overall inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season, and is 24-0 in LJVM against non-conference opponents dating back to December 2018.
The Deacs' 76 points are tied the most allowed by the Scarlet Knights so far this season (Illinois). Of note, Rutgers ranked sixth in the nation averaging 58.4 points per game.
Wake Forest was led by sophomore guard Boopie Miller, who tallied 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-8 clip from beyond the arc. He also added four assists and a pair of steals. It was his third time this season reaching 20-or-more points (Georgia and Towson).
With two blocks, senior forward Andrew Carr reached 100 for his career and leads the team this season with 19. The West Chester, Pa. native also recorded 10 points, six rebounds and a steal.
In his Demon Deacon debut, Efton Reid III recorded his second-career double-double and joined Carr as the only two Wake Forest players to record one this season. He finished with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. His 14 rebounds marked the most by a Demon Deacon this season and most since Carr's 14-rebound performance last season against Utah Valley (11/15). The Gonzaga transfer also added a pair of blocks and a steal to complete his all-around debut performance.
Cameron Hildreth and Hunter Sallis chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, with the former also handing out a game-high six assists.
Wednesday night was the first time this season in which five Deacs recorded 10 or more points.
As a team, Wake Forest hauled in a season-high 42 rebounds, including 15 on the offensive glass. The Deacs added 21 second-chance points and outscored Rutgers 32-to-18 inside the paint.
Wake Forest remains in Winston-Salem for the next four games of 2023. The Deacs will next face NJIT inside LJVM Coliseum on Saturday night (Dec. 9).
Tip is set for 8:00 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
How It Happened
Stats of the Game
Key Moment
Coach's Comments
"I'm really proud of my team tonight. It was a great game and victory tonight. We got off to a great start defensively. Zach Keller did a really good job in there guarding. Sallis made a big three to start the game. We had a tough two under the basket but we got off to a really good start.
We ended the half very poorly. Rutgers scored during eight or nine straight possessions to end the half which wasn't good. We also got off to a slow start at the beginning of the second half. But when it became game time we buckled down and we got three kills in a row, which is nine straight possessions with stops. We are going to win a lot of games if we are doing that. We did really well defending the two. They were 14-of-42 from two, that's only 42 percent which is really good defense. The shots they were making were dribble jumpers. They weren't really laying it in our basket. As Rutgers wore down that shot became harder for them to make. Rutgers was 2-of-10 from three in the second.
Overall we played a really solid game, especially defensively. We got it going offensively at times and we shared it but Rutgers is a physical team. The last thing I'll say is last year we went up to New Jersey and had 22 turnovers. They are really good at creating turnovers and we only had 10 tonight. We did a great job at that and that was a big part of the game." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest remains in Winston-Salem for the next four games of 2023. The Deacs will next face NJIT inside LJVM Coliseum on Saturday night (Dec. 9).
Tip is set for 8:00 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
The Demon Deacons have won their last three games and the 19-point win over the Scarlet Knights was their largest over a power five non-conference opponent since the 110-76 victory over LSU back on Dec. 22, 2016.
Wake Forest now stands at 35-5 overall inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season, and is 24-0 in LJVM against non-conference opponents dating back to December 2018.
The Deacs' 76 points are tied the most allowed by the Scarlet Knights so far this season (Illinois). Of note, Rutgers ranked sixth in the nation averaging 58.4 points per game.
Wake Forest was led by sophomore guard Boopie Miller, who tallied 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-8 clip from beyond the arc. He also added four assists and a pair of steals. It was his third time this season reaching 20-or-more points (Georgia and Towson).
With two blocks, senior forward Andrew Carr reached 100 for his career and leads the team this season with 19. The West Chester, Pa. native also recorded 10 points, six rebounds and a steal.
In his Demon Deacon debut, Efton Reid III recorded his second-career double-double and joined Carr as the only two Wake Forest players to record one this season. He finished with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. His 14 rebounds marked the most by a Demon Deacon this season and most since Carr's 14-rebound performance last season against Utah Valley (11/15). The Gonzaga transfer also added a pair of blocks and a steal to complete his all-around debut performance.
Cameron Hildreth and Hunter Sallis chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, with the former also handing out a game-high six assists.
Wednesday night was the first time this season in which five Deacs recorded 10 or more points.
As a team, Wake Forest hauled in a season-high 42 rebounds, including 15 on the offensive glass. The Deacs added 21 second-chance points and outscored Rutgers 32-to-18 inside the paint.
Wake Forest remains in Winston-Salem for the next four games of 2023. The Deacs will next face NJIT inside LJVM Coliseum on Saturday night (Dec. 9).
Tip is set for 8:00 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
How It Happened
- Keller got the Deacs on the board first and out in front with a layup under the basket.
- On the next possession, Sallis hit his first three from the left wing to give Wake Forest the 5-0 lead.
- Hildreth sank an up-and-under for the 7-3 lead two possessions later.
- Miller sank back-to-back threes on the next two possessions for a 13-3 lead less than four minutes into the game.
- In his first appearance for the Deacs, Reid capitalized on an and-one opportunity for his first points of the season and extended Wake Forest's lead, 16-3, with 14 minutes to go in the first half.
- Hildreth kept the Deacs on a 13-0 run with a layup for the 18-3 lead on the next possession.
- Two possessions later Hildreth again extended the lead, 20-8.
- The Deacs' hot offense and steady defense continued as Wake Forest held Rutgers to just three made field goals in the first nine minutes and 13 seconds of play, compared to the Deacs' nine made baskets.
- A pull-up jumper from Miller at the 8:49 mark extended Wake Forest's lead, 26-11.
- Keller's first three-pointer of the game came on the right wing from Miller for a 7-0 Wake run and the 29-11 lead.
- Another bucket from Reid with six minutes left in the half put Wake Forest up 16, 31-15.
- Carr got on the board with a pair of layups at the 4:56 and 3:18 marks to keep the Deacs up 14.
- Reid closed out the scoring in the first half for Wake Forest with a free throw as Wake Forest took a 37-31 lead into halftime.
- Miller and Hildreth combined for 16 points and seven assists in the first half.
- In his first half in a Wake Forest uniform, Reid added six points and a team-high five rebounds.
- Buckets from Miller and Sallis kept the Deacs in front to start the second half.
- After a short run from Rutgers, the Deacs pulled away again, 47-39, with help from Sallis and Reid for the 47-39 lead with 14 minutes to play.
- A corner three from Friedrichsen put Wake back up double-digits, 50-39, and on an 8-0 run.
- The Deacon defense held Rutgers without a field goal for over four minutes.
- Free throws from Miller and Hildreth and a three-pointer from Miller helped Wake pull away again after another Rutgers run, 58-48.
- The Deacon defense again held Rutgers without a field goal for over five minutes while the Deacs went on a 16-0 run for the 66-48 lead with 6:30 left to play.
- Wake Forest extended their run 19-2 over a seven-minute stretch.
- Wake Forest defeated Rutgers, 76-57.
Stats of the Game
- With his two blocks Wednesday night, Andrew Carr now has 100 throughout his career. The forward has recorded at least one block in every game so far this season and leads the team with 19.
- He is one of just 16 players in program history to reach the milestone.
- Carr entered the game third in the ACC in blocks per game (2.43).
- The Demon Deacons have had at least one player with 20-or-more points in each of the first eight 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)
- Hunter Sallis - 22 vs LSU (11/19)
- Cameron Hildreth - 21 vs Charleston Southern (11/24)
- Andrew Carr - 22 vs Florida (11/29)
- Hunter Sallis - 24 vs Florida (11/29)
- Boopie Miller - 23 vs Rutgers (12/6)
- The contest included the first time this season in which five Deacs recorded 10 or more points. It also marked the seventh time this season that four or more Demon Deacons recorded double figures.
- Boopie Miller - 23 points
- Cameron Hildreth - 12 points
- Efton Reid - 12 points
- Hunter Sallis - 11 points
- Andrew Carr - 10 points
- The victory marked Wake Forest's first win over a Big Ten school since the 78-75 win over Wisconsin last season (11/29/22).
- It also marked the first home win over a Big Ten opponent since the 77-73 overtime win over Northwestern (11/30/21).
Key Moment
- Beginning with a Miller free throw at the 10:07 mark, Wake Forest used an 18-0 run to take a 20-point lead with 4:35 remaining.
- Miller led the Deacs during the run with nine points, followed by Carr with five and Hildreth with four.
- The Deacs held the Scarlet Knights scoreless for 6:13 of game time from the 10:31 mark to 4:18.
Coach's Comments
"I'm really proud of my team tonight. It was a great game and victory tonight. We got off to a great start defensively. Zach Keller did a really good job in there guarding. Sallis made a big three to start the game. We had a tough two under the basket but we got off to a really good start.
We ended the half very poorly. Rutgers scored during eight or nine straight possessions to end the half which wasn't good. We also got off to a slow start at the beginning of the second half. But when it became game time we buckled down and we got three kills in a row, which is nine straight possessions with stops. We are going to win a lot of games if we are doing that. We did really well defending the two. They were 14-of-42 from two, that's only 42 percent which is really good defense. The shots they were making were dribble jumpers. They weren't really laying it in our basket. As Rutgers wore down that shot became harder for them to make. Rutgers was 2-of-10 from three in the second.
Overall we played a really solid game, especially defensively. We got it going offensively at times and we shared it but Rutgers is a physical team. The last thing I'll say is last year we went up to New Jersey and had 22 turnovers. They are really good at creating turnovers and we only had 10 tonight. We did a great job at that and that was a big part of the game." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest remains in Winston-Salem for the next four games of 2023. The Deacs will next face NJIT inside LJVM Coliseum on Saturday night (Dec. 9).
Tip is set for 8:00 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
Team Stats
RU
WF
FG%
.375
.429
3FG%
.318
.308
FT%
.727
.737
RB
30
42
TO
14
10
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF/C
/ Men's BasketballG
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