Wake Forest University
18-11,10-8ACC
Notre Dame
10-19,2-16ACC
Collective Effort Leads to Deacon Regular-Season Sweep over Notre Dame
2/25/2023 10:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bobi Klintman shined in his first collegiate start.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Back in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the first time in two weeks, the Wake Forest men's basketball team saw admirable contributions from a handful of its crew, en route to downing visiting Notre Dame (10-19, 2-16) in a 66-58 decision.
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) victory was the Demon Deacons' tenth of the year. Wake Forest now stands at an 18-11 overall clip. Additionally, Saturday's win marked a regular-season sweep over the Fighting Irish.
Making the first start of his collegiate career, Bobi Klintman stood out to notch his second season double-double, posting 10 points and hauling in a season-high tying 12 rebounds. The freshman forward also reached a new high in minutes, playing just over 35.
Tyree Appleby created his usual crowd excitement, making a plethora of plays for a final line of a game-high 21 points, six points, and sinking a season-best five triples.
Andrew Carr was a presence on both ends of the floor, contributing 11 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.
Making his first appearance since mid-December, Lucas Taylor provided a spark as a reserve. The sophomore guard chipped in six points on two threes made with two assists and two rebounds, along with collecting a steal.
Matthew Marsh added seven points and six rebounds with another perfect-shooting game (3-of-3 on field goals).
The Deacs were most successful shooting from distance during the first half, tallying a 44.4 three-point percentage. The team ended with 12 trey balls by the evening's conclusion, marking the third consecutive game of 12 or more made threes.
Wake Forest remains in LJVM for a Tuesday home regular-season finale (Feb. 28) against Boston College – the second meeting of the year between the two sides. The contest will feature 'Senior Day' for the program, as players Tyree Appleby, Daivien Williamson, and Grant van Beveren, along with team managers Isaiah Tisdale, Harrison Seagle, and Joshua Knight, are all set to be honored.
Standout Stats
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For the first time since the beginning of the series, the Deacs have won three-straight matchups against the Irish. It is the first time in the series history that Wake Forest has won three straight in consecutive seasons.
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The first three matchups were spread out, beginning in 2000 with the next two not coming until 2014.
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March 12, 2014 - W, 81-69
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Jan. 25, 2014 - W, 65-68
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March 30, 2000 - W, 71-61
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The Deacs made 12 or more threes for the third game in a row, the most consistent numbers from range for Wake since the beginning of January when they made 10 or more in five consecutive ACC games.
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Making his first collegiate start, Bobi Klintman enjoyed a standout, double-double performance: 10 points and a season-high tying 12 rebounds in just over 35 minutes of action.
How It Happened
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Tyree Appleby opened the scoring for the Deacs with a coast-to-coast layup for an early 2-0 lead.
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A corner three from Bobi Klintman tied the board at five, three minutes into the contest.
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Appleby put up a three on the following possession for an 8-7 lead at the 16:15 mark in the first half.
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A pair of free throws from Zach Keller ended a Notre Dame run and cut the deficit down, 15-10, with 13:37 remaining in the first half.
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Another corner three from Klintman brought it to 17-13, with the Fighting Irish up at 12:52.
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Lucas Taylor drained a three to keep the Deacs within two, 20-18.
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Back-to-back corner threes from Appleby and Taylor brought the Deacs within one, 25-24, at the 8:34 mark.
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The first Appleby-Matthew Marsh alley oop of the night came at the 7:10 mark to put the Deacs back within one, 27-26.
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Marsh converted on the and-1 play to tie things at 27 all.
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Another Appleby-Marsh connection resulted in another and-1 opportunity for Marsh to put the Deacs up, 29-27, with 5:51 to go in the first half.
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A three from Appleby gave the Deacs the 32-27 lead.
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A quick five points from Andrew Carr put the Deacs up 37-32 with under two minutes to play in the half.
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The Deacs took a 39-36 lead into halftime.
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Appleby led all scorers with 11 first-half points and four assists.
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Carr went into the half with a game-high five rebounds and also added nine points and two blocks
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The Deacs made eight threes on 44.4 percent shooting from deep in the first 20 minutes of action.
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Klintman opened the second half scoring with a driving, off-hand layup.
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A put-back dunk from Marsh maintained the Deacs' lead, 43-40, with 17:48 on the clock.
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A three-pointer from Hildreth gave the Deacs their largest lead of the game, 48-40, and forced a Notre Dame timeout with 12:43 left to play.
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Daivien Williamson followed with a wing triple moments later.
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Looks in the paint allowed Georgia Tech to cut the deficit back to single-digits soon after, but back-to-back threes by Appleby once again upped the Deacon advantage to a dozen points (57-45).
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The graduate guard reached over 20 points for the night on a pair of free throws at the eight-minute mark.
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The crowd continued to stay excited, as Klintman and Carr added a dunk apiece, each of which was assisted by Taylor.
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Points at the charity stripe, along with a driving finish by the Fighting Irish, again trimmed the score down, 63-56.
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Hildreth and Williamson put an end to things with makes at the line, as Wake Forest hung on for its 13th home victory of the year.
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Wake Forest defeated Notre Dame, 66-58.
Coach's Comments
"The happiest person in the press conference is my sister there behind you. She flew from Minneapolis and escaped twenty five inches of snow and we won because she knows if we hadn't it would have been a really bitter night at my house.
I said three things to the team when we came out to start the game. Play hard, man, for forty minutes. Have a next play mentality, good or bad, and have fun. It's been a little tough since the loss at NC State because Damari is really important, not only to our team but he's their teammate. He's their friend, and it was hard for them to see him have another season-ending injury. He had surgery this morning. It was very successful. They had to fix his patella and clean up his meniscus and he'll be out six to eight months. But we are going to be supportive of him and help him. The team is going to help him and he's going to be better for it coming out of there. I know he doesn't see that today but he will.
I was very pleased at the fact that we didn't play great offense tonight but we won the game because we guarded. We were very concerned coming in. I think they had played UVA, UNC and Duke in a row, very close games. They're a really good offensive team, maybe the best three point shooting team in the league, and they didn't make a three in the second half. Our guards did an unbelievable job of going over the ball screen and forcing them down into the tough two and into the drive. We brought the big up to the free throw line to help and that was a good adjustment. We made them shoot tough two's and they didn't make them. We didn't shoot great, we shot thirty five percent but we won the basketball game. That's the most encouraging thing I'll take from the game tonight, the fact we didn't make eighteen or fifteen three's, we did make twelve but we won the game. Lucas Taylor gave us a good lift in the first half and Bobby Klintman got a double-double and his first start." - head coach Steve Forbes
Upcoming
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Tuesday, Feb. 28 - vs Boston College - 7 p.m. // ESPNU
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Saturday, March 4 - at Syracuse - 5 p.m. // Bally Sports
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Tuesday, March 7 - ACC Tournament begins in Greensboro
