Wake Forest University
19-14,10-10ACC
Miami - Quarterfinals
25-6,15-5ACC
Deacs Again Show Resilience in ACC Tournament Quarterfinal Loss to No. 1-Seeded Miami
3/9/2023 3:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Wake Forest’s conference tournament run came to an end on Thursday afternoon.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Making an appearance in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament's quarterfinal round for the first time since 2009, the No. 9-seeded Wake Forest men's basketball team admirably stepped up to the challenge versus No. 1-seeded Miami (25-6) on Thursday afternoon (March 9). Clawing back from a deficit of double-digit points in the second half, the Demon Deacons (19-14) came close to capturing the decision before ultimately suffering a 74-72 setback.
Tyree Appleby led all scorers with 24 points on the day, netting five three-pointers during the contest. His mark from distance tied for a season high for the third time this year. Additionally, Appleby added five rebounds, five assists, and two steals to his line.
Setting an early tone for his Deacs in the first half with paint touches, Cameron Hildreth totaled 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. The sophomore also grabbed four rebounds and dished out a game-high seven assists.
Daivien Williamson was the third Deacon to reach double-figures in scoring, finishing with 14 points.
Bobi Klintman established a presence on the defensive end to end with a new career high of four blocks. The freshman forward chipped in seven points and 11 rebounds, with the latter being a second consecutive total in the tournament. Klintman has hauled in double-digit boards in three of the team's last five showings.
Andrew Carr snatched eight rebounds on the day. As a team, the Deacs grabbed 13 offensive boards, their third-best mark of 2022-23. Wake Forest's six blocks tied for its second-best clip this season.
Standout Stats
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Thursday marked Wake Forest's first appearance in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals since 2009.
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The Demon Deacons hauled in 13 offensive rebounds against Miami, the third-most by Wake Forest this season.
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The Hurricanes were held to six threes by the Deacs, tied for the third fewest since the start of ACC play.
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Thursday marked the 14th time this season the Demon Deacons knocked down at least 10 three-pointers, along with being the second time against the Hurricanes.
How It Happened
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Klintman opened the scoring 23 seconds in with a three-pointer from the top of the arc.
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Wake Forest held Miami to 0-of-5 from the floor to open the contest until its first field goal at the 15:52 mark.
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Hildreth earned his way to the line and tied the game at 4-4 out of the under-16 media timeout.
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Appleby recorded a steal and found Hildreth on a fast-break for an open dunk with 12:46 remaining in the half.
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The sophomore guard knocked down a turnaround jumper in the paint on the following possession to cut the deficit to two.
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An Appleby-to-Marsh alley-oop capped off a quick 6-0 run and leveled the game at 10-10 before the under-12 timeout.
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The Deacs held the Hurricanes scoreless for 3:16.
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Marsh hauled in an offensive rebound and went back up for his second basket of the afternoon.
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The two teams continued to trade baskets as Hildreth connected on a hookshot in the paint to tie the game with 9:03 to go in the first half.
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Appleby knocked down his first basket of the contest with a close-ranged pullup jumper before adding another on the following possession to make it 18-19.
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The graduate guard made his third-consecutive field goal with a catch-and-shoot three after a kick-out from Hildreth to tie the game at 21-21.
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Carr worked his way into the paint for a turnaround jumper with 3:13 left in the half.
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Appleby drove to the basket for a layup before a Marsh block at the rim led to a Williamson corner three as the Deacs cut it to 28-30 and forced Miami into a timeout.
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Klintman recorded a block of his own and went the length of the floor before making a trip to the line at the 1:19 mark.
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The Deacs trailed, 29-34, as the two teams headed to the locker rooms.
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Appleby led the team with nine points, three assists, three rebounds and a couple of steals.
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Hildreth finished the first half with seven points, three rebounds and three assists.
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Williamson recorded the first Wake Forest points of the second half with a pullup jumper in the paint and converted a driving layup on the following possession to cut the deficit to three at the 18:34 mark.
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Hildreth found Appleby for a catch-and-shoot triple out of a timeout.
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Williamson continued to attack the rim as he knocked down his third shot from inside the paint of the second half before the under-16 media timeout.
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Hildreth found Marsh for an alley-oop slam as the sophomore big man remained perfect from the floor.
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The Worthing, England native made a driving layup despite a foul and completed the three-point play at the line.
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Williamson found Appleby for an open corner-three to make it 46-61 with 9:41 remaining.
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Klintman recorded his third block of the contest and Carr finished a second-chance layup on the following possession as the Deacs trailed by 13 at the under-eight media timeout.
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Williamson cut inside from the corner for a layup through contact and increased the Wake Forest run to 7-0.
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Miami was held scoreless for 3:30 and went 0-of-5 from the floor during that span.
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Appleby found Williamson and Klintman on back-to-back possessions for open three-pointers and forced Miami to take a timeout with 4:51 remaining as the Deacs cut it to 56-65.
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The graduate guard drove to the rim and drew a foul following Klintman's fourth block.
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Hildreth earned his way to the line and cut it to a seven-point game with 3:59 to go.
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Appleby connected on his fourth triple off a Hildreth assist to make it 61-67.
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A Klintman offensive rebound led to a Hildreth three-pointer with a minute left on the clock as Wake Forest cut it to five.
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Appleby connected on a tightly-contested three with 38 seconds to go to make it 69-73.
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Hildreth made it a one-possession game with his second triple.
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Despite the hard-fought comeback effort, the Demon Deacons fell to the Hurricanes, 72-74.
Coach's Comments
"We played another outstanding game today and credit to Miami for the win. Coach Larrañaga has one of the best teams in the country. They're elite on offense, I don't think they get enough credit by the way they defend, their guards are really fast and they can really move their feet. They're physical, they're handsy and then Miller and Omier are really good inside. They have an outstanding team.
We had tremendous effort, fight, resiliency and no quit. We represented our team and our school to the highest level today. We had a chance to win it, it would have been a heck of a story if Daivien could have made back-to-back buzzer-beaters. It would have been something else, but it wasn't in the cards. When they extended the lead, they hurt us on the offensive glass, transition D and some of our turnovers. They were very opportunistic in that respect. I thought we did a good job of really guarding them in the half court when we got them into half court.
We went 7-of-14 from the free throw line. That probably ended up hurting us and we're a better free throw shooting team than that for sure. When it gets down to a narrow margin like that, it makes it harder.
Last thing, we played 13 games decided by three points or less this year. Thirteen. We're 6-7, so don't blame the players, blame me if anybody's not happy with that. That's how thin the margin of error is. That's how hard the league is. That's how tough the schedule is when you have that many close games. These guys have been unbelievable to coach, especially these two (Tyree Appleby and Daivien Williamson) tremendous players and tremendous people." - head coach Steve Forbes
Upcoming
The Demon Deacons will learn their postseason future on Sunday, March 12, with the announcement of the NIT and NCAA Tournament brackets.
