Saturday, January 6
Winston-Salem, N.C.
2:15 p.m.
Wake Forest University
11-3,3-0ACC
86
vs
82
Miami
11-3,2-1ACC
1
2
OT 1
F
Miami (FL)
37
36
9
82
Wake Forest
44
29
13
86
Photo by: Seth Seebaugh
Wake Forest Remains Undefeated at Home with Win Over Hurricanes
1/6/2024 5:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Deacons extended their win streak to nine games on Saturday.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - At home for the first time in the New Year, Wake Forest men's basketball (11-3, 3-0) stepped into a third Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) outing on Saturday (Jan. 6), hosting the Miami Hurricanes (11-3, 3-0). Action went back and forth well into an overtime period of play before the Demon Deacons ultimately finished victorious in an 86-82 decision.
Wake Forest upped its win-streak to nine games – the longest streak throughout program history since a 16-game stretch during the 2008-09 season.
Saturday's win bumped Wake Forest up to 3-0 in ACC play, marking the first time since the 2008-09 campaign in which the Deacs won their first three conference games.
Kevin Miller led all individuals in scoring with 27 points – a new career mark for the lead guard. The Chicago native shot 10-of-19 from the floor while making all three of his attempts from outside of the arc.
Cameron Hildreth got hot early in the contest, ultimately sinking a career-best five triples on nine tries for 23 points. Drawing a number of fouls on paint drives, he finished perfect at the free-throw line (8-for-8).
Hunter Sallis totaled 18 points, including a clutch three-pointer in the left corner with just over 20 seconds remaining in overtime. The junior guard snagged seven rebounds as well.
Efton Reid III notched team highs with 11 rebounds, including seven offensive, and five blocks. His total within the latter marked a second season performance of five rejections.
Andrew Carr chipped in seven points, eight rebounds and five assists (season high).
The Deacons splashed a season-high 12 three-pointers on 31 attempts (38.7 percent) during the afternoon – the fifth time this season where the team recorded at least 10 triples.
Playing aggressive on the glass, Wake Forest hauled in 43 rebounds against the Hurricanes, its most in a single game this season and most since the win over Utah Valley on Nov. 5, 2022.
Wake Forest jumps back on the road next week to go to Tallahassee for a contest with the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday (Jan. 9.) Tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
How It Happened
Stats of the Game
Key Moment
Coach's Comments
"That is what a Saturday in the ACC should look like. We saw two great basketball teams play against each other, throwing blows, not giving up and not relenting. Miami is an elite offensive basketball team and are at their best when they play fast. They make threes, take care of the ball and are really hard to play. A little bit of a reflection to how we play on offense except Miami is even better in transition than we were going into the game. They were scoring 1.37 points-per-possession at one point during the game. We did a pretty good job in transition but I'll have to go back and look. I know Matthew Cleveland got loose early for a three and maybe a dunk as well, but other than that we were pretty good.
We weren't worried about matchups in transitions, we were focused on not giving up open shots. We were pretty good because we decided that Miami is going to score on our terms. What does that mean? We were going to try and make them make tough twos as much as we could. They made some and obviously the offensive rebounds late hurt us. We had 18 offensive rebounds as well. Miami had 12, Norchad had some big ones but Efton did a fabulous job of keeping balls and possessions alive. We have outstanding guards but we did not shoot the ball well from two which is not typical of our team. What happened is that we can get to the basket anytime but you have to make the right play and the right decision. The decision today was to kick it out because they were running in there. We forced up too many tough shots when we could have kicked it out and gotten more open. That is probably why you saw us shoot so many threes today because we were playing off dribble penetration. That's what was going to be there.
I'm really proud of my team, I challenged them before the game. We have to keep making steps. Miami has been where we want to be and they have done what we want to do. They are one of the best programs in our league. They have been to the Elite Eight and Final Four and we need to win games like this to get back to where we want to be. I give our team credit for the win today." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
The Deacs get back on the road next week to go to Tallahassee for a contest with the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday (Jan. 9). Tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
Wake Forest upped its win-streak to nine games – the longest streak throughout program history since a 16-game stretch during the 2008-09 season.
Saturday's win bumped Wake Forest up to 3-0 in ACC play, marking the first time since the 2008-09 campaign in which the Deacs won their first three conference games.
Kevin Miller led all individuals in scoring with 27 points – a new career mark for the lead guard. The Chicago native shot 10-of-19 from the floor while making all three of his attempts from outside of the arc.
Cameron Hildreth got hot early in the contest, ultimately sinking a career-best five triples on nine tries for 23 points. Drawing a number of fouls on paint drives, he finished perfect at the free-throw line (8-for-8).
Hunter Sallis totaled 18 points, including a clutch three-pointer in the left corner with just over 20 seconds remaining in overtime. The junior guard snagged seven rebounds as well.
Efton Reid III notched team highs with 11 rebounds, including seven offensive, and five blocks. His total within the latter marked a second season performance of five rejections.
Andrew Carr chipped in seven points, eight rebounds and five assists (season high).
The Deacons splashed a season-high 12 three-pointers on 31 attempts (38.7 percent) during the afternoon – the fifth time this season where the team recorded at least 10 triples.
Playing aggressive on the glass, Wake Forest hauled in 43 rebounds against the Hurricanes, its most in a single game this season and most since the win over Utah Valley on Nov. 5, 2022.
Wake Forest jumps back on the road next week to go to Tallahassee for a contest with the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday (Jan. 9.) Tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
How It Happened
- Miller got the Deacs on the board with a jumper from the free throw line to make it 3-2 with Miami's early lead.
- Hildreth nailed a three-pointer from the left corner after a small Miami run and Wake Forest was down just four, 11-7 at the 16:58 mark.
- Another one from Hildreth closed the gap, 10-11, a minute later.
- After three defensive stops in a row, Wake Forest tied it up at 11-11 with a free throw from Miller.
- In his first seconds in the game, Friedrichsen drained a left-corner three and things were tied up at 14 at the 13:54 mark.
- On the next two possessions, Hildreth hit back-to-back threes for the 20-14 Wake Forest lead.
- Sallis continued the 11-0 run with a layup and the 22-14 lead.
- After a short scoring drought, Sallis got the Deacs back on the board with a driving layup to keep Wake Forest up six with 9:40 to go in the half.
- Miami cut it to two but Sallis answered with a three pointer from the top of the key and a reverse layup to keep the Deacs ahead, 29-24 with 6:58 to go.
- Miller hit a jumper off a steal from Friedrichsen out of the timeout to extend Wake Forest's lead to seven.
- A putback from Reid got the Deacs back up six after Miami cut it to four.
- Out of the timeout, Miller took it coast to coast for the layup and the 36-30 lead with 3:35 left in the half.
- Two possessions later, Miller hit a three from the top of the key to put Wake back up four after Miami cut it to one.
- Carr slammed one from Friedrichsen and Hildreth hit two free throws for the 44-37 lead at half.
- Hildreth led all scorers for the first 20 minutes with 14 points and four made three-pointers.
- Carr led all players on the boards with seven first-half rebounds.
- Miami went on a 7-0 run to open the second half and tie it up at 44.
- A right-wing three-pointer from Miller put the Deacs back in front, 47-44, with 17:05 to play.
- After two made free throws from Hildreth, Sallis snatched a half-court steal and fed Carr in the post for another bucket and the 51-44 lead.
- Miller ended a Wake scoring drought with a baseline jumper at 14:00 to maintain the lead.
- Friedrichsen ended a Miami run with a left-wing three-pointer and tied up at 56 with 11 minutes to play.
- A steal and coast-to-coast layup from Miller put Wake back in front on the very next play.
- A dunk by Carr from Sallis tied it back up at 60 all after the fourth lead change.
- A right-corner three from Hildreth tied it back at 63 with 6:51 to go.
- Keller's first points of the game came off a right-corner bucket to cut the deficit to two points and Miller hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to tie it at 67 with 3:45 to play.
- Sallis followed that up with a turnaround jumper of his own in the lane to keep it tied at 69 with 2:32 to play.
- The trading baskets continued out of the timeout with another Miller jumper tying it at 71.
- Miami took the 73-71 lead with two free throws at the 1:22 mark.
- With a defensive stop, Wake Forest got the ball back with 35 seconds left.
- Hildreth hit two free throws to tie it at 73 with 22 seconds to play.
- Regulation ended with a tie at 73-73.
- Miami got out in front to start early but free throws from Carr and Hildreth kept Wake within two, 78-76.
- Sallis tied it at 78 with a turnaround jumper in the lane.
- After two defensive stops in a row, Miller hit a long-range three from the logo for the 81-78 lead with 1:30 to play.
- Sallis hit a left-corner three with 23.8 seconds on the clock to take the 84-80 lead.
- Miami would score once more before Miller drew a foul and finished out the game at the charity stripe.
- Wake Forest defeated Miami, 86-82.
Stats of the Game
- With the win, Wake Forest is now 40-5 inside LJVM Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season and 9-0 this season.
- It also marked the first overtime win for the Deacs since Nov. 15, 2022 in the 68-65 victory over Utah Valley at home.
- Additionally, Wake Forest has had at least one player with 20-or-more points in 12 of the first 14 games this season and fifth time with multiple:
- 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)
- Kevin Miller - 23 vs. Rutgers (12/6)
- Hunter Sallis - 20 vs. Presbyterian (12/21)
- Andrew Carr - 21 vs. Presbyterian (12/21)
- Hunter Sallis - 20 vs. Virginia Tech (12/30)
- Hunter Sallis - 21 vs. Boston College (1/2)
- Kevin Miller - 27 vs. Miami (1/6)
- Cameron Hildreth - 23 vs. Miami (1/6)
- The Demon Deacons' 18 offensive rebounds now stand as the highest-mark in the Forbes era and most since Nov. 29, 2019 against Long Beach State (19).
Key Moment
- After Miami took a five-point lead a minute into overtime, the Demon Deacons went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good and secure the victory.
- Carr and Hildreth combined for three free throws before a Sallis jumper tied the game with 2:51 remaining.
- Miller put the Deacs in front with a three-pointer from the top of the key after three-consecutive offensive rebounds, including the tip out from Reid III for the assist on Miller's basket.
Coach's Comments
"That is what a Saturday in the ACC should look like. We saw two great basketball teams play against each other, throwing blows, not giving up and not relenting. Miami is an elite offensive basketball team and are at their best when they play fast. They make threes, take care of the ball and are really hard to play. A little bit of a reflection to how we play on offense except Miami is even better in transition than we were going into the game. They were scoring 1.37 points-per-possession at one point during the game. We did a pretty good job in transition but I'll have to go back and look. I know Matthew Cleveland got loose early for a three and maybe a dunk as well, but other than that we were pretty good.
We weren't worried about matchups in transitions, we were focused on not giving up open shots. We were pretty good because we decided that Miami is going to score on our terms. What does that mean? We were going to try and make them make tough twos as much as we could. They made some and obviously the offensive rebounds late hurt us. We had 18 offensive rebounds as well. Miami had 12, Norchad had some big ones but Efton did a fabulous job of keeping balls and possessions alive. We have outstanding guards but we did not shoot the ball well from two which is not typical of our team. What happened is that we can get to the basket anytime but you have to make the right play and the right decision. The decision today was to kick it out because they were running in there. We forced up too many tough shots when we could have kicked it out and gotten more open. That is probably why you saw us shoot so many threes today because we were playing off dribble penetration. That's what was going to be there.
I'm really proud of my team, I challenged them before the game. We have to keep making steps. Miami has been where we want to be and they have done what we want to do. They are one of the best programs in our league. They have been to the Elite Eight and Final Four and we need to win games like this to get back to where we want to be. I give our team credit for the win today." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
The Deacs get back on the road next week to go to Tallahassee for a contest with the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday (Jan. 9). Tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
Team Stats
UM
WF
FG%
.423
.403
3FG%
.476
.387
FT%
.857
.762
RB
40
43
TO
12
10
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Pts
27
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
23
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
8
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's BasketballG
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