Demon Deacons Remains Unbeaten with Win over USC Upstate

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Using a 9-for-9 shooting run in the final 8:30, the Wake Forest (4-0, 0-0 ACC) men's basketball team defeated USC Upstate (1-3, 0-0 Big South), 85-80, on Thursday night inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, keeping their undefeated start to the season alive.

Senior guard Hunter Sallis led the Wake Forest offense with a season-high 23 points on a 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) performance, while also leading the team with six assists and three steals. The Omaha native now sits just 21 points from the 1,000 point milestone for his career.

Sophomore guard Davin Cosby provided a key spark for the Demon Deacons, going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc in his best game in a Wake Forest uniform. The Richmond, Va. native hit four of his five three-pointers in the second half, finishing with 15 points and three steals.

Senior forward Efton Reid III led the team down low, ending the game with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds, including three rebounds on the offensive glass. The Richmond native shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in the second half.

Senior guard Cameron Hildreth set a new career high with 12 free throws, finishing the game with 18 points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Demon Deacons forced 17 Spartan turnovers, including 12 turnovers in the first half. The Demon Deacons have now forced opponents into double-digit turnovers in 11 straight contests dating back to Virginia Tech a season ago.

With the win, Wake Forest has now won 25 of their last 26 games against non-conference opponents inside LJVM dating back to December 2018.

How It Happened

Wake Forest opened the scoring on their first possession off a layup from Sallis.
- Reid added a free throw on the next trip down the court.
Hildreth recorded his first two points of the game at the free throw line.
- Hildreth added his first basket a minute later to make it 7-4.
Following a timeout, Spillers recorded his first basket of the night on a dunk following a crafty assist by Sallis.
Abass recorded his first points in a Demon Deacon uniform on a second chance layup with 11:52 to go in the first half.
Hildreth knocked down two free throws as the Deacs retook a 13-12 lead out of the media timeout.
- Cosby hit Wake Forest's first three pointer of the contest on the next possession.
Reid extended the Wake Forest lead to five points after converting an and-1 reverse layup.
- Friedrichsen recorded his first point of the night from the line following a steal from Sallis in the Spartan backcourt.
Sallis notched his second basket of the game with 7:44 remaining in the half.
Out of the timeout, Harris made his first basket of the night on a corner three as Wake Forest regained a five-point advantage.
Sallis hit a fadeaway jumper in the paint on the next Demon Deacon possession.
Sallis made another jumper in the lane to give the Deacs a 29-22 lead.
- He added his third basket in a row on the next Demon Deacon possession to move into double figures.
Freshman Juke Harris notched his second field goal of the night following a sweet pass from Hildreth.
- Sallis made his first three-pointer of the game on the next trip down the court to give Wake Forest a 10-point lead with 3:44 to go in the first.
Following a short run by Upstate, Harris made a layup with 2:11 remaining to give the Deacs a six-point advantage.
Hildreth added a free throw to make it 39-36.
- Hildreth scored two more from the charity stripe with 10.3 seconds left, giving the Deacs a five-point lead.
After a buzzer-beater from the Spartans, Wake Forest went into the halftime locker room leading 41-38.
- Sallis led all players with 13 points in the first half on 6-for-9 shooting.
- The Demon Deacons forced 12 turnovers in the first half.
Sallis picked up right where he left off in the first half, picking up Wake Forest's first points out of the locker room on a nifty reverse layup.
- Sallis added a pair of free throws on the next possession as the Deacs regained the lead.
Reid converted another three-point play to retake the lead, knocking down the free throw after getting fouled on his made hook shot in the paint.
Sallis made another jumper in the lane as the Deacs retook a 50-49 lead.
Following another timeout, Hildreth hit both of his shots from the charity stripe to move into double figures and give Wake Forest the lead again.
Sallis got the crowd at LJVM Coliseum fired up after a steal resulted in a thunderous slam as the Deacs extended their lead to 54-51.
- Harris made one from the line to give the Demon Deacons the lead once again.
Out of a timeout, Cosby made his second three-pointer of the night to cut the Upstate lead down to one.
Reid added one from the line to make it 62-59.
- Reid added another basket to cut the deficit down to three with 8:17 remaining.
Cosby hit his third three of the game on the next possession before Spillers cut the Upstate lead down to one with a slam the next time down the court, forcing an Upstate timeout.
Reid added another hook shot to cut the deficit back down to one with 5:26 left to play.
- Hildreth added a layup on the next Demon Deacons possession.
Sallis and Reid connected on an alley-oop to give the Demon Deacons the lead with 3:59 left to play.
- Cosby hit his fourth basket from outside the arc to give Wake Forest the 75-73 advantage with 3:17 remaining.
Cosby continued his hot shooting performance from three-point range, hitting his fifth three out of the timeout to give Wake Forest the 78-75 lead.
- Hildreth hit an and-1 reverse layup on the next possession, converting the free throw to give the Deacs a four-point lead with 1:42 left to play.
Sallis made two free throws as Wake Forest gained a three-point advantage with 24 seconds left to play.
- Hildreth added two from the line to give Wake Forest an 85-80 lead with 5.1 seconds left.
Wake Forest held on to win 85-80.

Stats of the Game

Forcing the Spartans into 17 turnovers, Wake Forest has forced opponents into double-digit turnovers in 11 straight contests dating back to Virginia Tech a season ago.
Wake Forest's late comeback against the Spartans was aided by a perfect 9-for-9 shooting from the floor in the final 8:30 of the game.
Cameron Hildreth added a career-high 12 free throws against the Spartans. The senior has made a living at the charity stripe throughout his career, ranking second in the ACC among active players with 264 made free throws.

Key Moment

After trailing for the majority of the second half, Sallis threw up a lob to Reid III, who slammed the alley-oop attempt home as the Deacs regained a 72-71 lead with 3:59 remaining in the contest. The dunk was part of a 9-for-9 shooting run by the Demon Deacons in the final 8:30 of the game that helped propel the Deacs to the win to keep their undefeated start to the season going.

Coach's Comments
"I give credit to Marty and his team, they came ready to play. I had explained to our players that they've already played two other ACC teams, so they weren't going to come in here and be overwhelmed with the opponent, so credit to him and his team for coming ready to play. They had a spin defensively at times because they cut, they screened and they set ball screens. For the first time this year, defensively, we were extended. We were way too spread out, we opened up gaps and they had five guys that could put it on the floor. They're smart; they drew help, kicked and then they made some shots. They didn't make shots early, but we gave them the opportunity by being poor in defensive transition. We were guarding them in the half court, but our effort in defensive transition in the first half was just unacceptable. After that, we started getting beat to a ball and all those cliche things happened. Now they're in the game and they have confidence so out of the half they go six out of seven starts. In the second half, I called a timeout, and then we stopped and made it out of 12 times. Then we finally got back in it. Hunter [Sallis] and Efton [Reid III] and Cam [Hildreth] carried us offensively. Obviously Davin Cosby came in the second half and made shots, and that really opened it up for us. Hunter did a really good job. When he can get there, he makes shots. He played really well. Cam drew 11 fouls. We got in the lane 40 times, and shot 71 percent or 75 percent at the rim, we were 21-for-28. As I said, everybody's playing the drop on us, at least right now. Hunter is doing a really good job when we set ball screens. He's doing a great job of reading them and scoring or coming off of it, but when he comes off of it, the ball has got to go in the hole."

Up Next
Wake Forest will travel to Cincinnati for its first true road test of the season this weekend. The Deacs will face the Xavier Musketeers Saturday, Nov. 16, in the Cintas Center.

Tip is set for Noon and the game will air live on FS1.

Demon Deacons Remains Unbeaten with Win over USC Upstate

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Team Stats

Hunter Sallis

Cameron Hildreth

Davin Cosby

Efton Reid III

Players Mentioned

Davin Cosby

Juke Harris

Cameron Hildreth

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

Wake Forest Athletics

Demon Deacons Remains Unbeaten with Win over USC Upstate

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Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Hunter Sallis

Cameron Hildreth

Davin Cosby

Efton Reid III

Players Mentioned

Davin Cosby

Juke Harris

Cameron Hildreth

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

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