Deacs Fall to Musketeers in Skip Prosser Classic

CINCINNATI, Ohio – In its first true road game of the 2024-25 season, Wake Forest men's basketball visited Xavier on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 16) in the annual Skip Prosser Classic. The Demon Deacons (4-1, 0-0 ACC) suffered a 75-60 defeat to the Musketeers (4-0, 0-0 Big East).

Hunter Sallis finished with a team-high 16 points, having now led the Deacs in scoring in each of the last three contests. The senior guard is now only five points away from reaching 1,000 for his collegiate career. Sallis also added five rebounds while netting all four of his free-throw attempts.

Making his first career start, Davin Cosby contributed 13 points with an efficient 66.7 field goal percentage. The sophomore guard went 3-of-5 for distance and has now made eight triples in his last two showings.

Tre'Von Spillers finished with eight points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes played. Efton Reid III posted nine points, four rebounds and two steals.

Churchill Abass came off the bench to contribute six points (3-of-4 shooting) and four rebounds in nine minutes of action. Wake Forest shot 46.8 percent from the field as a unit for the game, including a 56.5 second-half clip.

How It Happened

Cosby drove the lane for the first points for Wake to make it 3-2, Xavier in the first two minutes.
- The sophomore followed it up with a three-pointer two possessions later for the early 5-3 lead.
Out of the timeout, Sallis got his first points of the game off a jumper in the paint to make it 9-7, Xavier.
Out of the timeout, Friedrichsen turned defense into offense with a steal and layup to end a Xavier run.
- On the next possession, Sallis hit two free throws to get the Deacs back within single digits.
- For the third consecutive possession, Wake scored with a layup from Sallis to make it 21-13 Xavier.
Johnson found Reid at the rim on the next possession to get the Deacs within six ahead of the timeout.
Out of the timeout, Sallis hit his first three of the game to beat the shot clock and put Wake within five.
A turn-around jumper from Hildreth kept the Deacs within five, 26-21, with less than five minutes to go in the half.
A defensive rebound from Abass led to Sallis finding Abass under the basket on the next play.
Wake Forest went into halftime down, 34-24.
- Sallis had a team-high nine points in the first 20 minutes.
- Hildreth had a game-high four rebounds.
The first bucket of the half came from Cosby from beyond the arc off an out-of-bounds play to put Wake within seven.
Two possessions later, Sallis hit two free throws.
- In the first three minutes of the half, Wake Forest held Xavier scoreless and cut the 10-point deficit to five.
A putback from Abass kept the Deacs within six, two possessions later.
Hildreth found Abass in the lane out of the timeout for Abass's third basket of the game.
A backdown bucket from Reid ended a Xavier run to make it 45-35, Xavier.
A three from Sallis on the next possession got Wake back within single digits.
- On the next play, a steal from Harris led to a breakaway by Sallis who found Spillers at the rim.
A backdown bucket from Spillers under the basket kept Wake within eight with 10 minutes to play.
Sallis found Reid in the lane for another bucket while the defense kept Xavier without a bucket for two and a half minutes.
Spillers had a putback bucket out of the timeout to keep the Deacs within 10 with seven minutes to play.
Cosby hit his third three-pointer of the game to get Wake within 11 with five and a half minutes to go.
- Sallis followed with a layup on the next possession.
Reid worked in the paint to get another bucket on the next possession to keep the Deacs within 10.
Wake Forest fell to Xavier, 75-60.

Stats of the Game

Tre'Von Spillers led all individuals with nine rebounds – three of which came off the offensive glass.
The Deacons had 11 assists on 22 made baskets.
Davin Cosby chipped in 13 points for Wake Forest in his first career start, having now notched back-to-back games with double-digit points for the first time this season.

Coach's Comments
"Congrats to Xavier. They have a really good team. We knew coming into the game that it would be a tough challenge. They can really score the ball and they are tough minded defensively like their head coach. This place is an awesome college basketball venue. It's my third time being here. This is a great place to play. They have tremendous fans and great energy in the building.

"Obviously, the turnovers killed us. With 18 turnovers, I don't think you can go and win anywhere, especially on the road in a place like this and against a team like that. We fouled too much in the second half. They're not going to miss too many free throws. We shot ourselves in the foot. We were very competitive in the second half defensively. We did a really good job going against a team that is pretty good offensively. We just couldn't sustain anything offensively without turning it over. That's something we obviously need to get fixed really fast. I know they made 10 threes, but I imagine three or four of those came on offensive rebounds. I was very pleased with the way we defended in the half court for the most part, but we have some offensive things that need to be fixed.

It's an honor to play here where Skip [Prosser] coached. For me to be able to follow him and be a head coach at Wake Forest is an honor and a privilege because I know how much he was loved not only here in Cincinnati, but also around the country and especially in Winston-Salem. I think he would have been disappointed if we had lost the same way he'd be excited that Xavier had won. He'd probably have that 50/50 shirt on. He would have looked down on today and seen that those two teams competed really hard and I know he would have appreciated that. An unbelievable legacy that he left here in Cincinnati and that he left in Winston-Salem."

Up Next
Wake Forest returns home for a Tuesday night tip-off against Western Carolina on Nov. 19 inside The Joel Coliseum.

Tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.

Next Event

Team Stats

Hunter Sallis

Davin Cosby

Efton Reid III

Tre'Von Spillers

Players Mentioned

Churchill Abass

Davin Cosby

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

Tre'Von Spillers

Wake Forest Athletics