Demon Deacons Earn 12th-Straight Home Win Over Syracuse

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest extended its 12-game home winning streak with an emphatic 99-70 victory over Syracuse on Saturday night inside of Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Demon Deacons (14-7, 6-4 ACC) were led by Hunter Sallis with 24 points and extended his streak of 21 games with double digit points. Sallis added his seventh 20-point or more performance of the season to go along with five assists and three rebounds.

Kevin Miller joined Sallis with his seventh performance of 20 points or more, dropping 14 of his 21 in the second half to pace the Demon Deacons in the final 20 minutes of play. Also in double-figures for Wake Forest were Andrew Carr with 16 points, in addition to Cameron Hildreth with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

Efton Reid III contributed eight points and eighth rebounds in 25 minutes of court time. Sharpshooters Parker Friedrichsen and Damari Monsanto swished in a pair of three-pointers apiece.

The Deacs were scalding hot in their collective shooting, posting clips of 66.0 field goal percentage and 63.2 in three-point percentage.

Wake Forest now holds an impressive 43-5 record at home since the start of the 2021-22 season, including a perfect 12-0 mark at home this season. The Demon Deacons overall wins since the start of the 2021-22 season rank second in the country and leads the ACC during that time frame while the 12-game winning streak is tied for the ninth-longest in program history.

Saturday's home crowd of 11,412 marked the largest of the season and the fourth-highest attendance at a Wake Forest home game in the Forbes era. Additionally, the team's 99 points marked the second-most in the Steve Forbes era against an ACC opponent and the most since 101 against NC State on March 2, 2022:

Wake Forest will get back on the road for a Tuesday night (Feb. 6) game in Atlanta. The Deacs will face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Tuesday night on ESPNU. Tip is set for 7 p.m. ET.

How It Happened

A defensive stop and rebound from Hildreth led to a left-wing three-pointer by Carr to give the Deacs the early 3-0 lead.
On the next possession, Reid found Carr under the basket for another bucket and the 5-0 lead.
Sallis got on the board on the next possession with a jumper from the land to keep Wake up by five.
After a short run by the Orange, Hildreth hit a jumper from the left wing, followed by a Friedrichsen three-pointer and Wake went back up by five.
Sallis continued the Demon Deacon run with his first three of the game to force Syracuse into a timeout, as Wake Forest went on a 8-0 run over 1:17.
On the next possession, Monsanto hit his first three of the game, from the right corner, and Wake took a seven-point lead.
- Sallis found the rim on the next possession with a driving layup for the 20-11 Wake lead.
- A three from Sallis two possessions later put the Deacs up, 23-15, heading into the timeout.
Out of the timeout, Marsh got his first bucket of the game to give Wake its biggest lead, 26-15, with six minutes to go in the first half.
Hildreth took it coast-to-coast after a defensive rebound on the next play for the layup.
Two free throws from Sallis extended the Deacs' lead.
Miller answered a quick five from Syracuse with a coast-to-coast driving layup to keep Wake ahead.
- A jumper from Miller extended Wake's lead to 14, 36-22.
Hildreth answered two made Syracuse free throws with his own two points for the 15-point lead with a minute to play in the half.
A steal from Miller went to Hildreth who passed downcourt to Monsanto, who sent the lob up for Sallis to put Wake Forest up by 16.
The Demon Deacons took the 42-28 lead into halftime.
- Sallis led all players with 15 points.
- Hildreth led all players with eight rebounds.
- Wake shot a season-best 64 percent in the first half and ended going 5-of-5 from the field.
Carr started the second half with a bucket at the rim.
A couple possessions later Reid found Miller in the lane and Wake maintained an 11-point lead.
- On the very next play Miller found Sallis in the left corner for a three.
- For the third possession in a row, Miller was integral in the offense, scoring two more points on a driving layup for the 51-35 Wake lead.
Hildreth continued the 7-0 run by the Deacs with a driving layup.
Carr went to work in the paint on the next possession for another basket.
Out of the timeout, Hildreth hit a corner three, his first of the game, to put the Deacs' up 20 points with 14:25 to play.
Monsanto hit his second three-pointer of the game from the left corner off a dime from Sallis.
Sallis hit two free throws to get him to 20 points with over 11 minutes of gametime left.
Out of the timeout, Carr hit two free throws and a left-wing three for the 21-point Wake Forest lead.
On the next possession Miller found the basket to reach 13 points for the game.
An offensive foul by the Orange led to two made free throws for Carr and the 24-point lead.
Back-to-back-to-back buckets from Miller in the paint x2 and Friedrichsen from range put Wake Forest up 29 with over seven minutes of game time remaining.
Back-to-back layups from Miller maintained the Deacs' lead.
On the next possession Reid got another bucket in the paint followed by a right-corner three from Sallis and Wake went up 32 points with 4:45 of game time left.
- Points from Reid, Sallis, Miller and Friedrichsen had Wake on a 13-1 run over 3:11 of game time.
- The defense held Syracuse without a field goal for 3:12 of game time.
Canka scored his first points of the season with a right-wing three to keep Wake up by 33, with 1:33 remaining.
Wake Forest defeated Syracuse, 99-70.

Stats of the Game

The Deacs' final field goal percentage of 66.0 pct. (35-of-53 FG) against the Orange ultimately was their best of the season in a single game and the highest since Nov. 13, 2019, while also ranking seventh in program history and marking the second-highest field goal percentage against an ACC opponent in program history.
- Also, the team's final three-point percentage of 63.2 pct. (12-of-19 3FG) against the Orange is the best of the winter and the highest since 2011.
Wake Forest has won 12 consecutive home games for the first time since 1999. It is tied for the ninth-longest home winning streak in program history and is the longest in the Steve Forbes era.
- Wake Forest now holds an impressive 43-5 record at home since the start of the 2021-22 season.
  - The 43 wins are tied for the second-most home wins in the country over that three-year period.
The Deacons' 29-point victory over Syracuse was the program's largest margin over an ACC foe at LJVM Coliseum since defeating NC State on Feb. 11, 2017.
Cameron Hildreth posted 13 points and a game-high and career-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
Hunter Sallis and Kevin Miller netted 20 or more points for the seventh time in 2023-24, along with being the fourth time in conference play for both guards.

Key Moment

After Syracuse trimmed the lead down to 11 for the first time since the 6:34 mark in the first half, the Deacs answered with a 12-3 run less than two minutes into the final 20 minutes of play to push the advantage back out to 20. Wake Forest saw four different players knock down shots over the run, including triples from Sallis and Hildreth to put the game out of reach.

Coach's Comments

"I'm really happy, we had a great crowd tonight. The student section was awesome. We also had 70 plus alums here for basketball. The 1983-84 Elite Eight team was here. We hung out with them last night. It was special for us to play that well in front of so many people. I told Adrian after the game that they caught us on a tough night.

We played really well, especially on offense. We shared the ball really well. We had nine sprays, a spray to me is to drive the basket and kick it out for three or two. We did a good job of coming off the ball and we had 16 assists. We dominated the defensive glass, which really helped us get out in transition and get easy baskets. We had a great team defensive effort on Judah Mintz, who's a handful to defend.

We changed the ball screen coverage for him and I thought it was pretty effective. Because he's a really good player and he gets fouled a lot. We did a good job of staying in the gap stripping and ripping without falling. Some of our problems on the road have been that we've given up 25 free throws on the road and only been giving up 13 at home. Even though they got 19 tonight, some of them were late. I didn't think we got extended tonight. We were more connected defensively. So all in all it was a good effort. We had some really great individual efforts. Cameron Hildreth with a double-double, it's good to see Boopie get back going offensively and Hunter is Hunter. We can't take Hunter for granted. He's just scored 24 and got us off to a great start. Andrew played really well. They all played well. We were really unselfish, had some good moments, offensively where we just shared and got wide open shots." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next

Wake Forest goes back on the road Tuesday, Feb. 6 for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff at Georgia Tech on ESPNU in Atlanta.

Demon Deacons Earn 12th-Straight Home Win Over Syracuse

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Team Stats

Hunter Sallis

Kevin Miller

Andrew Carr

Cameron Hildreth

Players Mentioned

Andrew Carr

Parker Friedrichsen

Cameron Hildreth

Kevin Miller

Damari Monsanto

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

Wake Forest Athletics

Demon Deacons Earn 12th-Straight Home Win Over Syracuse

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Hunter Sallis

Kevin Miller

Andrew Carr

Cameron Hildreth

Players Mentioned

Andrew Carr

Parker Friedrichsen

Cameron Hildreth

Kevin Miller

Damari Monsanto

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

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