Deacs Battle Georgia Tech on Tuesday Night

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Starting its final week of regular-season play for the 2023-24 campaign, Wake Forest men's basketball (18-12, 10-9) hosted Georgia Tech (14-16, 7-12) on Tuesday night (March 5) for a second season meeting. The Demon Deacons battled for the duration of the contest before falling in a 70-69 finish.

Junior guard Hunter Sallis led Wake Forest with a game-high 22 points while also adding four rebounds and three assists. His Tuesday performance involved a 14th 20-point game of the year and ninth in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play.

Cameron Hildreth provided effort on both ends to contribute 17 points and four steals – leading all individuals in the latter category and posting a 54.5 field goal percentage.

Kevin Miller finished with 12 points in 32 minutes played. Big man Efton Reid III chipped in 11 points (5-of-8 shooting) and a team-best six rebounds.

The Deacs were solid at the free throw line, making 17 of 20 attempts (85.0 percent). In the second half, the team shot 55.2 percent from the floor. Additionally, Wake Forest outscored the Yellow Jackets in the paint, 38-22.

Wake Forest will conclude the regular season on Saturday (March 9) with a home finale versus Clemson. The game will start at 6 p.m. ET inside LJVM Coliseum and be shown on ACC Network.

How It Happened

Sallis scored the first points of the game for the Deacs which made the score 2-16.
- On the next possession, Sallis went 2-of-2 from the line to cut the deficit to 4-16.
Marsh went 1-of-2 from the line for his first points of the game to cut the lead to 5-21.
After a Georgia Tech turnover, Hildreth scored to cut the deficit again.
Just before the 10-minute mark of the first half, Sallis went 2-of-2 from the free throw line to cut the lead to 9-26.
Miller scored the Deacs first three-pointer of the night to make the score 12-26.
Following a steal from Hildreth, Reid slammed it to cut the lead to 14-26 and put the Deacs on a 7-0 run.
Sallis hauled in a rebound and went coast-to-coast before converting an and-one layup to make the score 17-28.
With five minutes left in the first half, Miller scored for the second time from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 20-30.
Hildreth drained a step-back jumper to cut the lead to 22-33.
Marion pulled down a defensive rebound which led to a Reid dunk off a Sallis assist which made the score 24-35.
With just under 30 seconds left in the half, Miller went 2-of-2 from the free throw line to cut the lead to 26-40 at halftime.
- The Deacs went 8-of-9 (88.9 percent) as a team from the free throw line in the first half.
- Sallis had a team-high nine points in the first 20 minutes and went a perfect 5-of-5 from the line.
Reid scored the first points of the second half in the paint to cut the lead to 28-42.
On the next possession, Sallis hauled in an offensive rebound and scored the second chance bucket.
Carr went 2-of-2 from the charity stripe which made the score 32-42.
Reid scored in the paint to cut the lead to 34-44.
Following a defensive rebound from Carr, Sallis laid it in to cut the deficit to 36-44.
On the defensive side of the floor, Carr blocked a layup to give the Deacs the ball.
Carr threw down a dunk off an assist from Sallis to cut the lead to 38-48.
Hildreth drove the paint and converted the and-one layup which made the score 41-48.
- Hildreth converted another and-one to add to the Deacs 6-0 run.
- On the third-straight possession Hildreth scored for the Deacs with a three to cut the lead to 47-50.
With just over 10 minutes left in the game, Hilderth drove the paint and scored on the fourth straight possession to cut the deficit to 49-52.
- Carr then scored off an assist from Miller to bring the Deacs within one point of the Yellow Jackets, 51-52.
Out of the timeout, Sallis drove the paint and scored to cut the lead to 54-59.
On the defensive side of the floor, Freidrichsen stole the ball which led to a layup by Sallis to cut the deficit to 56-59.
- On the next possession, Sallis hit a jumper which made the score 58-62.
With just under four minutes left in the game, Hildreth went 2-of-2 from the line to cut the lead to 60-66.
Reid drained his first three pointer of the night which made the score 63-68 with just under two minutes left in the game.
Miller scored off a layup to bring the Deacs with three points, 65-68.
- On the next possession, Miller went 2-of-2 from the line to bring the Deacs within one point of the Yellow Jackets, 67-68, and put Wake on a 7-0 run.
With 18 seconds left in the game, Sallis took the lead for the Deacs with a step-back jumper, 69-68.
Wake Forest fell to Georgia Tech 70-69.

Stats of the Game

The Demon Deacons have been dominant in a number of home categories among ACC teams over the last three seasons including scoring:

Ranks Team Home Scoring

1 Wake Forest 82.3
2 Miami (FL) 81.6
3 North Carolina 81.1
4 Duke 80.8
5 Syracuse 79.8
Wake Forest has also shot over 100 more free throws attempts and free throws made at home than any other team since the start of the 2021-22 season:

Ranks Team Home Free Throw Att. FT Made Pct.

1 Wake Forest 1182 909 .769
3 North Carolina 1021 773 .757
2 Pittsburgh 1026 744 .725
5 Syracuse 999 744 .745
5 Duke 969 732 .755
- Wake Forest's home free throws attempted is second nationally during that time period.
The Deacs have also been elite from three at home in the last three years:

Rank Team Home Threes Made Three Att. Pct.

1 Wake Forest 467 1219 .383
2 Notre Dame 456 1281 .356
3 Virginia Tech 434 1122 .387
4 Duke 427 1138 .375
5 Miami (FL) 421 1110 .379
Four Demon Deacons finished in double figures within their scoring:
- Hunter Sallis – 22 points
- Cameron Hildreth – 17 points
- Kevin Miller – 12 points
- Efton Reid III – 11 points

Coach's Comments
"We played really tight in the first half. You could see it in their faces. We started out the game with two stops but they got two offensive rebounds. They made three's and got confidence from seeing the ball go in. Georgia Tech really hurt us on the offensive glass in the first half. I think they scored 13 points on offensive rebounds. They made eight threes but a few of those were off offensive rebounds and a bad switch.

We were just trying to survive. We got down 21-4 and it's hard to win that way. We got it manageable by halftime and we came out and fought hard. We battled, but we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We missed at least three layups in transition. With about 2:10 to go we gave them a layup. The positive is that we didn't settle in the second half. We got inside their defense, got to the basket and to the foul line.

Kelly had a nice game and made some shots. George was good on the ball screen but we turned him over seven times as well. We did a good job switching up the coverages on him to try and keep him guessing. They're athletic, I thought that bothered us at times at the rim. Obviously it is a bad time of the year to play like this at home, when you have a lot riding on it; we talked about it at halftime. After the way we played in the first half I told the guys 'The NCAA Tournament is on the line here, we have to play'. We have to leave it all out there and we can't come in here and feel like we didn't empty our tank, they emptied their tanks. At the end, we had a set defense, the guy fell down and I thought the game was over. Then they get a jump ball out of it. We did a good job guarding the guy coming around the handoff and the guy made the shot. That's what happens when you don't respect the game in the first half. Credit to Georgia Tech for coming in here and getting one." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Wake Forest will conclude the regular season on Saturday (March 9) with a home finale versus Clemson. The game will start at 6 p.m. ET inside LJVM Coliseum and be shown on ACC Network.

Next Event

Team Stats

Hunter Sallis

Cameron Hildreth

Kevin Miller

Efton Reid III

Players Mentioned

Cameron Hildreth

Kevin Miller

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

Wake Forest Athletics