Deacs Earns Big Four Victory over North Carolina in Front of Sellout Crowd

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Extending its ongoing win streak to six games, Wake Forest men's basketball (15-4, 7-1 ACC) remained perfect at home on Tuesday night inside LJVM Coliseum, downing Big Four rival North Carolina (12-8, 5-3 ACC) in a 67-66 victory.

The Demon Deacons are on their longest winning streak since the 2004-05 campaign and are now 10-0 at home this season. Additionally, the team's 7-1 mark against Atlantic Coast Conference foes is its best start since the 1996-97 season.

Wake Forest defeated North Carolina in front of the first sold out crowd of the season, with 12,799 fans packing The Joel Tuesday night. The crowd included 2,775 students in attendance, the highest of the season thus far.

Four Deacs reached double-figures in scoring, led by Cameron Hildreth's 20 points. The Worthing, England, native went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line and grabbed six rebounds while playing all 40 minutes.

Hunter Sallis fell just short of a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds. Frontcourt mates Efton Reid III and Tre'Von Spillers contributed 12 points apiece. The latter also hauled in nine boards of his own to tie the game-high mark and added four blocks.

Wake Forest won the battle on the glass, 41-33, as the team's rebounding total was its most in an ACC contest this season.

Defensively, the Demon Deacons held North Carolina to 8-of-32 shooting from three-point territory (25 percent) while forcing 12 turnovers.

How It Happened

After the Tar Heels opened with a 3-0 lead, senior Efton Reid III sank two free throws to open the scoring for the Deacs.
- Sophomore Ty-laur Johnson added one from the line to tie the game on the next possession.
Johnson sank a driving jump shot on the next Demon Deacon possession to give the Deacs a 5-3 lead.
After a short run by the Tar Heels, senior Cameron Hildreth hit his first shot of the night to cut the lead down to two.
Following another short North Carolina run, Hildreth finished a driving layup to make it 16-9.
Out of the timeout, Hildreth cut the deficit to five with two free throws.
- A shot clock buzzer beater from Sallis cut it to three, 16-13, two plays later.
The Deacs' 6-0 run was supported by defense that held Carolina scoreless for four minutes.
Two more free throws from Hildreth kept Wake within one score, 18-15.
Harris hit two free throws out of the timeout to get the Deacs back within four, 21-17.
- With an early entrance into the double bonus, Hildreth hit two more from the stripe to get within two with six minutes left in the half.
A baseline jumper from Sallis answered a Carolina three to keep the Deacs within three, 24-21.
- Another bucket from Sallis in the paint moved it to 26-23.
Spillers hit a turnaround jumper out of the final media timeout of the half to get Wake within two.
Hildreth tied it at 27 with 1:30 to go in the half by sinking two from the free throw line.
Hildreth hit a tough fadeaway basket with five seconds left to cut the lead down to 31-29 heading into halftime.
- Hildreth led all scorers in the first half, finishing with 14 points while going 8-10 from the line.
Reid got the second-half scoring started for the Deacs to keep the deficit at two.
Spillers found Reid under the basket for a slam to tie it at 33.
- On the next possession Sallis hit a jumper for the Deacs' first lead since the 17-minute mark of the first half, 35-33.
- Another jumper from Sallis two plays later tied it at 37.
Both teams traded buckets on the next two possessions to keep it tied at 39.
After a defensive rebound by Spillers, he hit the first Wake three of the game on the following possession for the 42-39 lead.
A backdown jumper from Hildreth extended Wake's lead to 44-39 while the defense held Carolina scoreless for over three minutes.
Johnson hit his first three of the game to extend Wake's run to 10-0 and make it an eight-point lead.
Sallis made it a 12-0 run and a 10-point lead with a stepback jumper out of the timeout.
Out of the timeout, Reid finished off a sweet find by Johnson to keep the Deacs' eight-point advantage.
The Tar Heels went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to two.
Two free throws from Hildreth extended the lead back to four with 6:44 left to play.
After trading buckets, Wake retook the 55-54 lead off a putback from Spillers.
On the next possession Reid found Spillers on the baseline cut for a dunk and the three-point lead.
Johnson hit one free throw out of the timeout to keep the four-point lead.
- Two more free throws from Reid after a Carolina bucket kept the Wake lead.
On the next possession Sallis hit a fadeaway jumper in the lane for the six-point lead with under two minutes to go.
Another bucket and the and-one from Spillers made it a 7-0 Wake run and gave the Deacs the nine-point lead with 1:20 remaining in the game.
The Tar Heels went on a short run to make it 65-60 with under 30 seconds to go.
Out of the timeout, Reid sank both free throws to extend the Wake lead to 67-60 with 23 seconds remaining.
Despite a 6-0 run from North Carolina, the Demon Deacons closed out the game, defeating the Tar Heels 67-66.

Stats of the Game

Four Deacs scored 12 or more points on Tuesday night:
- Cameron Hildreth – 20
- Hunter Sallis – 14
- Tre'Von Spillers – 12
- Efton Reid III – 12
Wake Forest shot 50 percent in the second half, making 14-of-28 looks from the floor.
The Demon Deacons recorded a season-high seven blocks against the Tar Heels.

Key Moment

After Tre'Von Spillers went for an inside finish and made a free throw, Efton Reid III drew a foul with 23 seconds remaining in the contest before swishing in two at the charity stripe to up Wake Forest's lead to 67-60.

Coach's Comments
"I was really disappointed with how we played offensively in the first half. I don't think I've ever coached a game where we didn't have any assists and had ten turnovers in a half. That's not a great recipe for success. We were very fortunate to only be down two at half. A lot of that had to do with the fact that we put a lot of pressure on them off the dribble and forced them to foul us and make free throws. We were 8-for-22 for 38 percent from two in the first half. In the second half, we went 12-of-19 from two at 62 percent. That's a huge difference. We also played off two feet.

Cameron [Hildreth] was really good in the post and Efton [Reid] was fabulous. Obviously, we didn't have Efton much because of foul trouble in the first half. Hunter [Sallis] struggled to shoot the ball but he made some big shots and he chased RJ Davis the entire game, which is hard to do. They have really good guards and they are a great offensive team. It's hard to score on them. Part of the problem with the ball screen was that we weren't rolling, so they didn't have to help on the roll, so they were able to just stay out. We finally put some pressure on them with the roll and we got some offensive rebounds to really help us.

Defensively, we were outstanding the entire game. We got ten kills. 32 of their 65 shots were from three, so we did a good job of protecting the lane. They also only got 12 points in transition. They're fourth in the country for points per possession in transition. They are averaging 21 points per game in transition in conference play and tonight they only got 12. We guarded without fouling. The zone also slowed them down a little bit. We didn't finish the game very well, so I'm not pleased with that. We made some bad decisions. Hunter missed some free throws. He's a 90 percent free throw shooter and he missed two front-ends. Credit to Efton though. There's not many times you have a seven-foot center that can go and swish them like that. He was outstanding. It was a great atmosphere. The crowd came out. Really happy for the win." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Wake Forest stays home this weekend to host No. 2 Duke in a sold-out Saturday matchup.

Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPN.

Deacs Earns Big Four Victory over North Carolina in Front of Sellout Crowd

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Team Stats

Cameron Hildreth

Hunter Sallis

Efton Reid III

Tre'Von Spillers

Players Mentioned

Cameron Hildreth

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

Tre'Von Spillers

Wake Forest Athletics

Deacs Earns Big Four Victory over North Carolina in Front of Sellout Crowd

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Cameron Hildreth

Hunter Sallis

Efton Reid III

Tre'Von Spillers

Players Mentioned

Cameron Hildreth

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

Tre'Von Spillers

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