Wake Forest Falls to NC State in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. – Returning to game action for the first time in seven days, Wake Forest men's basketball (19-8, 11-5 ACC) visited NC State (11-16, 4-12 ACC) on Saturday afternoon inside Lenovo Center. The Demon Deacons battled for 40 minutes before falling to the Wolfpack in an 85-73 decision.

Senior guard Cameron Hildreth led the Deacs with a team-high 16 points, in addition to four rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes. Senior forward Tre'Von Spillers contributed 15 points while going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Senior guard Hunter Sallis pieced together a line of 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Senior center Efton Reid III rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 points and also grabbed four rebounds. Freshman wing Juke Harris chipped in nine points as a reserve.

Wake Forest finished with 13 assists on 22 made baskets. Defensively, the team forced 13 turnovers by NC State.

How It Happened

The Deacs won the opening tip.
After NC State opened the game by scoring the first 11 points, Hunter Sallis collected Wake Forest's first points of the afternoon with a pair of free throws.
- Omaha Biliew would convert the Deacs' first field goal attempt of the game on the next possession before the Deacs forced a turnover at the under-16 media timeout.
Tre'Von Spillers put down a dunk before Cameron Hildreth laid home his first points of the contest to push the Wake Forest run to 8-0.
- Spillers would make a pair of free throws to move Wake Forest's unanswered run to 10 points.
Juke Harris tied the game at 13 apiece on a contested three which he would swish.
The Deacs took their first lead at 18-17 as Biliew made a baseline jumper.
- As Wake took the lead, the Deacs held NC State scoreless for more than two minutes as the Wolfpack was forced into six-straight missed shots.
Hildreth pushed the Deacs back in front 24-23 with a tough drive and finish in the lane.
Efton Reid III earned a three-point play, slamming home his first points while being fouled before swishing his attempt from the charity stripe.
NC State was called for a flagrant foul with 1:51 remaining in the first half. Reid would hit on his second free throw attempt to cut the Demon Deacon deficit to five.
Wake Forest entered the halftime break down 40-34.
The Deacs scored on the first possession of the second half, as strong ball movement created an opportunity for Hildreth to penetrate the middle of the paint and finish.
Sallis hit on a baseline fadeaway jumper to cut the deficit down to two, 40-38.
- The Omaha, Neb., native made a pair of free throws with 17:24 remaining in regulation for his sixth and seventh points.
Out of the under-16 media timeout, Hildreth scored on a pair of free throw attempts followed by Reid making an uncontested shot.
- The Richmond, Va., native tied the game at 50 all with two free throws.
The Deacs scored on an inbounds play to knot the score at 54-54.
- On their next trip up the court, Wake took its first lead of the second half as Spiller swished a three before getting the Deacs in front 56-53 with a clean finish at the bucket.
Wake's lead would grow to five from a 7-0 run that was extended by a pair of free throws from Sallis.
Spillers stopped a 13-0 Wolfpack run with two made free throws with 4:29 remaining in the second half.
The Deacs would pull back within nine, 76-67, with 1:55 remaining.
Spillers converted on two free throws to make it 76-69 with 1:38 left.
After the teams exchanged trips to the free throw line in the final minute Wake Forest would ultimately fall, 85-73.

Stats of the Game

Four Demon Deacons reached double figures in scoring:
- Cameron Hildreth – 16 points
- Tre'Von Spillers – 15 points
- Hunter Sallis – 13 points
- Efton Reid III – 12 points
Wake Forest outperformed NC State in paint points, 32-28.

Coach's Comments
"Coming into the game, I thought that the three most important things were ball security, transition defense and rebounding. I didn't anticipate them making 13 three-pointers. Credit to them. We took care of the ball for the most part. We only had 11 turnovers and four of those were offensive fouls down in the post. Early on, offensive rebounding, especially from our guards, was a huge problem. Their guards were just quicker to the ball and they were making plays on the glass to get an extra possession. We kind of got that under control as the game went on. Our defensive transition was OK. Our biggest issue today was our ball screen defense. We weren't consistently hedging the screen and our guards kept getting caught chipping the roll man. They kept kicking the ball out of the screens and we were late getting out for the majority of the day. They had a lot of easy, catch-and-shoot threes. They made a couple three-pointers off the dribble, but most of them were thrown off the back of a ball screen. We couldn't get Michael O'Connell under control on the ball screen, and he had 13 assists because of it. Our point of attack was not good defensively. We gave up 85 points to a team that averages close to 66 points in league play. That's just not the way to win.

We went up by five with eight minutes to go, and then we gave up three three-pointers in a row. We doubled [Dontrez] Styles on one of them, who passed it to the baseline, and then they found McConnell for three. We went down the other end and shot a quick three, missed it, and then we're back in defensive transition and matchup issues, and [Jayden] Taylor hits a stepback three on our five. We then come down and get an offensive foul which then leads to another three for them after the media timeout. That was the game for us.

Credit to them. I don't think Styles fouled us the entire game defensively. They had a freshman come in who only averages three points a game and he finished with 24. He's a really good player, but he was just too comfortable. I didn't think we came in with a sense of urgency." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Wake Forest will return home for three of its final four regular season games, starting with a Wednesday night meeting with Virginia.

Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

Next Event

Team Stats

Cameron Hildreth

Tre'Von Spillers

Hunter Sallis

Efton Reid III

Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Juke Harris

Cameron Hildreth

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

Tre'Von Spillers

Wake Forest Athletics