ATLANTA, Ga. – The Wake Forest men’s basketball team fell to LSU (8-1) on Saturday in the 2022 Holiday Hoopsgiving invitational, held at State Farm Arena.
Tyree Appleby again anchored the Demon Deacons’ (7-3, 0-1) offense, pouring in a team-high 26 points while adding six assists in 37 minutes of action. It was the graduate guard’s fifth performance of 20 or more points this season. Appleby finished on a remarkable 11-of-13 shooting from the floor.
Matthew Marsh gave a major spark as a reserve, going for his first career double-double – 13 points and 11 rebounds. Additionally, the sophomore big man was perfect from the floor (6-of-6 shooting).
Cameron Hildreth posted another well-rounded showing, piecing together a line of 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
As a team, Wake Forest shot over 53 percent from the field during the first half on Saturday, while holding LSU to just a 39.4 percent mark. The Deacs ultimately finished with a 50.9 percent clip in comparison to the Tigers’ 43.8.
How It Happened
- Appleby got the scoring started for Wake Forest with a catch-and-shoot three assisted by Hildreth at the 17:34 mark.
- Monsanto hit a three-pointer of his own on the next possession with a step-back.
- The Monsanto three kick started a 10-0 Wake Forest run, which included another Appleby three and a pair of layups from Hildreth, and took a 13-8 lead into the first media timeout with 14:39 left in the first half.
- The run continued out of the timeout, as Marsh earned his first points of the game with a three-point play.
- Carr and Appleby connected on back-to-back possessions to extend the run to 17-0 as the Demon Deacons held a 20-8 advantage with 11:59 to go in the half.
- Wake Forest held LSU scoreless for 5:20 minutes of action during the run and connected on 7-of-8 of its field goals.
- Ituka collected his first points of the game with a driving layup at the 10:37 mark.
- The Demon Deacons forced the Tigers into a timeout with 9:05 remaining in the half after a 8-0 run over just 43 seconds of play.
- A Monsanto three followed by five quick Appleby points gave Wake Forest a 30-12 lead.
- Appleby found Hildreth open in the corner for a three to extend the lead to 19 at the under-eight media timeout.
- Marsh got his first dunk of the contest after a lob from Appleby with 4:45 left in the first half.
- The Demon Deacons to a 41-33 lead into the locker room.
- As a team, Wake Forest shot 16-for-30 (53.3%) from the floor and out-rebounded LSU 25-13.
- Appleby led the way with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and three assists.
- Hildreth finished the first half with seven points, six rebounds and four assists.
- Williamson opened the scoring for Wake Forest in the second half as he went coast-to-coast for a fast break layup.
- The Winston-Salem native came up with a steal that led to an Appleby layup to get the lead back to double-digits at the 18:24 mark.
- Appleby converted on a driving layup before the under-16 media timeout to give Wake Forest a 49-47 lead.
- Marsh cut the deficit to three with a layup assisted by Monsanto with 10:18 left in the contest.
- He reached double-digit scoring with a layup on the next possession and completed his first career double-double a few seconds later with a defensive rebound.
- Klintman tied the game at 59-59 with a second-chance layup before the under-eight media timeout.
- Hildreth reclaimed the lead for Wake Forest with a three-point play with 7:40 remaining.
- Carr fought through contact to convert a three-point play with 4:36 left to make it a one-point game.
- Appleby gave Wake Forest the lead at the 4:02 mark with a driving layup.
- Appleby and Marsh connected for their third alley-oop of the contest to make it a one-point game with two minutes left.
- Appleby tied the game at 70 from the charity stripe with 1:13 remaining.
- Wake Forest fell to LSU, 72-70.
Coach’s Comments
“In the last four minutes of the first half, we turned the ball over, took bad shots and we quit defending. The biggest backbreaker to me are the offensive rebounds on free throws, those are inexcusable. We gave up three of those. They had the momentum going in at halftime and the last play of the half was us not boxing out on the free throw that he missed. All of those things are killers. They did a good job.
We did a great job guarding Miller. We denied him, which was causing some problems on the pick-and-pop. I give them a lot of credit. They made some big shots and we didn’t. We still had chances to win the game, but we have to step up and make big shots. It’s disappointing. I’ve got to do a better job. This is kind of emblematic of how we practice, to be honest. We have a really good team practice for about an hour and then we don’t finish practice very well. That stuff carries over, just like the boxing out on free throws carries over. If you don’t do it, you pay for it.” – head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will return home to face Appalachian State on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. for Holiday hoops at the Joel. There will be Santa hats given away to students and a Mini Deacs dance performance at halftime.
Wake Forest is also glad to partner with the Second Harvest Food Bank for a Canned Food Drive on the 14th. All fans are encouraged to bring canned goods and other nonperishables to donate to Second Harvest.
Tickets for that game can be purchased here.
