Courtesy GoDeacs.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Wake Forest men’s basketball (16-9, 8-6) continued its road stretch into the weekend on Saturday (Feb. 17), visiting No. 21 Virginia (20-6, 11-4) for a second matchup of 2023-24. Things were tightly played until the very end, with the host Cavaliers holding on for a 49-47 win.
Playing back in his home state, Efton Reid III led the Demon Deacons with a double-double of 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Six of his boards happened on the offensive glass.
Hunter Sallis finished with a team-high 12 points for Wake Forest – 10 of which occurred in the second half. The junior guard has notched double figures in scoring through each of the team’s 25 games this season.
Kevin Miller chipped in nine points in 27 minutes while Andrew Carr snatched eight rebounds.
Wake Forest hosts Pittsburgh next Tuesday (Feb. 20) for a season rematch, as the two teams recently faced on Jan. 31 inside Petersen Events Center. Tuesday’s tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET and the contest can be viewed on ACC Network.
How It Happened
- Reid got things started with the first score of the game and the 2-0 Wake lead.
- Three possessions later, Miller found Reid under the basket for another two points and Wake was within one, 5-4.
- The very next possession was a Reid slam from Hildreth to bring it to 7-6, Reid with all six of Wake’s points.
- Out of the timeout, Sallis found the lane for his first points to get Wake within three, 11-8.
- The Wake Forest defense caused three straight turnovers for the Cavs and held them scoreless for nearly five minutes.
- Monsanto hit his first three of the game from the right wing, ending a short drought for the Deacs, and kept Wake within two, 13-11, with 9:33 to go in the half.
- On the next possession, Miller hit his first three from the left corner for the 14-13 Wake Forest lead and a 6-0 run.
- Hildreth made it an 8-0 run with a layup on the next play.
- The defense held Virginia scoreless for nearly five minutes for the second time in the half.
- Reid got his fourth bucket for the 18-17 lead with 3:15 to go in the half.
- Two free throws from Miller out of the timeout put the Deacs up 19-17.
- A pullup jumper from Carr extended the lead, 22-17.
- Wake Forest went into halftime with the 22-21 lead.
- Reid led all players in the first 20 minutes with eight points and seven rebounds.
- Sallis answered back-to-back threes from Virginia to start the second half with a driving jumper from the middle of the lane to keep Wake within three, 29-26.
- Two free throws from Carr and a coast-to-coast driving layup from Friedrichsen put Wake within one, 31-30.
- On the next possession, a jumper from Sallis gave Wake the lead, 32-31.
- While the Deacs went on a 6-0 offensive run, the defense held Virginia without a basket for two and a half minutes.
- Coming out of a media timeout at the 11:40 mark, Virginia scored twice before Miller quickly made his way to the basket.
- The two sides traded another pair of baskets through three minutes, with Reid finishing in the paint and Sallis knocking in a triple.
- Both Wake and Virginia were able to draw fouls next, and Parker Friedrichsen netted a big three-pointer from the top of the key to create a one-point game, 43-42, with 4:55 to play.
- The Cavaliers answered with another make from distance fresh out of the next media timeout, still leading, 46-42.
- It did not take long for Hildreth to get two more points for his Deacs.
- A stickback from Virginia upped the slight gain to 48-44, as 38 seconds remained on the clock.
- Reid kept Wake Forest’s next possession alive on an offensive rebound, and Sallis drained a three to cut the score to 48-47.
- Virginia was able to make one more from the charity stripe.
- Wake Forest fell, 49-47.
Stats of the Game
- Efton Reid III recorded his fourth season double-double as a Deacon on Saturday, finishing with 10 points and 12 rebounds, leading all individuals with the latter:
- Efton Reid III Season Double-Doubles
- Versus No. 21 Virginia (2/17/24) – 10 points and 12 rebounds
- At Pittsburgh (1/31/24) – 14 points and 10 rebounds
- At Boston College (1/2/24) – 13 points and 14 rebounds
- Versus Rutgers (12/6/23) – 12 points and 14 rebounds
- Hunter Sallis continued his streak of 25 consecutive games to open his Wake Forest career with double-digit scoring, finishing with a team-high 12 points versus the Cavaliers
Coach’s Comments
“Blake Buchanan made a couple big shots. I worked with his mom in Idaho. She was a volleyball coach when I was there. That’s how old I am. But he had a couple, he made a couple floaters. Couple of tough shots that he struggled to probably make as a freshman. Those are hard shots and he had the big play.
It was a really hard fought game. Great, great environment here. It’s a wonderful fan base cheering for their team. Reese Beekman really had a great second half. I think he went on a 10-0 run by himself to start the second half. He really came out aggressive on the ball screen. Ryan Dunn played exceptional defense, a couple phenomenal blocked shots, one on Hildreth and one on Carr that I can remember. I think they had a whole bunch of them. But those two guys in my mind really stood out. McNeely made some timely shots, especially the one coming out of the timeout.
Coming into the game, it was really big for us to limit three point attempts. They’re really good when they make threes, they’re like 12th in the league in two-point field goal percentage so it tells you they have to make threes. They need to make threes. We limited them to 13 attempts so it’s pretty good. Under 12 turnovers was going to be really important, and we had 12.
Our offensive execution was very poor down the stretch. We were having to call timeouts and had to burn one on an out of bounds and that really hurt us. But when we did share the ball we had 11 assists on 19 baskets, so we needed to be doing that more in my opinion. We had great fight, great resiliency. It was a tough game, they couldn’t get away from us, they tried. But you know, the last play was poorly executed. That play was one we run every day, three or four times a week. I don’t know what happened there. I do think Parker was open on a skip pass but this where you need to call a timeout, but we didn’t have it. So you have to run it. We poorly executed which ultimately comes on my shoulders.” – head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest hosts Pittsburgh next Tuesday (Feb. 20) for a season rematch, as the two teams recently faced on Jan. 31 inside Petersen Events Center. Tuesday’s tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET and the contest can be viewed on ACC Network.
