Demon Deacons Notch First Conference Road Win at Syracuse in New Years Eve Matchup

Courtesy Godeacs.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Up North for its final game of 2024, Wake Forest men’s basketball wrapped the calendar year with a New Years Eve showing at Syracuse (Dec. 31). The Demon Deacons (10-4, 2-1 ACC) used balanced team play and stifling defense to earn an 81-71 victory over the host Orange (6-7, 0-2 ACC) inside the JMA Wireless Dome.

The win was Wake Forest’s first of the season in an Atlantic Conference road contest.

The Deacs were solid on both ends of the floor, finishing with its best, collective three-point shooting performance of 2024-25 thus far, totaling a 47.4 percentage on a 9-for-19 mark beyond the arc. On the defensive side, Wake Forest held Syracuse to 38 percent from the field on 21-of-56 shooting during the afternoon. 

Senior guard Hunter Sallis led the offense with a game-high 23 points, playing all 40 minutes while also making seven of his eight free-throw attempts and adding four assists and a pair of steals. Currently the team’s leading scorer for a second straight season (18.2 points per game), Sallis now has six showings of 20-plus points through the first 14 games.

Tre’Von Spillers was steady for his fourth double-double of the season – 11 points and 10 rebounds, in addition to a team-high three steals and two blocks. Fellow senior Cameron Hildreth posted 14 points while shooting 5-for-9 from the field and grabbing three rebounds. Efton Reid tallied nine points, six rebounds and two blocks.

Making his first start as a Deac, Ty-Laur Johnson recorded 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 20 minutes of action. Freshman Juke Harris proved as a major contributor in the second half, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds. In total five Wake Forest individuals reached double-digits in points. 

How It Happened

• The Deacs got on the board first with a slam from Spillers to go up 2-0 in the first minute.
  • Two possessions later Hildreth banked one in for the four-point lead.
• Johnson found Spillers at the rim on the next possession to keep Wake in front.
  • The very next possession was a putback by Reid and the Deacs took the six-point lead, 8-2.
• The next offensive play was another bank, this one coming from Sallis creating his own shot on the right side.
  • The Deacs continued the offensive momentum with an and-one conversion from Johnson for the 13-2 lead.
• A defensive steal from Hildreth led to a wide open three-pointer by Johnson for the 14-point lead with 16 minutes left in the half.
  • A free throw from Spillers out of the timeout extended the Deacs run to 13-0 over three minutes of game time. 
• A jumper from Sallis on the next offensive possession extended the run 15-1.
• Reid worked his way into the paint for a basket to keep Wake in front, 21-8.
• A jumper from Spillers in the paint ended a short Syracuse run and kept the Deacs in front with eight minutes to go in the half, 23-14.
• Hildreth drained a three from the right wing to end another Syracuse run and keep Wake Forest in the lead, 26-20, with under five minutes left in the half.
• A jumper and a free throw from Sallis ended a Wake scoring drought to maintain the lead.
  • Johnson hit a corner three on the next possession.
  • Two more free throws from Sallis gave Wake a six-point lead with under two minutes to go in the half. 
  • Johnson laid it in on the next trip down the floor.
• Wake Forest went into halftime with the 36-34 lead.
  • Johnson led the Deacs in the first 20 minutes with 11 points and two assists.
  • Reid led the team with four first-half rebounds. 
• The second half began with a jumper in the lane from Hildreth to put the Deacs up four.
  • Syracuse tied the game at 38 with 17 minutes left to play.
• Sallis ended a Wake drought and kept the Deacs within four, 45-41.
  • A three from Sallis got Wake within three, 47-44, on the next possession. 
  • Another three, this time from Friedrichsen, tied it at 47 with 12:51 to go.
• Another three from Sllis got the Deacs the lead back, 50-49, with 11:20 remaining.
  • On the next possession Harris hit his first three of the game from the left corner for the 53-51 lead.
• Out of the timeout, Sallis hit another jumper in the lane for the 55-51 lead.
  • Another corner three from Harris kept Wake in front, 58-52 with nine minutes left to play. 
• Two free throws from both Sallis and Spillers maintained the Deacs lead with seven minutes to go.
• The drive and the bucket from Harris kept Wake in front by four with six minutes to go. 
• After a Syracuse travel, Sallis found Spillers under the basket for the bucket and the six-point lead.
  • On the next play Harris got the steal which led to a bucket from Hildreth and the eight-point lead with 5:37 to go. 
• Syracuse cut it to three, 68-65, but a stepback three-pointer from Hildreth at the right wing put Wake back up six with three minutes left to play.
• A block from Reid on a Syracuse three-pointer led to two free throws from Harris and the eight-point lead with 1:35 to go. 
• Reid hit two free throws to keep the eight-point lead with 1:15 to go.
  • Hildreth hit two from the line as well to maintain the lead with under a minute to go. 
  • Two more from Sallis kept Wake in front.
  • Reid hit two more with 30 seconds to go.
• Wake Forest defeated Syracuse, 81-71.

Stats of the Game

• The Demon Deacons had their most efficient game of the season from beyond the arc, shooting 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from three.
  • The team’s nine made three-pointers were the most since making 10 against Detroit Mercy last month (Nov. 23).
• The Deacon defense impressed with 18 forced turnovers and 11 steals.

Key Moment

• Clinging on to a two-point lead with 6:26 left to play, the Demon Deacons went on a quick 6-0 run over a 46-second span, capped off by a Cameron Hildreth layup following a Juke Harris steal to put Wake Forest up 68-60.

Coach’s Comments
“I’m really proud of our team. We fought through a lot of adversity in the second-half to get a hard fought road win. We got off to a great start, but we weren’t so great in the middle eight. At halftime, 23 of their 34 points were on offensive rebounds and free throws, so we had to stop fouling them. We came out for the second half and we fouled them on seven straight possessions and we got three guys with four fouls. Juke Harris, Parker Friedrichsen and Davin Cosby played really well for us coming off the bench at the guard position. We went to the 1-3-1. We don’t play it a lot, but we needed to stop fouling. That really helped us. Parker and Hunter [Sallis] made back-to-back threes when they were up by six to tie it. I called a timeout just to get a little more organized in the zone, and from there we just took off. We kept them at bay and put some scoring pressure on them. Down the stretch we executed well. Offensively, we made free throws. Any time that you come in here and win, it’s a great win. I have a lot of respect for Syracuse’s program and the history of it. It’s my favorite dome in the world to play in. This is a great environment to play in and we’re really proud of the win. ” – head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Wake Forest returns to action at home inside The Joel Coliseum Saturday, Jan. 4, when they host the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the first of three Big Four matchups at The Joel in the month of January.

Tip on Saturday is set for 12 p.m. and the game will air live on The CW.