NC State defeats Wake Forest 72-67

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s basketball team forced 20 Wake Forest turnovers Wednesday evening on its way to a 72-67 victory over the Demon Deacons inside PNC Arena.

With its first win, NC State improves to 7-5, 3-4 in the ACC while Wake Forest falls to 4-7, 1-7 in the ACC.

Daniels led the Pack in scoring for the second consecutive game, recording 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added a team-best nine rebounds before leaving with an injury in the second half. Junior forward Jericole Hellems also reached double figures with 17 points.

The freshman duo of Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore contributed off-the-bench as Hayes led the team with four assists, while Moore contributed nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor.

NC State was down 8-2 early in the first half, but responded with a 15-5 run, taking the lead 17-15 on a Daniels three-pointer with 12:42 left in the first half.

The Pack never trailed again, building a double-digit lead late in the first half that the Demon Deacons were unable to cut into until Wake Forest made a late run in the final minutes.

The Demon Deacons were able to cut its deficit to 65-60 with less than a minute to go, but the Pack made enough free throws late to hold off Wake Forest.

NC State forced Wake Forest into 20 turnovers which led to 24 points for the Pack.

Junior guard Daivien Williamson led Wake Forest with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while sophomore forward Ismael Massoud added 13 points and seven rebounds.

NC State has now beaten the Demon Deacons 16 out of the last 17 times the teams have played inside PNC Arena.

NC State will hit the road to play Syracuse on Sunday inside the Carrier Dome. Tipoff is set for 6:00pm and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.