Courtesy GoDeacs.com
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Alondes Williams and Daivien Williamson combined for 54 points as the Wake Forest men’s basketball team defeated Western Carolina 87-75 in their second game of the season on Friday night.
The Demon Deacons (2-0) forced the Catamounts (1-1) into 19 turnovers on the defensive side, bringing their total to forty forced turnovers over the first two games of the season. On offense, Wake Forest finished the contest shooting 51.7 percent from the field, marking the first time since the 2008-09 season that the Demon Deacons have shot over 50 percent from the field in each of their first two games of the season.
Jake LaRavia led the charge on defense, finishing with a career-high six steals, the most since Bryant Crawford had six against NC State in the 2016 ACC Tournament. Alondes Williams (three steals), Daivien Williamson, Cameron Hildreth and Khadim Sy (one steal apiece) accounted for the other six of the Deac’s twelve steals on the night. Sy also blocked two shots.
Alondes Williams led the way for the Demon Deacons with a career-high 32 points on 13-of-18 shooting, Williams has now set a career high for points in consecutive games and is the first Deac to record 30+ points in a game since Ismael Massoud dropped 31 points against Pitt on January 23, 2021.
Additionally, Williams led Wake Forest in rebounds (eight) and assists (four), leading the team in the three major statistical categories for the first time since Daivien Williamson had 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists against Catawba on New Year’s Eve in 2020.
Williamson had an impressive night of his own, finishing with 24 points on 80 percent shooting (8-of-10) from the field including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Cameron Hildreth also finished in double figures, scoring 13 on an efficient 4-of-6 from the field including a perfect 2-of-2 from three and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Hildreth is the first freshman to score in double figures over his first two games since Jaylen Hoard scored 19 points and 14 points to begin his career in 2018.
How It Happened
- An Alondes Williams free throw and thunderous dunk off a steal began the Demon Deacons scoring on Friday night.
- After Western Carolina answered, Williams and rookie guard Cameron Hildreth fueled an 8-0 run to help Wake Forest retake the lead 17-12 with 11:03 left to play in the first half.
- Both Williams and Hildreth converted three-point plays at the free throw line during the run.
- Undaunted, the Catamounts hit back-to-back 3-points to take the lead, 18-17.
- The two teams continued to trade blows back-and-forth when Daivien Williamson hit his first jumper from long range with 6:24 to play in the half to give Wake Forest a 24-21 lead.
- Two minutes later, Williamson hit his second triple of the game to kick off a 7-0 run.
- That scoring jolt featured Khadim Sy and Williamson layups that pushed Wake Forest’s lead to three (34-31) with 1:54 remaining until intermission.
- Wake Forest entered halftime with a 38-36 lead after Alondes Williams rolled in a layup with seven seconds left in the half.
- Williams led the Deacs with 15 points (6-of-8 shooting), four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Williamson followed close behind with 12 first half points on 5-of-6 shooting.
- The Deacs defense forced ten turnovers in the first half for the second consecutive game and scored nine points off those WCU miscues.
- The second half began with a Williams jumper and Williamson 3-pointer, respectively as the Demon Deacons opened up an eight-point advantage (47-39) just three minutes into the stanza.
- Two minutes later with 15:27 on the clock, forward Jake LaRavia sent the crowd into a frenzy when he recorded his career-high fifth steal and slammed one home on the offensive end as Wake Forest held a 51-43 advantage.
- After a WCU bucket, the Deacons went on a 7-0 run that featured more points from LaRavia and Williamson’s fourth triple.
- Wake Forest opened up a 13-point lead (66-53) when Khadim Sy slammed in an alley-oop from Williams with 10:38 left to play.
- Hildreth recorded his first collegiate 3-pointer to give the Deacs their largest lead (15, 69-54) with just over ten minutes remaining.
- Hildreth connected on his second trey two minutes later to bring the lead to 72-58 with 8:02 left in the game.
- After the Catamounts cut the lead down to eight, Williams responded by hitting another layup, bringing his point tally to 31 points and the Demon Deacon lead to 10 (80-70) with 2:43 left in the contest.
- Wake Forest went on to defeat Western Carolina, 87-75.
Stat of the Game
- Alondes Williams recorded a career-high 32 points for the Deacs. Williams is the first player to hit 30-plus points since Ismael Massoud dropped 31 points against Pitt on January 23, 2021.
- Additionally, Williams’ 32 points represent the most by a Demon Deacon since Jeff Teague finished with 34 points in Wake Forest’s victory over North Carolina on January 11, 2009.
- Williams also became the first Deac to lead the team in points, rebounds, and assists since Daivien Williamson led Wake Forest in those categories against Catawba on December 31, 2020.
- Williams is the first player to record 20-plus points in back-to-back games to open the season since Cody Miller-McIntyre and Devin Thomas did so against Colgate and VMI to open the 2013-14 season.
Key Moment
- After only leading by five points at most in the first half, Wake Forest went on a decisive 9-2 run early in the second half to build a six-point lead (51-45) into their first double-digit advantage (58-45) with 13:18 left in the game. The Demon Deacon lead would not be cut below eight points for the remainder of the night.
Coach’s Comments
“I want to congratulate Coach Justin Gray on a tremendous day today as I thought they played really well. They have got a really good team. But we made some adjustments at halftime. We really pressed down on them and the ball. We were a little bit more attached to our man in the gaps because we were getting hurt there. I thought we did a good job in the second half of being more attached and guarding our yard. We were really active, and we created a lot of turnovers. Offensively, we just started making shots and we moved the ball better in the second half. I thought we did a good job on the glass. I thought our guys did a really good job putting the game plan into the game.” – head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will be back in action next Wednesday for their matchup against Charleston Southern in LJVM Coliseum.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will stream live on ACC Network Extra.
