WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Looking to shake off a road loss earlier this week, Wake Forest men’s basketball (12-4, 4-1) returned to its home floor on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 13) with a sharp focus, downing the visiting Virginia Cavaliers (11-5, 2-3) in a 66-47 victory.
The team moved to 10-0 inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial (LJVM) Coliseum this season. It is now the first time in program history in which Wake Forest has won its first 10 games at home for three consecutive seasons.
The Demon Deacon defense was impressive in holding Virginia to 47 points – the first time in the head coach Steve Forbes era in which an opponent scored under 50 in a single contest. Additionally, the visitors’ point total was the lowest since Wake Forest defeated Clemson on February 1, 2020 in a 56-44 decision.
Junior guard Hunter Sallis shined on both ends of the floor throughout the afternoon, leading all individuals with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The Omaha native caught fire early on from three-point territory to ultimately finish with a new career high of five makes, happening on eight total attempts. Sallis crashed the glass well to tie his personal high of nine rebounds.
Andrew Carr was effective in securing his third double-double of the season, totaling 12 points and 12 rebounds. Efton Reid III aided in controlling the paint with a line of nine points (4-of-6 shooting), eight rebounds and a game-high five blocks. The performance included his third showing of five blocks this winter.
Kevin Miller controlled the offensive tempo while drawing a number of fouls to end with 14 points and a game-high seven assists, in addition to two steals. He now has seven games in 2023-24 with at least five assists.
As a group, the Deacs enjoyed an efficient display in field goal shooting (50.0 percent), three-point shooting (47.6 percent) and free-throw shooting (85.7 percent). The team swished in 10 three-pointers for the day, doing so for the sixth time this season.
Wake Forest will get back on the road next week for its first Big Four matchup of the season. The Deacs face the NC State Wolfpack on Tuesday (Jan. 16) night inside PNC Arena at 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ACC Network.
How It Happened
- Hunter Sallis got the Deacs on the board first with a left-wing three-pointer for the early 3-0 lead.
- A Kevin Miller steal and drive put Wake up 5-0 on the next possession.
- The Wake Forest defense held Virginia without a point for the first four minutes of the game.
- Out of the timeout, Cameron Hildreth found Efton Reid III under the basket for a slam and the 7-2 lead.
- On the next possession, Sallis hit a jumper from the lane to put Wake up seven.
- Sallis hit his second three of the game to give the Deacs the 12-4 lead nine minutes into the game.
- A couple possessions later, Hildreth found the rim on a driving layup for the 14-8 lead.
- After Virginia tied it at 14, Miller put the Deacs back in front, 17-14, with his first make from range.
- Two possessions later, Sallis drained his third from deep for the 20-15 Wake Forest lead.
- Out of the timeout, Sallis found Reid III under the basket for another slam and the 22-15 lead with three minutes left in the half.
- On the next play, Carr hit his first three of thee game that gave Wake the 10-point lead.
- Carr found the basket again, this time in the lane with a layup.
- Wake Forest went into halftime with the 27-21 lead.
- Sallis led all scorers with 11 points in the first 20 minutes on 4-of-6 shooting and 3-of-4 from deep.
- Carr led all players with five first-half rebounds.
- Miller dished out a game-high three assists in the first 20 minutes.
- Miller opened the second-half scoring with a layup to extend Wake’s lead to eight.
- Carr found the rim for a slam on the next play and the 10-point lead.
- The next possession resulted in an and-one conversion from Miller to put Wake up, 34-21, with 17:32 to go.
- The Wake Forest defense held Virginia without a basket for the first three minutes of the second half.
- Sallis followed Miller’s three-point play with a bucket from deep on the next play and Wake went up 37-23 at the 16:25 mark.
- Reid III hit his first three of the game from the top of the key at the 15-minute mark for the 15-point lead and two possessions later Hildreth hit his first.
- On the next possession, Sallis found the rim on a jumper from the paint and put Wake back up by 15.
- Reid found the basket out of the timeout and Wake went up 17 with 10:35 to play.
- Sallis hit a layup on the next possession for the 49-33 lead.
- Friedrichsen hit his first three of the game from the right corner off a pass from Miller and Wake went back up by 17 points at the 7:34 mark.
- A fadeaway jumper from Carr kept the offense going and the Wake Forest defense held Virginia to just 38 points for the game with 6:17 left to play.
- Hildreth fought his way into the lane for a jumper and the 14-point lead with 4:18 to go.
- Miller followed with a coast-to-coast layup and put Wake up 16 at the 4:04 mark.
- He followed that up with two free throws to extend Wake’s lead.
- Carr chipped in to hit two free throws and Wake went up 63-44 with 2:20 to play.
- One final Sallis three put the finishing touches on the afternoon.
- Wake Forest defeated Virginia, 66-47.
Stats of the Game
- With the win, Wake Forest is now 41-5 inside LJVM Coliseum since the start of the 2021-22 season and 10-0 this season.
- For the first time in program history, Wake Forest has started 10-0 at home for three consecutive seasons.
- The Demon Deacons are now 4-1 in ACC play for the first time since 2004-05.
- The Deacs are now 72-70 all-time against Virginia, including a 43-21 mark at home and 1908 in LJVM.
- Saturday marked the first home win over the Cavaliers since January of 2013.
- Defensively, Wake Forest held Virginia to just 47 points, marking the first time in the Forbes-era the Deacs held an opponent to under 50 points and fewest since February of 2020 (Clemson, 44).
- The Cavaliers were also held to just 21 points in the first half, the fewest points allowed in a half by the Deacs this season.
- Virginia shot 16-of-57 (28.1 percent) from the floor, the lowest shooting percentage allowed by the Deacs this season and lowest since Jan. 4, 2022 against Florida State.
- It was also the first time since Dec. 9, 2018 that Virginia shot under 30 percent in a game.
- Efton Reid III recorded his third five-block performance of the season, becoming the first Demon Deacon with three five-block games in a single season since Doral Moore in 2017-2018.
Key Moment
- Opening the second half, Wake Forest seized an 8-2 run to create some room for a 37-23 lead before the first media timeout arrived.
- Kevin Miller kicked off the spurt with a layup before Andrew Carr flushed a dunk on an inbounds play.
- Miller then converted a traditional three-point play, followed by a Hunter Sallis triple.
Coach’s Comments
“That was a great win for our program. Virginia is the model program in our league with culture, coaching and winning tradition. We have an enormous amount of respect for their coaches and players. We were very happy to win this game.
Our defensive effort was outstanding the whole game. For Hunter and Cameron to chase their players off screens all game long, I don’t think people realize how hard that is and the elite condition they have to be in to do that. Then Hunter comes back and gets 21 points and nine rebounds on the other side. That was one of the better all around performances I’ve had here for a player on both ends of the court.
The eight kills were very important. The start of the second half was huge. Virginia scored on three of their first 14 possessions. In the first half, they bothered us with their physicality. We caused them to turn it over seven times. My team is pretty patient on offense, and they figured it out.
In the second half, we loosened them up and got inside of their shell. We knocked some threes down and started driving it. The bigs did a good job of slipping and getting inside of the defense, making plays or passing it out. Andrew and Efton did a good job inside, Andrew had a double-double and Efton had five blocks. Overall that was a very good team win.” – head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will get back on the road next week for its first Big Four matchup of the season. The Deacs face the NC State Wolfpack on Tuesday (Jan. 16) night inside PNC Arena at 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ACC Network.
