Head Coach Steve Forbes was worried he would have to spend Christmas thinking about an embarrassing non-conference loss. Instead, he will have a nice win wrapped under the tree after Wake Forest (8-3) beat Presbyterian (7-7) at home, 91-68.
Thursday’s 23-point victory comes on the backs of an explosive offense and stifling defense that awoke during the second half, which extended Wake Forest’s winning streak to six.
Five players scored in double-digits, including forward Andrew Carr (21 pts, 9 reb), guard Hunter Sallis (20 pts, 3 reb) and guard Kevin “Boopie” Miller (19 pts, 7 ast). In his first start as a Demon Deacon, Efton Reid added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks to the box score.
Since December 2018, the Demon Deacons are 27-0 against non-conference opponents at home. The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial home team is 38-5 since the start of the 2021-22 season.
“I know when people look at the schedule and look at the name of the team, they tend to think a game like this would be easy,” Head Coach Steve Forbes said. “I have watched a lot of Presbyterian, and I have been very impressed by their team. During the first half, we had a real problem because we fouled too much, which we haven’t done this season. Presbyterian went 9-for-11 from the free throw line and made six threes, which kept them in the game.”
Wake Forest went into halftime with a three-point lead, and Presbyterian quickly tied the game at 40 once play resumed. Then came a 23-4 run orchestrated by Reid and Carr’s defensive presence and Cameron Hildreth (11 pts, 3 ast) and Miller’s masterful ball facilitation to Sallis. Reid and Carr got their share of connections, slamming dunks down in the post, but none were more emphatic than a thru-traffic poster by Sallis.
“He was playing like Ja Morant,” Miller said of his teammate.
“I’ve seen some big-time dunks in my day — 35 years — but I was in the slot at the end of the coaching box when [Sallis] drove it from the slide,” Forbes said. “I didn’t see that coming. I mean, I know he’s got that in him, but man, that was nasty.”
Sallis’ performance on Thursday combined with his consistent scoring this season (18.0 ppg, sixth in the ACC), has drawn comparisons to a former Wake Forest transfer guard and 2021-22 ACC Player of the Year Alondes Williams. Miller (17.2 ppg, ninth in the ACC; 4.3 apg, fifth in the ACC) has also shown flashes of Forbes’ most recent AP ACC Player of the Year, Tyree Appleby.
The transfer guard duo had already exceeded Forbes’ expectations at the beginning of the season. All three believe there is more to come.
“[In deciding to transfer to Wake Forest], we needed that freedom to play our games,” Miller said. “Coming from the situations we came from, we wanted to come on a bigger stage and do what we do. But I feel like this is just the beginning. You know, this is the first half of the season. I feel like we’re gonna go into conference play, just get way better and just keep doing us.”
Wake Forest begins the gauntlet of ACC play when Virginia Tech (9-3) comes to Winston-Salem on Saturday, Dec. 30. The game is set to begin at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.
