Despite his team’s 26-point halftime lead, Wake Forest men’s basketball Head Coach Steve Forbes wasn’t satisfied until the final buzzer.
“The most important score of the game for me is 34-31. It was the score of the second half, and we won,” Forbes said after Wake Forest (15-7, 7-4) demolished Georgia Tech (10-13, 3-9) on the road Tuesday night.
The Demon Deacons’ 29-point rout came on the heels of another onslaught against Syracuse this past Saturday at home. Tuesday’s win, however, quelled some anxiety around Wake Forest’s most glaring issue of the season: winning on the road. Until Tuesday’s win, Wake had dropped four straight on-road games — all while leading at the half.
In just the first nine minutes of play, Wake Forest dropped 20 unanswered points on Georgia Tech, burying the home team in a hole from which they couldn’t recover. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, shot a dismal 4-29 from the field in the first half. While Georgia Tech managed to score 31 points in the second period, it wasn’t nearly enough to eclipse the deficit that once reached as high as 38 points.
“I challenged our team at halftime to grow up, finish the game and play like a championship-level team,” Forbes explained after the game.
Forbes also credited his squad’s ability to share the ball as a major contributor toward their success.
“We shared the ball; as a team we had 17 assists on 29 baskets and six guys with double figures,” Forbes said. “We’ve been really working on that — on offense and creating for others — and that showed tonight.”
All five of Wake Forest’s starters were able to enter double-digit scoring, including junior forward Andrew Carr (13 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST), who recorded his fourth double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Cameron Hildreth (17 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST), meanwhile, led the team in scoring and assists.
Wake Forest now enters its most consequential stretch of the season, facing two of the ACC’s top teams away at Duke and Virginia next week. Before traveling, the Demon Deacons will look to split their season series with NC State at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum this Saturday at 4 p.m.. The matchup will air live on ACC Network.
