For Wake Forest Men’s Basketball, opening night went pretty alright.
Cameron Hildreth and Hunter Sallis led the Demon Deacons as they won their season opener against the Coppin State Eagles, 64-49.
Sallis remained at an All-ACC level as the main facilitator in the Demon Deacons’ offense- generating a team-high five assists and becoming a focal point in Forbes’ system.
The Demon Deacons overwhelmed on defense, too — grabbing 11 steals and generating 20 turnovers.
“I was really proud of the way that we defended,” Forbes said. “That’s what we were going to have to do as we keep going through this season.”
Wake Forest wouldn’t get through opening night without showing some flaws, however — the most evident being that they went 11-23 (47.8%) from the free-throw line. The Demon Deacons also shot a subpar 9-37 (24.7%) from three-point land, as Parker Friedrichsen went an uncharacteristic 0-5 from deep.
“Am I panicking? No,” said Forbes. “I know what they can do, but they gotta do it. It’s some of our better guys that are not stepping up and making free throws.”
A pair of frontcourt transfers made an impact in their Demon Deacon debuts as well. Both Omaha Biliew (Iowa State) and Tre’Von Spillers (Appalachian State) provided athleticism and versatility to the forward position.
“I was very encouraged by [Biliew] and [Spillers] too,” Forbes said. “If you put those two guys together, that’s 20 points and 13 rebounds from that [forward] spot. We’ll take that every night.”
Each of the transfers made their debut in front of a raucous crowd of students packing the student section. The final student attendance figure — 2,197 — represents the largest student attendance on record for an opening night in program history.
“I really want to thank the students for showing up tonight,” Forbes said. “They had a lot of enthusiasm. I know, for me personally, it’s the biggest home crowd for an opener we’ve had students-wise.”
Forbes also announced that four players will redshirt this season — Marqus Marion, Mason Hagedorn, Will Underwood and Vincent Ricchiuti. Marion played in 21 games last season in a reserve role but experienced an injury in the preseason.
The Demon Deacons look to continue momentum against North Carolina A&T on Thursday, Nov. 7. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on ACCNX.
