Sallis scores 20, Hildreth adds 18 and 6 assists; Wake Forest beats Western Carolina 82-69
Wake Forest's Hunter Sallis (23) moves around the defense of Western Carolina's CJ Hyland (2) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Winston-Salem, N.C. Credit: AP/Allison Lee Isley
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Hunter Sallis scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half, Cameron Hildreth added 18 points and six assists and Wake Forest beat Western Carolina 82-69 Tuesday night.
Parker Friedrichsen hit four of the Demon Deacons' 12 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Each team shot 43% from the field but Wake Forest (5-1) scored 22 points off 21 Western Carolina turnovers.
Cord Stansberry and Ice Emery scored 20 points apiece for Western Carolina (2-2).
The Demon Deacons hit four 3s, two by Friedrichsen, and Hildreth converted a three-point play before Sallis hit a jumper to cap a 22-3 run that gave them the lead for good and made it 36-20 with 5:24 left in the first half. Stansberry scored eight points — including two 3-pointers — as Western Carolina answered with a 12-3 spurt that trimmed its deficit to seven before Wake Forest took a 44-34 lead into halftime.
Stansberry made a 3-pointer that pulled the Catamounts to 48-46 with 17:23 to play but they got no closer. Sallis hit a jumper in the lane to spark a 20-5 run over the next 9 minutes and Churchill Abass scored in the paint to give the Demon Deacons the biggest lead at 74-50.
Sallis, who spent his first two seasons at Gonzaga, hit a jumper with about 5 minutes to go in the first half to give him 1,000 career points and now has 1,015, 714 at Wake Forest.
