Wake Forest basketball had the need for speed, as mini checkered flags were handed out to many of the 12,571 fans inside the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The fan support helped push the Demon Deacons to a 83-79 victory over the NC State Wolfpack.
The defeat was Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts’ fourth defeat against Wake in his seven seasons at NC State. The victory was Wake Forest basketball’s 13th consecutive home win, and it improves their record to 16-7 and 8-4 in conference play.
The game seemed like it was a game of 1-on-1 between DJ Horne and Wake’s Hunter Sallis. The graduate guard for the Wolfpack (15-9, 7-6) came close to setting a new career-high, scoring 31 points. For the Deacs, the junior guard had another career-night with 33 points on 12-for-17 shooting. The 33 points for Sallis continues an impressive streak of 23 games scoring in double-digits with Wake.
Here’s what you need to know about the game.
Takeaway #1: The emotions from the January game carried over
In a light-hearted way to start the press conference, Keatts was glad to be able to stay and watch the ending of this game. This was due to him being ejected from the first game in January. The tensions from both teams were evident from the beginning.
Within the last minute of the first half, Horne was able to block junior guard Cameron Hildreth’s layup attempt. Words were exchanged and the refs started having to separate the teams. Even an assistant coach had to keep some of the Wake players on the bench.
Horne downplayed the emotions, saying that he just worries about playing his game and helping the team win. Hildreth stated after the game that it was about having your teammates back.
Looking at each team’s fouls, it seemed that Wake was better able to channel those emotions more efficiently. This is because the Deacs were only charged with 11 fouls all game, while the Wolfpack had 11 in the first half alone.
This has been the Achilles heel for the Wolfpack, as they have committed at least 16 fouls a game in their last 10 contests. Wake, by comparison, has averaged just under 15 a game since the loss to NC State in Raleigh.
With the way the standings are as of this writing, both teams would have to make the tournament final to get their rubber match.
Takeaway #2: Horne continues to heat up
When he was held to just nine points in a road loss to Virginia in January, DJ Horne just kept putting in the work. The work seemed to pay off, as his season-high 31 points was the Raleigh, NC natives’ fifth straight game with over 15 points.
Even with the technical foul to end the first half, Horne went into the locker room with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
“I loved the way DJ Horne played,” Keatts said after the game. “I thought he was really aggressive. Every time that we needed a basket to answer a run, I thought he was the guy that stepped up and made some big shots for us.”
This was helped by NC State playing a fast-pace tempo out of the gate, with Horne saying that he feels that is the team’s identity.
“We knew Wake was going to want to play faster being at home,” Horne said. “We knew we were going to have to match.”
Players like junior Jaylen Taylor and graduate Casey Morsell, both guards, had cold nights shooting. This put a lot of the offensive burden on Horne. They will have a week to look at the game film and correct any issues before their next game.
Takeaway #3: Second half adjustments propelled the Deacs
Going into halftime, Wake Forest basketball was down by six points and being outperformed in a lot of statistical categories. Being outrebounded 21-13 and failing to outscore the Wolfpack in the paint, something needed to change.
“The first half looked a lot more like their practice than ours,” fourth-year head coach Steve Forbes said. “They sped us up, turned us over, got it out in transition and got a lead.”
Forbes credited junior forward Mohamed Diarra with being a key reason for the way the first half played out. The Montreuil, France native was close to out rebounding Wake Forest as a team, pulling down nine boards.
The Deacs also committed five turnovers in the first half, leading to seven points for the Wolfpack.
In the second half, they were able to clean up the turnovers and get better shot selection. On the defensive side, they were able to hold an offensive that averaged 75.2 points per game scoreless for the final 1:57 of the game.
Hildreth talked about how they re-evaluated their poor first half performance. “[We] came out in the second half and just played our way, but we really played hard together.”
They held the Wolfpack to 30% from beyond the arc on 10 shots, earned more second chance opportunities and dominated the paint.
While State gets time to study the film, the Deacs will be back in the gym tomorrow with a short turn around until their next game Monday night.
Next game for the NC State Wolfpack: at Clemson (Feb. 17 – 7:45 p.m.)
Next game for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons: at Duke (Feb. 12 – 7 p.m.)