College men’s basketball: Deacs shoot 66 percent, obliterate Orange

Published 2:34 am Sunday, February 4, 2024

WINSTON-SALEM (AP) — Hunter Sallis scored 24 points, Kevin Miller added 21 and Cameron Hildreth had a double-double to help hot-shooting Wake Forest beat Syracuse 99-70 Saturday night.

Hildreth finished with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Andrew Carr scored 16 points for Wake Forest (14-7, 6-4 ACC).

Sallis made 7 of 9 from the field, 4 of 5 from 3-point range and 6 of 8 from the free-throw line. Miller was 8-of-11 shooting for the Demon Deacons, who shot a season-high 66% (35 of 53) and hit 12 of 19 (63%) from behind the arc.

JJ Starling scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half and Judah Mintz finished with 13 points and six assists for Syracuse (14-8, 5-6). Quadir Copeland added 11 points and Justin Taylor scored 10.

Sallis hit a 3-pointer with 7:46 left in the first half to spark a 10-0 run that made it 30-15 when he capped the spurt with two free throws about three minutes later and Wake Forest led by double figures the rest of the way.

The Demon Deacons, who eliminated Syracuse from the 2023 ACC Tournament, have won back-to-back games against the Orange to improve to 4-11 in the all-time series.

Syracuse plays host to Louisville on Wednesday. Wake Forest hits the road to play Tuesday at Georgia Tech.