Wake Forest turns over American in opener
WINSTON-SALEM – Wake Forest didn’t need to hit many 3s to score more than 80 points in its season opener.
That’s what fast breaks and dunks can do for an offense.
The Deacons started their season with an 88-74 victory against visiting American on Monday night at Joel Coliseum. It matches the most points Wake Forest scored in any game last season.
After hitting a combined 31 3-pointers in two preseason games, Wake Forest shot 7-for-25 from long range against the Eagles.
But the Deacons had 10 dunks — one of them a spectacular high-flying alley-oop from Sebastian Akins to Myles Colvin — and another 11 layups. So, 42 of Wake’s 88 points came on dunks or layups. Another 19 points came at the free-throw line.
Wake Forest never pushed what was a 12-point halftime lead into the 20s. But the Deacons’ lead was also never in serious doubt during the second half.
Mekhi Mason had 20 points and 10 rebounds in his debut. Tre’Von Spillers also scored 20, with eight rebounds. Sophomore Juke Harris scored 18, more than he had in any game last year.
Wake Forest scored the game’s first seven points and American scored the next eight. That was in spite of Wake Forest having three kills — three straight defensive stops — in the first six minutes.
These teams playing for the first time since 1987 went back and forth for a chunk of the first half. Steve Forbes called a timeout near the 8-minute mark with the score tied at 23-23. Giving up back-to-back 3-pointers to Wyatt Nausadis drew his ire.
The Deacons pulled away a few minutes later with a 12-0 run. That featured the first two 3-pointers of Wake’s season, both by Mason. He had 13 points and seven rebounds in the first half.
Wake’s lead at halftime was 46-34. Despite making 2 of 9 3-pointers, Wake’s offensive efficiency was at 1.21 points per possession.
American turned the ball over 10 times in the first 20 minutes. Those led to 19 of Wake’s points; the Deacons had 10 fast-break points in the first half.
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