A stretch of four games with more than 20 points ended for Cameron Hildreth over the weekend and SMU’s defense wasn’t to blame.

Wake Forest’s senior guard missed the Deacons’ win at SMU with a foot injury, which is both a contusion and staph infection, coach Steve Forbes confirmed Monday on the ACC teleconference.

“He didn’t practice Thursday, he didn’t practice Friday. He did not (participate in) shoot-around,” Forbes said. “He tried to warm up and go but just couldn’t.”

Hildreth should be good to go for Wake’s next game, which isn’t until Saturday’s trip to N.C. State.

The Deacons have this week off until then, which helps both because of more travel difficulties and because they can heal.

“The X-rays were negative, so it’s just day-to-day now,” Forbes said. “I would be surprised if he doesn’t play on Saturday. I think this week will really help him.”

Hildreth’s impact on the Deacons has been undeniable, especially in their rise to fourth place in the ACC. In league games, Hildreth is averaging 17.1 points per game, which is 10th entering Tuesday night’s games — and that’s with games of two and four points against Duke and Louisville, respectively, while he was battling an illness. He’s made 19 of 38 (50%) 3-pointers in ACC games.

Despite being sidelined for Saturday’s win at SMU, Hildreth’s impact on that game left an impression on Forbes, too.

“I thought he was awesome on the bench. He was unbelievable,” Forbes said. “In the timeouts, encouraging his teammates. He just really was a great leader during the game.”