Wake Forest’s pair of senior guards combined to score the Deacons’ last 14 points, which helped their team stem the bleeding of a rough few weeks.

Cameron Hildreth and Hunter Sallis carried the torch in a 74-71 win against visiting Notre Dame on Saturday at Joel Coliseum.

Wake Forest (20-9, 12-6 ACC) trailed by five, at 60-55, with about 5½ minutes left. Hildreth had a layup and freshman Juke Harris drilled a 3-pointer — Wake’s third and final one of the game — to tie the game.

From the 4:03 mark to the end of the game, Hildreth scored eight points and Sallis scored six. Sallis hit the go-ahead jumper at that timestamp, and Hildreth had a three-point play and converted all three free throws after being fouled shooting a 3.

The Deacons held the tenuous lead for the rest of the game. Notre Dame missed eight of its last nine shots but stayed close by making free throws. The Irish missed three potential game-tying 3s in the final 7 seconds.

It’s not the biggest win of the season, speaking in NCAA tournament résumé terms, but it’s an important one for a Wake Forest team that had lost three of its last four games.

Notre Dame (12-17, 6-12) led for almost 30 minutes of this one. The Irish got 29 points from Markus Burton on 9-for-16 shooting, and Tae Davis added 15 points.

Hildreth had 28 points, the sixth time in the last seven he’s played — which excludes the game at SMU — that he’s scored at least 20. The fourth-year senior was 10-for-14 from the field and 7-for-7 on free throws.

Sallis scored 17, struggling from the field (5-for-17) but also making all seven of his free-throw attempts.

Neither team shot 3s well; Notre Dame was 5-for-18 and Wake Forest was 3-for-13.

Wake Forest couldn’t get anything going offensively in the first 12 minutes. Notre Dame wasn’t that successful either, but the Irish eventually got up 20-10 before coach Steve Forbes called a timeout to beat the under-8 timeout.

The response was strong and immediate, with the Deacons going on a 13-2 run to take a one-point lead.

Notre Dame had the stronger finishing kick to the end of the first half, scoring the last five points and leading 30-25 at halftime.