Deacons ride big offense, special NIT atmosphere past App State

WINSTON-SALEM – Wake Forest found the fire and desire from early on and that catapulted the Deacons in their NIT opener.

In a matchup that was far from feeling like a sleepy secondary postseason tournament, the Deacons pushed back at most every turn to send Appalachian State and their excitable fans back up the mountain with a rare loss.

The final score will say 87-76 from Wednesday night at Joel Coliseum, though quite a bit went into all that.

First of note was guard Kevin Miller’s career-high 31 points. Then there was Efton Reid III’s career-best 19 points to go with 12 rebounds.

“We’re blessed. We’re still playing,” Reid said. “There’s teams that are at home, chilling, eating chips.”

The Deacons ate up the atmosphere that came with an in-state clash in the NIT.

“That definitely was crazy intensity,” Miller said.

The Deacons will next play at 4 p.m. Sunday against visiting Georgia (18-16), a 78-76 first-round winner against visiting Xavier on Tuesday night.

Wake Forest racked up its most points since defeating Pittsburgh a month earlier. That total was aided by Cameron Hildreth’s 19 points and Hunter Sallis’ 16 points.

“They made a bunch of plays, and credit them,” App State coach Dustin Kerns said. “We had a really tough time defending them and their players made big shots.”

Wake went up 28-15 and led 36-27 at halftime. App State shaved the margin to 49-48.

After App State’s CJ Huntley missed an open 3 with a chance to tie before the 12-minute mark, Hildreth scored six straight points. That run, while hitting a few bumps, pretty much lasted until Miller’s five consecutive points for a 69-53 lead with 5:52 left.

“They made a couple of runs, but we answered right back,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “We got it back under control on defense and offense.”

That second-half spurt for Wake threatened to turn this into the largest margin of defeat (13 points a couple of times) for the Mountaineers this season.

All along, there were regular roars from the crowd.

Wake fans had the good seats. App State fans pretty much had the run of the rest of the building.

Then after the last buzzer, fans from both sides showered their teams with cheers as the players exited the court.

“I thought they played well,” Kerns said. “I think you have to play well to beat us.”

App State (27-7), which was in the NIT for the second time, notched a program record for wins and its first outright conference title in 45 years.

Huntley had 16 points off the bench to lead five App State players in double figures.

It was Miller who had control of the game in many aspects. He was without a turnover in 34 minutes.

“You feel like you got to just control the game at all points,” he said. “It was a being calm thing, and that helped.”

Wake Forest went 25-for-31 on free throws compared to App State’s 7-for-8.

“We were attacking the basket and really tried to get to the free-throw line as well,” Kerns said.

So, the fifth-year coach thought things went afoul.

Kerns said this matchup shouldn’t have had a tone of a guarantee non-league game early in the season.

“It felt like one, and I’m not afraid to say that,” he said, repeating the free-throw totals. “There’s a reason they’re officiating in the NIT and not in the NCAA tournament. … I feel bad for our guys. But it was really disappointing.”

And there was more.

“We won 27 games,” Kearns said. “You don’t trip down the sidewalk into 27 wins. Wow, it felt like that they paid us to come down here.”

TIP-INS …: Based on researchable program records, it’s the first time Wake has had three players with 30 or more points in the same season. Hildreth (33 vs. Elon) and Sallis (33 vs. North Carolina State) also achieved that. … Hildreth, a junior guard, reached 1,000 career points in the second half with his 16th point. He was yanked shortly after that following a forced shot and, on the next possession, a turnover when he threw a pass over the Wake bench. “Good Cam, bad Cam,” Forbes said. “That’s kind of what you get sometimes. But I’d take the good over the bad anytime with him.” … Going with twin towers down low with Reid along with Zach Keller or Matthew Marsh seemed to be a good set-up for the Deacons against the smaller Mountaineers.