Wake Forest is leaving the ESPN Events Invitational with at least one win, as gritty as it needed to be.

The Deacons beat Minnesota 57-51 on Friday afternoon at the State Farm Field House, winning the third-place game of the four-team tournament.

It was an encapsulation of gritty-grimy-tough-together, as Wake Forest (7-2) again struggled in limiting its turnovers and had its worst 3-point shooting game of the season (which is saying something).

So, it was a win because Minnesota (5-3) was almost equally as bad on long-range shooting and its offense was even colder than Wake’s in the second half.

The Deacons led for the last 15 minutes of the game, though that margin was never more than seven. The game was essentially won with a “kill” — three straight defensive stops — by the Deacons after a Dawson Garcia 3-pointer cut Wake’s lead to 54-51 with 2½ minutes left.

The Gophers’ following three possessions were:

- Missed 3 by Garcia, with Cameron Hildreth securing the defensive rebound.

- Blocked layup by Wake’s Tre’Von Spillers, with Hunter Sallis getting to the loose ball.

- Turnover by Garcia, Spillers intercepting a short pass under Wake’s basket.

Hildreth made a driving layup with 14 seconds left to make it a two-score game and Wake Forest got one more stop to effectively end the game. Parker Friedrichsen made a free throw and secured a missed second one to dribble out the clock.

Rebounds were a key; Wake Forest held the advantage there, 42-27. It’s the first game the Deacons have outrebounded their opponent since the second game of the year, against N.C. A&T. Since then and until Friday’s game, they had been outrebounded in five straight games (they tied with Michigan, 33-33, in rebounds).

Spillers matched his season-high with 16 rebounds and Efton Reid III had eight.

Wake’s offense didn’t get rolling — as you can see by the score — but it had a little more rhythm, thanks in part to Ty-Laur Johnson playing a season-high 24 minutes off the bench. He had four of Wake’s 13 turnovers, but he also had four assists and three steals.

The Deacons were 1-for-15 on 3-pointers, bringing their season clip to 59-for-214 (27.6%). After making their first two 3s in Thursday’s loss to Florida, Wake Forest was a combined 2-for-33 across roughly 75 minutes of basketball — both of those makes coming from Friedrichsen.

Wake Forest didn’t take control of the game with a dominant run early in the second half. The Deacons fed Spillers, who had his second straight double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds, and Reid down low.

Reid scored six of his 10 points in the first seven minutes of the second half, and added two more free throws later in the half. He also had two blocks.

Minnesota led by two after a rough-and-tumble first half. The Gophers’ biggest lead was six, at 16-10, and that’s when Friedrichsen made Wake’s only 3-pointer of the game.

TIP-INS: Davin Cosby Jr. started the game for Wake Forest and two points and two turnovers in the first half. Johnson started in his place in the second half and Cosby never reentered the game. … Churchill Abass and Juke Harris also played in the first half and didn’t reenter the game after halftime. … Minnesota was led by Lu’cye Patterson’s 12 points, which came on 6-for-14 shooting. He missed his last five field goals.