Wake Forest put up another non-conference win that won’t impress the analytic sites, but at least means the Deacons have won six of seven games so far.

Wake Forest beat Detroit Mercy 67-57 on Saturday at Joel Coliseum, getting a season-high 31 points from Hunter Sallis but struggling to put away another team ranked in the bottom 100 of KenPom.

The Deacons (6-1) never trailed after the first minute of the game. They stretched the lead to double digits after less than five minutes and to as much as 16 in the first half.

When Wake Forest scored six points in the first 34 seconds of the second half, it was a 42-23 lead and it seemed like the Deacons would run away with a blowout win for the first time in the season.

Instead, the lead was whittled into single digits several times in the last six minutes; never cause for abject panic, but also never comfortable enough to get a margin-of-victory boost from the computers.

Sallis’ performance was balanced and efficient. The senior guard had 31 points on 12-for-18 shooting, 5 of 9 on 3-pointers. He also had four assists, three rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two turnovers. The only game he’s scored more points in was the 33-point game he had against N.C. State last season.

The only other Deacon in double-figure scoring was Davin Cosby Jr., with 11 points. He made three 3s early and finished the game shooting 4-for-12 (3 of 11 on 3s).

Wake Forest made eight of its first 11 shots and six of those makes were 3-pointers. So, what was a 6-for-8 start on long-range shooting turned into 4-for-27 in the rest of the game, the Deacons finishing at 10-for-35 (28.6%).

Wake Forest was without center Efton Reid III for the first full game since he had to sit out while in NCAA limbo last season. He exited Tuesday night’s game early in the first half because of migraines and was not at the Joel on Saturday.

That meant sophomore Churchill Abass started for the first time in his Wake Forest career; he had four points, three rebounds and two blocks in 16 minutes (he also had four fouls).

In related news: Rebounding was, again, an issue for Wake Forest. Detroit Mercy (3-3) won the rebounding battle 48-31.

Turnovers were, at least, not so much of an issue for Wake Forest. The Deacons only committed five of them, while recording assists on 16 of 24 field goals.

Detroit Mercy committed 14 turnovers, which led to 17 of Wake’s points.