Wake Forest stormed out to a 20-point lead in the first half and held off a few Georgia rally attempts in the second half of an 81-71 win on Friday night at Joel Coliseum.

Daivien Williamson led the Deacons (2-0) with 24 points, and fellow senior guard Tyree Appleby scored 22. That duo combined to make five of Wake’s nine 3-pointers, along with making 15 of 17 free throws and recording 10 rebounds and 10 assists (six apiece for Appleby, four for Williamson).

The Deacons closed the first half on a 22-8 run over the last 9½ minutes, taking a 41-22 lead into halftime.

Georgia (1-1) narrowed the margin to 11 in the first eight minutes of the second half. Wake Forest pushed the lead up to 22, at 69-47, with 6:35 left, before another Bulldogs rally cut the margin to nine with about two minutes left.

Wake’s last 10 points all came on free throws — six by Appleby, four by Williamson — in the final 93 seconds.

Davion Bradford was Wake’s only other player in double-figure scoring, with 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting. Cameron Hildreth scored eight points and had a team-high 11 rebounds.