WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. –
Travion McCray scored a team-high 21 points off the bench but Wake Forest used an early second half run to distance itself from upset-minded Western Carolina in an 87-75 Demon Deacon win on Friday night at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Wake Forest improves to 2-0 while Western Carolina evens its record at 1-1.
McCray's 21 points are a WCU season-high and is the second time in his career that he's surpassed the 20-point mark. McCray finished 6-for-11 from the field, 4-for-7 behind the arc and 6-for-7 at the free throw line.
Tyler Harris finished in double figures for the second straight game with 13 points followed by
Marvin Price with a career-best 10 points.
Nicholas Robinson just missed a double-double with nine points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
Alondes Williams led three Wake Forest players in double figures with 32 points followed by Daivien Williamson with 24 and Cameron Hildreth with 13. Williams pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
Wake Forest opened the game on a 5-0 run before Bacote capitalized on consecutive Demon Deacon turnovers to bring WCU within a point at the 15:36 mark. A 6-0 Catamount run gave WCU a 10-7 lead with just over 14 minutes to play before an 8-0 Wake Forest run put the hosts ahead 17-12 with 11:03 left. A
Joe Petrakis 3-pointer gave WCU an 18-17 lead as the teams traded the lead over the next five minutes before Robinson gave WCU a 31-27 advantage with 3:35 remaining. A Williams layup with seven seconds remaining sent Wake Forest into halftime with a 38-36 lead.
Williams opened the second half scoring with a jumper 17 seconds in as the Demon Deacons quickly pushed their lead to eight, 47-39, at the 17:07 mark. A
Marlow Gilmore layup pulled WCU within six, 51-45, with 15:13 to go before the Demon Deacons went on a 7-0 run to lead 58-45 with just over 13 minutes to play. Hildreath gave the Demon Deacons a game-high 15-point lead, 69-54, just before the midpoint of the second half. WCU didn't go away quietly as a Harris jumper brought WCU within eight, 78-70, with 2:52 to play but would get no closer down the stretch.
The Demon Deacons converted 19 Catamount turnovers into 22 points and outscored WCU 44-16 in the paint. WCU went 26-for-57 (45.6 percent) from the field while Wake Forest finished 31-for-60 (51.7 percent).
WCU battles directional rival East Carolina on Sunday at 4 p.m.
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