Wake Forest has gone 3-2 since NC State defeated the Demon Deacons 83-76 on Jan. 16 in Raleigh.
WFU is fresh off of destroying Georgia Tech 80-51 on the road last Tuesday, including being up 26 points at halftime. The win helped Wake Forest improve to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in the ACC.
NC State travels to Wake Forest at 4 p.m. today on the ACC Network. The Demon Deacons are 12-1 at home this season.
Overview
Wake Forest senior power forward Andrew Carr had 28 points and went 3 of 4 from three-point land in the loss at NC State. Sophomore point guard Kevin Miller made all 15 free throws and added 21 points.
Carr is a former Delaware transfer, Miller came from Central Michigan, junior shooting guard Hunter Sallis and junior center Efton Reid both arrived from Gonzaga. Junior shooting guard Cam Hildreath has emerged as a solid two-way performer.
Rankings
Wake Forest is No. 33 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 80.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Demon Deacons ranked No. 27 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 75.
KenPom.com has Wake Forest at No. 25, and NCSU is No. 79 this season.
Shooting
Wake Forest is averaging 80.7 points per game, and are shooting 47.8 percent from the field, 38.0 percent on three-pointers and 80.2 percent from the free-throw line.
The healthy return of senior forward Damari Monsanto the last five games has boosted the 3-point shooting. He’s 12 of 26 from beyond the arc for 46.2 percent. Freshman shooting guard Parker Friedrichsen comes off the bench to shoot 41.4 percent and Carr is at 41.0 percent.
Rebounding
WFU is averaging 35.2 rebounds per game, have a plus-2.5 rebounding margin and have 187 offensive rebounds.
Reid missed the first seven games while trying to get eligible as a two-time transfer, but he leads the team with 8.6 rebounds per game, with Carr second with 6.9. Carr has 44 offensive rebounds.
Defense
The Demon Deacons are allowing 70.0 points per game, and are allowing 42.4 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from three-point land.
Carr has 34 blocks and Reid has 24, and Miller leads the squad with 34 steals.
Depth
Friedrichsen and Monsanto provide scoring punch off the bench, and sophomore Zach Keller and junior Matthew Marsh provide post depth.
Monsanto, who got hurt against NC State last year, averaged 13.3 points per game before his injury. He’s averaging 8.2 points in just 12.8 minutes per game in his return the last five games, and had 11 against Georgia Tech on Tuesday.
Star Watch
Junior guard Hunter Sallis got into foul trouble and did not have a stellar game in the loss at NC State.
The Gonzaga transfer finished with 12 points in 28 minutes, which was the least amount of minutes he’s played in the ACC contests.
The 6-foot-5, 185-pounder has averaged 18.6 points the last five games since the Wolfpack game, including going 4 of 5 on three-pointers en route to 24 points in the 99-70 win vs. Syracuse on Feb. 3.
Sallis is averaging 17.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game this season. He’s cracked 20-plus points in 10 games, with a season-high of 24 in three contests.
Rivals.com ranked Sallis as the No. 37 overall recruit in the class of 2021 coming out of Omaha (Neb.) Millard North High. He picked Gonzaga over North Carolina, Creighton, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon and UCLA.
Sallis averaged 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, and shot 50.9 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from three-point land in his two years at Gonzaga.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — Michael O'Connell (6-2, 195, Sr., 4.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.0 spg)
SG — 0 DJ Horne (6-1, 175, R-Sr., 16.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.4 spg)
G — 1 Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Jr., 11.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 spg)
SF — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Sr., 12.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.0 spg)
C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Sr., 11.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.7 apg)
Wake Forest
PG — 0 Kevin Miller (6-0, 175, Soph., 16.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.5 spg)
SG — 23 Hunter Sallis (6-5, 185, Jr., 17.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.0 spg)
G — 2 Cameron Hildreth (6-4, 195, Jr., 14.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.7 apg)
F — 11 Andrew Carr (6-10, 220, Sr., 14.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.5 bpg)
C — 4 Efton Reid (7-0, 240, Jr., 8.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.6 bpg)
Numbers Of Note
43 Home wins for Wake Forest since 2021-22, with the Demon Deacons going 43-5, which is the most home wins of any ACC squad, one more than Duke. It ranks third in the country behind Houston (45) and Arizona (44).
52 Wins for Wake Forest under coach Steve Forbes when the Demon Deacons have a higher field-goal percentage. WFU is 52-6 when shooting better than its opponent.
149 Wins for NC State in the series against Wake Forest, with the record at 149-108.
Game Within The Game: WFU's Andrew Carr vs. NC State's Casey Morsell
Senior power forward Andrew Carr had it rolling in the first meeting against NC State, going 10 of 13 from the field and 3 of 4 from three-point land for 28 points.
The 6-10, 220-pound Carr is averaging 14.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He’s scored at least 20 points in four different games this season.
Since he’s played NC State, he’s scored between 10-to-18 points, and just had his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Georgia Tech.
The Delaware transfer averaged 10.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game his sophomore year with the Blue Hens in 2021-22. He arrived at WFU and averaged 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds a contest last year for the Demon Deacons.
Carr’s ability to play both power forward and center gives him versatility, and Wake Forest can also play Damari Monsanto at forward if the Demon Deacons play a “smaller” lineup.
Carr might start off the game against NC State senior wing Casey Morsell, who is 6-3 and 200 pounds. Morsell did a credible defensive job on 6-8 Pittsburgh star Blake Hinson, but Carr is even taller. Can Carr even chase around Morsell on the defensive end? Something will likely give in that matchup.
Morsell is averaging 12.0 points per game and is shooting 29.7 percent from three-point land.
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