Key Stats from Wake Forest's 81-71 win over Georgia
Wake Forest advanced to 2-0 on the season on Friday with an 81-71 win over Georgia. Read below for some of the key stats behind the victory.
Wake Forest’s shooting percentage soars
After shooting just 38.5% from the floor in their season-opening win over Fairfield, Wake Forest performed much better Friday — the Deacs hit their field goals at a 51% clip and an even better 54% in the first half.
Both key guards — Daivian Williamson and Tyree Appleby — shot over 50% from the field. Williamson was 7/13 and 3/7 from behind the three-point line, while Appleby connected on 6/10 field goals.
Davion Bradford also contributed to the Deacs’ high field goal percentage with a perfect 5/5 performance from the floor. Damari Monsanto, on the other hand, missed all 5 of his shots.
The Deacons’ offense runs through the guards
Of Wake Forest’s 81 points, 46 came from Appleby and Williamson. Along with their prolific scoring, the duo got the offense going with their vision. Appleby — with 6 assists — put together some highlight-worthy passes to get his teammates open for a shot, especially from behind the three-point line or on the backdoor cut. Williamson also added 4 assists.
READ: Stellar guard play propels Wake Forest to 81-71 win over Georgia
In addition, Appleby and Williamson handled the ball in big-time situations down the stretch. With Georgia closing in at the end of the game, the duo were sent to the line five total times over the final 1:30. Appleby made all 6 of his free-throws and Williamson drained his 4.
Three Deacs have carved out big-time starting roles
Part of the reason Williamson and Appleby were able to score at such a high clip was because of their minutes on the floor. Williamson led the team with 38 minutes, Appleby just behind at 35.
Of those 35 minutes for Appleby, head coach Steve Forbes wished he had just a few more.
“I was close,” Forbes said after the game. “I was gonna have to burn the timeout just to get [Appleby] back in there, because things weren’t going very well.”
The third player to carve out a large starting role was Delaware transfer Andrew Carr. In his 36 minutes of game action, Carr scored 9 points with 3 rebounds. Adding a defensive presence near the paint, the team was +11 when Carr was on the floor.
Wake Forest owned the paint
Speaking of the paint, Carr wasn’t the only player for the Deacs to make a significant impact. Davion Bradford — 11 points — looked good offensively, forcing his way to the bucket on multiple occasions. On defense, despite a few missed opportunities, Bradford held his own in the post. Overall, Wake Forest outscored Georgia 34-24 in the paint, proving to be the superior team down low.
READ: Live Updates from Wake Forest vs Georgia
It was a game of runs for both teams
Wake Forest went on several key runs in their win over the Bulldogs. In the middle of the first half, the Deacs blew open an eight-point lead behind a 9-0 run. They also went on two 7-0 streaks to close the half, which allowed the team to go to half with a comfortable 19-point lead.
The only problem — Wake Forest gave up several runs to Georgia as well. To begin the half, the Bulldogs came out hot with a 15-3 scoring streak to shrink the deficit to just nine points. Georgia also went on a 10-0 run with five minutes remaining to keep the Deacs from riding away with a comfortable win.
“Should we have put them away? Yeah, we should have,” Forbes said. “To our credit, we stayed with it and won the game. That stuff we can learn from. I’m glad it didn’t bite us in the tail.”
Follow @DeaconsDaily on Twitter and Instagram for more Wake Forest content
Essex is the lead football writer and a managing editor for Deacons Daily. Essex served as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black for two years, in addition to roles as a beat and feature writer.