By Ken Cross –
Wake Forest forward Tre’Von Spiller scored 18 points and brought down 16 rebounds and the Demon Deacons picked up third place in the ESPN Events Invitational at Disneyland in Kissimmee, Fla., with a 57-51 win over Minnesota.
Defensively, the Gophers turned this into a half-court game where Spillers was able to take control in spreading his game throughout the first half where he scored 12 of those 18 points. Coach Steve Forbes had 13 and 10 points from Cam Hildreth and Efton Reid as they stepped up with Hunter Salis struggling from the field with just five points.
“We did a good job guarding (Dawson) Garcia which was the first time really all year long that we’ve doubled at the post,” explained Forbes. “We’ve worked on that a lot but hadn’t really done it in a game situation, and we held him to 3-for-12.”
Both teams cancelled each other defensively as Minnesota shot 41 percent while Wake Forest was at 40 percent. The Gophers made only three triples and Parker Friedrichsen nailed the Deacons’ only triple.
“I thought our defense yesterday and today has proven this is a top-40 or top-30 defense,” said Minnesota coach Ben Johnson. “We got to be able to show up with offense and free throws.”
Garcia came into the game as the Gophers’ leading scorer and he averages 18.1 points per game. On Friday, Minnesota was led by guard Lu’cyr Patterson who finished with 12 while Isaac Asuma scored 11 points.
“We did a really good job defensively down the stretch,” said Forbes. “We had four stops in a row to end the game in I believe four out of the last five possessions.”
The Deacons took the lead for good early in the second half when Reid scored on a hook shot. Then WFU extended it to 38-33 with 13:35 remaining when Reid and Spiller then scored on a pair of layups off of passes from Ty Johnson and Salis.
“Ty-Laur Johnson gave us a great boost off the bench, making plays on offense and getting some guys some shots,” commented Forbes. “Tre (Spillers) was great the whole game and Cam (Hildreth) was great down the stretch.”