Florida State tries to slow sizzling Wake Forest

Field Level Media|published: Mon 8th January, 17:40 2024

Nov 16, 2023; Charleston, South Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Kevin Miller (0) drives the ball against the Utah Utes in the first half at TD Arena. credits: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Wake Forest aims to extend its winning streak to 10 games on Tuesday when it visits Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.

Kevin Miller scored a career-high 27 points to fuel the host Demon Deacons (11-3, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) to an 86-82 overtime victory versus Miami on Saturday. Miller made 10 of 19 shots from the floor and all three of his attempts from 3-point range for Wake Forest, which is bidding to win its first four conference games for the first time since Chris Paul led the team in 2004-05.

Cameron Hildreth sank a career-best five 3-pointers and drained all eight free-throw attempts to finish with 23 points on Saturday. Hildreth has converted 23 times from beyond the arc this season, as opposed to just 20 times in all of 2022-23.

Speaking of last season, Hildreth erupted for a campaign-high 23 points and Andrew Carr chipped in 22 to lift the Demon Deacons to a 90-75 win over the visiting Seminoles on Jan. 11, 2023.

This season, Hunter Sallis (team-leading 18.4 points per game), Miller (17.6), Hildreth (16.4) and Carr (13.9) fuel Wake Forest's high-octane offense.

"I'm really proud of my team," Demon Deacons coach Steve Forbes said. "I challenged them before (Saturday's) game. We have to keep making steps. Miami has been where we want to be and they have done what we want to do. They are one of the best programs in our league."

Florida State (8-6, 2-1) is concluding a string of seven consecutive home games with Tuesday's showdown.

The Seminoles recorded their fourth win in five outings after Jaylan Gainey, Primo Spears and Cam Corhen each scored 11 points in a 77-74 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday.

"Our team has a lot of moving parts — us learning to play together," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Gainey is giving us help, Cam Corhen coming back and Primo coming in and giving us a big lift with his speed and quickness."

Jamir Watkins and Darin Green Jr. are each averaging 12.6 points per game for the Seminoles.

—Field Level Media

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