Wake Forest opens ACC play vs. surging Virginia Tech

Field Level Media|published: Fri 29th December, 14:21 2023

Nov 16, 2023; Charleston, South Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Hunter Sallis (23) brings the ball up court in the first half against the Utah Utes at TD Arena. credits: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Two of the hottest teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference will square off in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Saturday as Wake Forest hosts Virginia Tech in a game between two teams that haven't lost in more than a month.

The Demon Deacons (8-3, 0-0 ACC) have won six straight, all in double-digit fashion. The most recent big win came on Dec. 21 in a 91-68 home rout of Presbyterian.

Starring for Wake Forest in that game — just as he has all season — was Hunter Sallis, a Gonzaga transfer who leads the team with 18.0 points per game. Sallis poured in an efficient 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field against the Blue Hose.

Demon Deacons center Andrew Carr added 21 points and nine rebounds.

"When you watch us play, you can see that all of our guards and bigs play with a lot of confidence," Sallis said. "The coaches preach shot selection but at the end of the day, we play free and very confident."

Confidence on the offensive end is certainly not lacking for Wake Forest, as it enters conference play averaging 80.9 points per game. It's also an experienced Demon Deacon roster, with its top four scorers — Sallis, Kevin Miller (17.2 points per game), Cameron Hildreth (15.8) and Carr (15.5) — all with 30-plus games under their belt entering the season.

Wake Forest's schedule ramps up starting Saturday as they welcome another veteran squad in the Hokies.

Winners of its past four games, Virginia Tech travels south to Winston-Salem, a place the Hokies dropped a two-point loss almost a year ago to the date, on Dec. 31, 2022.

Like Wake Forest, Virginia Tech (9-3, 1-0) hasn't played in nine days, last topping American 77-55, thanks to Lynn Kidd, who totaled a career-high 31 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

"Thirty-one and 11, that'll help you win a lot of ball games," Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said. "Our coaches have done a great job of working with him. I'm proud of him. He has made himself into a really nice basketball player."

Kidd is averaging a team-high 16.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, up from 5.0 and 3.4, respectively, last season.

Accompanying Kidd at the top of the scoring list are Hunter Cattoor (14.1 points per game) and Sean Pedulla (13.0).

—Field Level Media

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