Wake Falls to Penn State in ACC/Big Ten Challenge - Wake Forest University Athletics (original) (raw)

12/5/2019 12:02:00 AM | Men's Basketball

STATE COLLEGE, PA. - Wake Forest wrapped up a six-game road trip falling to Penn State 76-54 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night.

Olivier Sarr posted his fourth double-double of the season with team-bests 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Andrien White also had double-digit points with 10. The bench stepped up for the Deacons scoring 37 of Wake's 54 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Wake Forest (5-4) got off to a slow start as the Nittany Lions controlled a 20-7 lead after the first eight minutes of action. The Deacs slowly chipped away at Penn State's lead and Sharone Wright Jr. hit a three to pull the Deacons within four at 22-18.

Penn State held Wake Forest scoreless from the field and went on an 11-1 run in the final three minutes of the half to take a 41-23 lead into the break. The Nittany Lions shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening half.

Out of the break, The Deacons held the Nittany Lions to just 1-14 from three, but Penn State used efficient scoring from eight different players, led by Myreon Jones with 22 total points, to regain a commanding lead. The Nittany Lions finished the game shooting 44 percent while holding Wake to 29 percent.

NOTEWORTHY

• After going scoreless in the first half, Sarr finished the game with his fifth consecutive double-digit game, a new career-long streak.
• 14 of the Deacons 23 first half points came off the bench, Bench players finished with 37 total points for Wake, the most of any game this season.
• Wake Forest moves to 12-6 overall in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge

QUOTABLE

"We definitely have to give Pat (Chambers) and his team credit," head coach Danny Manning said. "They came out and delivered the first blow. We have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. We had 20 turnovers which led to a lot of early run outs for them in transition and they got to the paint far too many times to finish at the rim. Those are two things that jump out at us right off the bat. Offensively, this was not a good shooting performance for us tonight. We have to do a better job of continuing to attack the paint. We made a decent amount of free throws, but throughout the ball game there were not a lot of fouls called. When we shoot the ball like we did tonight, we have to be able to put more pressure on the opposing team."

UP NEXT
The Demon Deacons return to the Joel for a three-game home stretch. Wake will open ACC play at home, welcoming NC State on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. Tickets for the game can be found here.