National Basketball Association
Miami-Florida 96, Wake Forest 87
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 18, 2023
Where: Watsco Center, Coral Gables, Florida
Officials:
# Ted Valentin, # Bill Covington Jr., # Brent Hampton
Attendance:
7972
By Field Level Media
Isaiah Wong scored 27 points and Nijel Pack added 24 to lead host Miami to a 96-87 victory over Wake Forest in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday in Coral Gables, Fla.
The 15th-ranked Hurricanes (22-5, 13-4) picked up their sixth consecutive victory as they continue to vie for the ACC's regular-season title and a potential top four seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Wake Forest (17-10, 9-7) had a three-game winning streak snapped and missed a great opportunity to bolster its resume as the Demon Deacons remain on the outside of the bubble, according to most bracketologists.
The Hurricanes made 18 of their first 23 attempts from the field and shot a 58.7 percent from the floor overall while posting their second-highest point total of the season.
Norchad Omier, who was held to five points in Miami's win at North Carolina on Monday, hit a three from the top of the key to open the game and scored the Hurricanes' first nine points. Omier finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Jordan Miller didn't score his first points until late in the first half but finished with 14 points and six rebounds.
The Demon Deacons kept themselves in the game by making 15 of 35 attempts from 3-point range. But the Hurricanes did a solid job, keeping Wake's leading scorer, Tyree Appleby, relatively in check as he finished with 15 points and nine assists but did not do any consistent damage.
Five other Wake players scored in double figures, led by Cameron Hildreth and Damari Monsanto with 14 points apiece. Andrew Carr, Matthew Marsh and Daivien Williamson each had 12.
Appleby's first bucket came with 14:51 left in the first half and sparked an early Wake run. Wong, however, scored all 13 points on a 13-0 Miami run after the Hurricanes had fallen behind. He capped it with a transition dunk off a steal by Wooga Poplar to put Miami ahead 42-32 with 3:53 left in the first half.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Wake Forest |
|
Miami-Florida |
|
Tyree Appleby 15 |
Scoring |
Isaiah Wong 27 |
|
Tyree Appleby 9 |
Assists |
Nijel Pack 4 |
|
Bobi Klintman 12 |
Rebounds |
Norchad Omier 8 |
|
Cameron Hildreth 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Isaiah Wong 7 |
|
Cameron Hildreth 3 |
Steals |
Nijel Pack 4 |
|
Andrew Carr 2 |
Blocks |
N/A |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Wake Forest
|
87 |
55.2 |
15-35 |
8-8 |
22 |
25 |
2 |
5 |
19 |
| Miami-Florida
|
96 |
58.7 |
8-16 |
14-18 |
16 |
25 |
0 |
12 |
10 |
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