Going into the half in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, it seemed the Xavier Musketeers were well on their way to their first loss of the season at the hands of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. They trailed the Deacons 43-28 at the break. However, that lead would be erased within the first five minutes of the second half and Xavier continued that trend to beat the Demon Deacons on the road, 78-70.

Devin Thomas’ hot streak of double-doubles came to an end tonight as he was only able to grab eight rebounds on the night. He did reach double digits in points, however, with 10. Wake Forest could have used a few more rebounds from Thomas as they were outrebounded in the game 42-to-35. This is very uncharacteristic for the Deacons, who have outrebounded almost every team they have faced this year.

Wake’s problem this year has also been turnovers. This problem continued again tonight as the Deacons gave up possession on 17 different occasions. However, Xavier also struggled with the turnover bug as they also recorded 17. Wake Forest could have used a few less turnovers in their effort for an upset bid. Winning the turnover battle can give an underdog a chance to beat anyone on any given night.

Another player that had a great game for the Demon Deacons was Bryant Crawford. The true freshman once again played beyond his years, as he was the Deacons’ leader in points with 16 and also dished out four assists. Crawford did, however, deal with foul trouble and ended up fouling out in only 24 minutes of play.

Codi Miller-McIntyre is still trying to get back into the swing of things for Wake Forest. He was successful passing the ball as he led the team in assists with six, but was only 1-for-7 from the field and could only get four points off the bench for the Deacons.

For Xavier, their guard play was tremendous once again. Edmond Sumner and Trevon Bluiett combined for 38 points on the night. Sumner and Bluiett were also tremendous on the glass with nine rebounds apiece. They also received some much needed help from the bench from James Farr. He added 12 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes of play.

The Xavier Musketeers will head to Pennsylvania to put their undefeated record on the line on New Year’s Eve in a showdown with the Villanova Wildcats. Wake Forest will have their next game in Louisiana to take on the LSU Tigers on December 29th. That will be their last game before the start of ACC play in 2016. Wake will try to get back to their winning ways before the ACC slate, which has always seemed to be difficult for them, especially on the road.

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About the author
Jordan Hansgen
Wake Forest Student Sports Writer for Vavel.com Analyst on 91.3 FM Buffalo Blitz show