National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wake Forest 83, NJIT 59
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 9, 2023
Where: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Officials: # Jeff Pon, # Sean Hull, # Jamie Luckie
Attendance: 7224

Freshman Parker Friedrichsen pumped in a career-high 19 points off the bench and Wake Forest finally pulled away in an 83-59 victory against visiting NJIT on Saturday night at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Kevin Miller had 15 points and six assists, Hunter Sallis added 14 points and Cameron Hildreth and Andrew Carr both notched 12 points for Wake Forest (6-3), which continued a perfect homestand with its fourth straight triumph.

It was a deceptive final score because the Highlanders hung around until the last eight minutes. Friedrichsen drained five 3-pointers, including three in less than six minutes during the game-clinching stretch. He was 5-for-6 in the game from long range.

Friedrichsen, a guard who led the Demon Deacons in scoring for the first time, accounted for all except five of Wake Forest's bench points. He made up for Sallis going 0-for-5 on 3-pointers.

Efton Reid III, a transfer in his second game for the Demon Deacons after the NCAA approved a transfer waiver, didn't score on 0-for-3 shooting and fouled out.

Adam Hess tallied 15 points and Elijah Buchanan had 11 points for NJIT (2-7), which was aiming for consecutive road victories after winning earlier in the week at Fordham. The Highlanders shot 39 percent from the floor, but that included 6-for-28 on 3-pointers. NJIT made all seven of its free-throw attempts.

The game might have been headed toward a tight finish until the Demon Deacons posted five straight points for a 60-51 lead with eight minutes to play.

Wake Forest shot 56.1 percent from the field, perhaps contributing to only six offensive rebounds.

NJIT trimmed a 15-point hole to 35-32, but Matthew Marsh made a last-second 3-pointer to push the Demon Deacons to a 38-32 halftime edge.

Wake Forest shot 56 percent from the field in the opening half.

Wake Forest had its first double-digit lead at 24-14 on Friedrichsen's three-point play.

This was the first-ever meeting between the teams.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
NJIT   Wake Forest
Adam Hess 15 Scoring Parker Friedrichsen 19
Sebastian Robinson 3 Assists Kevin Miller 6
Kjell de Graaf 6 Rebounds Cameron Hildreth 6
Elijah Buchanan 2 Free Throws Made Hunter Sallis 4
Elijah Buchanan 1 Steals Cameron Hildreth 2
Mekhi Gray 3 Blocks Hunter Sallis 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
NJIT 59 39.0 6-28 7-7 8 30 5 4 13
Wake Forest 83 56.1 9-21 10-16 13 30 1 7 10