Wake Forest tests defensive progress against Southern Utah

Wake Forest Demon Deacons has found offense from a variety of sources through its first three games, and the Demon Deacons want to keep that going.

But coach Steve Forbes might be even more interested in the team's defensive progress, which he has seen develop since late in the preseason. He'll be watching closely Saturday when Southern Utah Thunderbirds visits Winston-Salem, N.C.

"It's them playing together more and more," Forbes said of the defense. "It has carried on."

Wake Forest (2-1) will play the second of five consecutive home games before Thanksgiving week.

Southern Utah (3-1) lost its first road game of the season, 88-59 to undefeated High Point, on Thursday night. The Thunderbirds now make a short trip to face Wake Forest, the first of their four opponents from Power 4 conferences.

"We'll learn from the film, and there's a lot to build on with Jaiden (Feroah) on the glass and the way our guys competed," Southern Utah coach Rob Jeter said of a player who grabbed 10 rebounds. "We turn around and get to play Wake Forest on Saturday, and that's a great opportunity."

The Demon Deacons have received contributions throughout the lineup, including 35 points from reserves in Tuesday night's 82-64 victory over Charleston Southern. Isaac Carr scored 15 of those points for a career high.

"Anytime you can get that, you're really happy," Forbes said. "That's the kind of team I believe that we have. It's just going to be different guys every night. ... Isaac played with a lot of confidence. Isaac played very relaxed."

Carr credited his teammates for helping him find his rhythm.

"My teammates found me in the right spots and I was able to make the plays," he said.

Wake Forest's Gallagher Placide made both of his 3-point attempts and scored 12 points off the bench.

"Seeing your teammates shoot it and make it and have that confidence, it gave me a lot of confidence to shoot," Placide said.

After scoring a total of five points in the first two games, Xander Pintelon added eight points off the bench Tuesday.

"That's a good thing," Forbes said. "We need to continue to find him."

Southern Utah allowed 50 second-half points against High Point.

Anthony Breland leads the Thunderbirds with 15.7 points per game, boosted by making half of his 16 attempts from 3-point range.

"I'm really hard to stop once I get going," Breland said.

The two-game road trip is a homecoming of sorts for Breland, a native of Newton, N.C. Teammate Jordan Brown transferred from UNC Greensboro but did not see game action.

--Field Level Media