Samford Bulldogs at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Thomas scores 19 to lead Wake Forest past Samford 86-68

But Thomas' performance Sunday was a big first step, scoring 19 points as the Deacons pulled away in the second half for an 86-68 victory over Samford.

Codi Miller-McIntyre and Madison Jones had 11 points each for Wake Forest (5-5), which shot 49.2 percent (30 of 61) and dominated inside against the Bulldogs to end a three-game losing streak.

"I've just been missing those easy shots," said Thomas, who was 7 of 11 from the field and 5 of 7 on free throws Sunday. "Tonight, I was able to make those shots.

"It's just been one game, and we've got a big game next Saturday (at Florida). If I'm able to do the same thing there, then we can talk about it."

Tyler Hood scored 18 points and Nnamdi Enechionyia 15 for Samford (3-8), which gave Wake Forest fits in the first half. The Bulldogs pulled within one point early and twice within two points later in the half before trailing 47-41 at the halftime break.

Samford actually outshot the Deacons in the first half, making 15 of 26 from the field (57.7 percent) and 5 of 10 on 3-pointers. But Wake Forest shot 55.2 percent (16 of 29) in the half, and had an advantage at the free throw line (12 of 18, compared to 6 of 8 for the Bulldogs), points off turnovers (a 12-3 advantage) and in rebounding (a 17-10 edge).

"When they shoot the ball the way they shot it in the first half, they really presented some problems for us," Deacons coach Danny Manning said. "We didn't guard as well as I would like, but we were more disruptive defensively in the second half. We can still improve, but we definitely played better in the second half than we did in the first half."

TIP-INS

Samford: The Bulldogs went 8 of 22 on 3-pointers Sunday, extending their streak of consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer to 701. The streak began on Jan. 19, 1991, against Texas-San Antonio. But they're far behind the NCAA record of 921 consecutive games held by UNLV, dating back to the 1986-1987 season.

Wake Forest: Only two Deacons players are ranked in the top 10 in the ACC in individual statistics. Thomas leads the conference in defensive rebounds (7.9 per game) and tied for fourth in total rebounds (9.4 per game). Guard Mitchell Wilbekin is 10th in steals at 1.7 per game.

TURNING POINT

Trailing by six points to open the second half, Samford cut Wake Forest's lead to 47-44 on Hood's 3-pointer with 19 minutes, 37 seconds left. But the Deacons responded with a 12-2 run to take their first double-digit lead, going up 59-46 on Thomas' short jumper with 13:33 remaining.

STAT LINE

UP NEXT

Samford visits Presbyterian on Tuesday.

Wake Forest travels to Florida on Saturday.

How can I watch Samford vs. Wake Forest?

• TV Channel: Samford at Wake Forest 2021 College Basketball, week 5, is broadcasted on ESPN3.
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