Charlotte 49ers at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Collins' double-double helps Wake Forest top Charlotte 91-74

The 6-foot-10 sophomore had 22 points and 15 rebounds to help the Demon Deacons beat Charlotte 91-74 on Tuesday night, posting his fourth straight double-double.

Collins has had foul trouble limiting his work, and his team-leading averages of 17.6 points and 10 rebounds had come with him averaging about 23 minutes per game.

"Sometimes I put myself in that situation," Collins said. "Yeah I do wonder (what he could do with more minutes) but then again, I have to keep myself grounded and realize coach (Danny Manning) isn't just taking me out to take me out. It's me getting in foul trouble and something I've got to work on."

He had just one first-half foul as the Demon Deacons (7-2) ran out to an early double-digit lead and never looked back.

"This is one of the first games in a while that John has played defensively and done a good job of staying out of harm's way in the first half," Manning said.

Collins finished 7 of 11 from the field and 8 of 10 from the foul line to go with three blocks in 21 minutes, finishing two points and a rebound shy of matching career-high totals.

"Collins was a handful, we knew he was going to be for us, just with his size and athleticism," 49ers coach Mark Price said. "We really didn't have an answer for him."

Keyshawn Woods added 12 points against his former team for the Demon Deacons, who ran off 17 unanswered points in the first half to take control. Wake Forest led 45-27 by halftime and never let that margin slide to fewer than 15, earning the program's 11th straight win against instate nonconference opponents.

Braxton Ogbueze had 20 points and made six 3-pointers for the 49ers (6-3), who shot just 10 of 30 (33 percent) in the opening half to fall behind big.

BIG PICTURE

Charlotte: The 49ers weren't able to string together consecutive wins against power-5 conference opponents. They were coming off a 66-63 home win against Oregon State of the Pac-12 in which they scored 25 points off turnovers, but they didn't have nearly as much success against their Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Tuesday.

"You go on the road against a good team like this," Price said, "you can't dig yourself a hole."

Wake Forest: While Collins is off to a terrific start in establishing himself as the Demon Deacons' top player, Wake Forest did a better job protecting a big lead than it did when it let a 25-point margin slip all the way to four in a win against Coastal Carolina on Nov. 23. The Demon Deacons are getting plenty of practice, too, considering this was their sixth win by double-digit margins compared to just two a year ago.

REUNION

Woods transferred after one season from Charlotte amid the coaching change that led to Price's arrival after the 2014-15 season and heard several boos from 49ers fans attending Tuesday's game.

"I don't think I was nervous," Woods said. "I just played with the flow of the game, played with my teammates and got a win."

ALL-STAR NAMES

Manning and Price played against each other in the NBA all-star games in 1993 and 1994, making this the third meeting of college head coaches who had played in the same NBA all-star game.

UP NEXT

Charlotte: The 49ers get an extended break before heading south to face No. 21 Florida on Dec. 17 in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Florida.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons make a roughly 30-mile drive east on Interstate 40 to face UNC Greensboro on Friday.

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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap

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