Wake Forest cruises past UTEP in Charleston Classic opener

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Wake Forest simply could not miss from beyond the arc in the first half en route to a 103-81 victory over UTEP in the opening game for both teams of the Gildan Charleston Classic.

UTEP found itself down 19 at the break thanks to 13 three-pointers made by the Demon Deacons in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Wake Forest continued to dominate in the second half, shooting 73.9-percent from the floor. UTEP would get no closer than 18 points in the second half, falling to 1-1 in the young season.

“We shot 60-percent in the first half and we’re down 19,” said UTEP head coach Tim Floyd. “I’ve always said great teams can shoot 35-percent and go win. We shoot 60-percent and we’re down 19, which tells you we don’t do a lot of things well. We turn it over too much, we don’t rebound it well enough, we don’t guard well enough.”

UTEP committed 18 turnovers in the loss. They’ve now committed 40 total turnovers in their first two games of the year.

John Collins scored a career-high 24 points in the win for the Deacons, while Dominic Artis added 24 points of his own for the Miners. Omega Harris added 16 points and Matt Willms accounted for 13 points for UTEP. No other Miners reached double-figures.

UTEP will play Western Michigan next. That game is Friday at 1:30 p.m. MT. Coverage will be provided by ESPN3.

As for Wake Forest, they have a date Friday with the defending national champion Villanova Wildcats.