Cameron Hildreth completed a productive California swing with a game-high 23 points and Wake Forest tightened the defensive screws on host Cal in the second half en route to a 76-66 ACC victory Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, Calif.
Efton Reid III hit eight of his nine shots en route to 19 points and Hunter Sallis added 20 for the Demon Deacons (18-6, 10-3 ACC), who won their third straight.
Jeremiah Wilkinson had 21 points to pace the Golden Bears (12-12, 5-8), who lost for the third time in their last four games.
Seeking to build on the momentum of a home win over North Carolina State on Wednesday, Cal was even into the sixth minute of the second half before the Wake Forest defense took over the game.
The Demon Deacons scored 26 of the game’s next 36 points over a 10-minute stretch that saw a 42-all tie become a 68-52 Wake Forest advantage with 4:55 remaining.
Hildreth had 10 of the Demon Deacons’ 26 points in the run to equal Cal’s team total in the spurt, when the Golden Bears missed seven of nine shots while mixing in four turnovers.
Cal got no closer than 10 over the final five minutes.
Hildreth, who recorded 22 points in a win at Stanford on Wednesday, did himself one better across the San Francisco Bay by making eight of his 11 shots. He added five rebounds, three assists and team-leading five steals.
Sallis was Wake Forest’s rebound leader with eight, while Ty-Laur Johnson dished out a team-high six assists to complement six points and four steals.
The Gooden Bears’ Mady Sissoko had a game-high 10 rebounds with nine points and Jovan Blacksher Jr. hit three 3-pointers to account for a majority of his 12 points, Cal star Andrej Stojakovic shot just 4-for-13 overall and 1-for-6 from deep, finishing with 10 points.
Wake Forest outshot Cal 57.7 percent to 35.8 percent and turned 13 Golden Bears turnovers into 13 points. Cal forced just seven turnovers, which it turned into just five points.
-Field Level Media
