WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP)—Justin Gray isn’t through playing point guard for Wake Forest. He and his coach both accept that.
For one game, at least, he made the most of his return to a more familiar position.
Starting at off-guard for the first time this season, Gray paced a balanced offense with 16 points and No. 24 Wake Forest finally got a breather with a 79-63 victory over pesky UNC-Asheville on Monday night.
“It was different, just because I didn’t have the ball in my hands all the time,” Gray said. “I want to do what’s best for the team. I know when it comes down to a clutch situation, I’m going to have the ball in my hands.”
Trent Strickland added 14 points for the Demon Deacons (4-1), who finished third in the 2K Sports College Hoop Classic with a run of four games that included two decided in overtime. The loss came to Florida in the semifinals of the event, another one that went down to the wire.
It also dropped Wake Forest five spots in The Associated Press poll.
“It was an interesting 12 days where we learned a lot about our team,” coach Skip Prosser said.
Freshman Harvey Hale took over at point guard instead of Gray, a change designed not only to give Gray more scoring opportunities, but to cut down on his turnovers. He had 27 in the previous three games, including 10 in a double-overtime victory over Texas Tech in the consolation game of the tournament.
“I think Mr. Magoo could see his turnover totals, and I think that it was time for him to maybe watch someone else at point for a little bit,” Prosser said. “We’re still tweaking things, which I thought we would be. It’s so early in the season, it’s not even Thanksgiving.”
The move worked for the most part—Gray still produced on offense, and his only turnover came on a double-dribble in the waning seconds of the first half.
“I can’t be turning the ball over like that,” he said. “I try not to think about it. But I couldn’t care if I had 100 turnovers, if we win.”
Hale finally made a shot, too, driving for a layup with about 3 1/2 minutes left to improve to 1-for-21 in the past three games. Michael Drum, a walk-on who initially took Chris Paul’s spot in the lineup, came off the bench for the first time and provided a spark in the second half.
The transfer from Division II Presbyterian scored eight of his 10 points in a 2-minute span of the second half to help the Deacons pull away. Drum swished a 3-pointer to make it 62-47, then added a layup off a nifty feed by Gray. After Omar Collington had a shot blocked by Eric Williams, Drum fed Gray for a 3 and later drove inside for a three-point play.
“He just needs to play with some confidence,” Prosser said. “We take a vote every day in practice to see if he should shoot, and it’s almost unanimous. Yet for some reason, he hesitates.”
Drum’s personal run made it 70-48, and the Bulldogs (0-2) never recovered. Joe Barber scored 17 points for Asheville, and teammate Oliver Holmes had 11.
“We needed to be able to run better offense to keep them on their heels a little bit,” Bulldogs coach Eddie Biedenbach said. “We are just not clever enough yet, or have an understanding on what shots to take and which ones to hold off on.”
Wake Forest continued to have some trouble finding offensive continuity without Paul, their All-American guard who left for the NBA after his sophomore season. During one particularly frustrating stretch, Prosser called a timeout when his players looked confused.
The Bulldogs didn’t help any, either, constantly switching defenses from zone to man-to-man or a combination of both.
“It wasn’t going to be a seamless transition from our point guard situation last year,” Prosser said. “The kid was the best in the country. I have every confidence that Justin Gray is going to be a good point guard for Wake Forest this year.”
Kyle Visser finished with 13 points for the Deacons, Williams scored 12 and freshman Kevin Swinton pulled down 12 rebounds.
