Harris wasn’t taking much consolation that the outsized Panthers led most of the first half, giving their student section in the upper deck something to cheer about.
Instead, Harris was disappointed that HPU was unable to go toe-to-toe until the end with heavily favored Wake Forest and fell 83-60 in a game in which the Panthers weren’t considered much of a threat, especially after fellow Big South member Liberty was blown out by Clemson by 40 and UNC Asheville fell to Tennessee 124-49.
“We should have stayed with them the whole game,” Harris said. “It was a matter of our defense. If we miss shots, then we need to get back on defense and shut them down. That’s the main thing. We’re going back to work and focus on our D.”
Liberty and Asheville never got out of the gate. High Point did that and more, becoming the first team to challenge the Deacons in their first three games.
HPU led all but just over 100 seconds of the first half before the Deacons went ahead for good at 40-39 on Chas McFarland’s bucket with 1:35 left before intermission. Thanks to some torrid 3-point shooting, the Panthers led by as many as nine at the 11:25 mark and by as many as six as late as the 5:44 mark.
“We weren’t afraid of them,” Harris said. “The only thing we fear is God.”
But, HPU’s shooters finally cooled after nailing seven of the first 11 shots from 3-point range, and Wake began its rally, going up 42-39 at the half.
The roof caved in on HPU after the break, thanks to a Wake defensive adjustment, the Deacons making better use of their height advantage on the front line and HPU foul trouble that included Nick Barbour, Cruz Daniels and Corey Law picking up two fouls apiece early.
“We executed our game plan to the best of our ability in the first half,” HPU coach Scott Cherry said. “Down three at the half, we knew it was going to be tough given Wake’s size. But my guys gave me everything they could.”
Going scoreless for almost eight minutes in one stretch and mustering just seven points over the first 14:30 of the second half, HPU fell behind by 15 on the way to getting outscored 41-21 for the period.
“We came out a little sluggish,” Harris said. “We didn’t come out the right way we’re supposed to come out, and the offense missed a couple of shots. We needed to make a couple of adjustments and come out hard like we did the first half.”
HPU missed shots because Wake decided to stay tight on the wing shooters instead of dropping back to help closer to the basket.
“In the first half, they were kicking out off the dribble-drive for 3s,” Wake coach Dino Gaudio said. “So at the half we had to make a little adjustment and told our guys to lock on the drive and stay attached to the wing.”
HPU made just two of its last 12 attempts from behind the arc. Wake held Barbour, HPU’s main offensive threat, to 4-of-15 shooting as he led the Panthers with 15 points. Harris needed to go 5-of-15 to get 13 points.
“Oh man, they were like Duke my sophomore year when they had DeMarcus Nelson and guys like that,” Deacon senior guard Ish Smith said. “They drive and then kick out. We did a great job weathering the storm. I know people were thinking ‘What are the Deacs doing?’ We did a great job coming back. We needed that adversity. We stayed calm and battled back.”
Even though the adversity shifted to HPU in the second half, Cherry was pleased with the outing, believing that bodes well about HPU’s prospects in Big South play.
“The thing is we were able to compete,” Cherry said. “When you walk into an arena like this in the ACC and go up against heights of 7-0, 6-11, and then 6-9 at the three, that’s pretty imposing. For guys to come in here and believe they could win was something.
“We’re not going to face a front line like that in the Big South. Our guys can gain confidence from this. We were running in the first half. We were making shots and defending. We were making them score over us. We didn’t give them easy baskets. Then in the second half, we didn’t make some shots while they got out and made some easy ones in transition. My guys aren’t going to hang their heads. We don’t operate that way. We play every possession as hard as we possibly can. Whatever the result is, we’re going to regroup and come back.”
gsmith@hpe.com | 888-3519
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