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Teague, Wake Forest roll past UNC Wilmington

Nov 20, 2008 - 4:45 AM WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Sophomore Jeff Teague scored a career-high 31 points and James Johnson had 25 as No. 24 Wake Forest cruised to a 120-88 victory over North Carolina-Wilmington on Wednesday.

Chas McFarland added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Demon Deacons (2-0), who shot 57 percent (47-of-83) from the floor.

The 120 points equaled the third-most in Wake Forest history.

"I think the players had fun but I don't know if the coaches did," Demon Deacons coach Dino Gaudio said. "I was a little disappointed on defense. Good win for us over as a good basketball team that plays hard."

Wake Forest broke the game open early with a 26-5 burst to take a 32-12 lead with 9:56 left in the first half.

Johnson scored 16 of his points in the opening 20 minutes and both teams shot a high percentage as the Demon Deacons held a 61-44 advantage at the break.

"We played a very, very good team tonight," UNC-Wilmington coach Benny Moss said. "I know they're young, but they're talented and they're big. Dino's doing a tremendous job. He's got them playing hard. He's got them defending. He's got them executing and playing in transition. They were just too much for us to handle tonight."

The Seahawks tried to keep the game close early in the second half and Johnny Wolf's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 69-60 with 15:44 remaining.

However, that would be as close as they got as Wake Forest later used a 10-0 run to take a 92-68 lead with 9:37 left and cruised to the finish.

Freshman Al-Farouq Aminu had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Wake Forest, notching his second straight double-double.

"I had a lot of rebounds and that has been a big emphasis for me this year," Aminu said. "I am real proud of myself for that and for getting to the boards."

The Demon Deacons held a 52-30 rebound advantage and outscored the Seahawks, 76-22 in the paint.

"We want to throw it inside," Gaudio said. "For the most part we are becoming more disciplined in the number of threes we are shooting. We have to let those big guys eat, we got to throw them the ball."

Wolf scored 24 points to lead the Seahawks (2-1), who committed 23 turnovers. Dominique Lacy added 20 points and 11 rebounds.