Wake Forest 80, UNC Asheville 69: Devin Thomas scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the host Demon Deacons overcame a sloppy performance to win Danny Manning’s debut as head coach.

Freshman Konstantinos Mitoglou finished with 17 points and eight rebounds for Wake Forest (1-0), which finished with 24 turnovers – 14 in the first half – and only led 37-32 at the break. The Demon Deacons held a 49-25 rebounding advantage and shot 32-for-45 from the free-throw line, Thomas going 11-for-19.

Andrew Rowsey scored 26 points – 20 in the first half – to pace the Bulldogs (0-1), but cold shooting doomed their upset hopes. UNC Asheville shot 32.3 percent from the field and finished 6-for-26 from 3-point range.

Rowsey kept the Bulldogs close, cutting Wake Forest’s lead to 49-47 on three free throws with 11:26 left. Mitchell Wilbekin’s 3-pointer less than four minutes later sparked a 14-2 run, and after two David Robertson free throws sliced the Demon Deacons’ advantage to 74-69 with 1:23 to play, Wake Forest hit six free throws down the stretch.

Codi Miller-McIntyre scored six points in the first six minutes to stake the Demon Deacons to a 9-2 lead, but Rowsey’s three-point play brought UNC Asheville within 25-23 with 5:55 remaining in the opening half. Rowsey's layup with five seconds left in the half made it a five-point game at intermission.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Rowsey, who averaged 20.3 points as a freshman last season, shot 8-for-12 from the field in the first half and 9-of-21 overall. … Wake Forest has won 56 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents. … Mitoglou hit 9-of-10 free-throw attempts.