Freshman Travis McKie scored 21 points and Wake Forest held on to beat Hampton 63-56 on Monday night in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
C.J. Harris added 13 points for the Demon Deacons (1-1). They overcame 19 turnovers and a late 8-minute field-goal drought to dodge a second straight loss to a low-major program and give coach Jeff Bzdelik his first victory at the school.
Darrion Pellum scored 15 points and Charles Funches added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Pirates (0-1). After trailing by 15 in the second half, they were down 59-56 but had the ball in the final minute.
Pellum missed a tying 3-pointer with 17 seconds left and Wake Forest's Ty Walker tipped the rebound to Ari Stewart, who hit two free throws with 12.7 seconds left to stretch it to 61-56 and Harris added two more free throws with 2.4 seconds left.
Stewart finished with 10 rebounds for the Demon Deacons, who were coming off a shocking 10-point loss to Stetson of the Atlantic Sun Conference three nights earlier in Bzdelik's debut at the school. They came up with just enough plays in this one to avoid their first 0-2 start since the 1979-80 team opened with consecutive losses to North Carolina State and Duke in the Big Four Tournament in Greensboro.
Then again, maybe a return to the preseason NIT was just what Wake Forest needed. The Demon Deacons are playing in the event for the third time, having won it in 2004, three years after losing in the title game.
For most of the way, Hampton had serious trouble making shots with any kind of consistency. The Pirates missed 11 of their first 12 attempts and misfired on 12 of their first 13 3-pointers. Pellum, the team's only returning double-figure scorer, was 6 of 22 from the field.
Hampton finished 22 of 72 from the field and was held to 14 percent shooting (3 of 21) from 3-point range.
But the Pirates certainly warmed up down the stretch. Funches' short jumper with 6 1/2 minutes left pulled them to 51-48 and made it a one-possession game for the first time since midway through the first half.
The Demon Deacons were playing for the first time since freshman point guard Tony Chennault was lost for 8-10 weeks with a broken left foot, and their already thin backcourt was further tested when Harris, the only returning starter, picked up his second foul just over 2 minutes in. That led Bzdelik to insert walk-on guard Aaron Ingle at the first TV timeout.
The Pirates opened this season in the same building where they ended last year. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has held its league tournament at the Joel Coliseum for the past two years.
