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WILMINGTON — The approach may sound simple, but as Wake Forest drove into the lane to score layup after layup in the second half Wednesday night at Trask Coliseum, the result was nothing short of lethal.

First it was L.D. Williams rolling up six of his game-high 23 points off layups and dunks in the second half. Then Ish Smith added another 12 off point-blank plays, and freshman C.J. Harris tossed in another 11 as the Demon Deacons repeatedly broke down the Seahawks defense from the perimeter in their third straight win with an 80-69 victory over UNC-Wilmington.

By the end of the game, Wake Forest had made 18 layups and scored 11 of its 14 second-half field goals off those plays after coach Dino Gaudio released his guards to relentlessly attack the rim.

"We thought that was something we could exploit from them," Gaudio said. "So in the second half we ran a lot of ball screens, and it was very effective for us."

At times, it was about the only thing that was consistently effective for Wake Forest (7-2).

The Demon Deacons committed 10 of 16 turnovers in the first half, and only Williams, who made 11 of 12 free throws, had any success at the line. The rest of the Deacons went 7-of- 19 from the stripe.

The result: Wake Forest found itself clinging to a 26-25 lead with 3:52 remaining in the first half despite shooting 70 percent (16-of-23) from the field to start the game. The Seahawks' extended, pressuring defense kept the Demon Deacons out of rhythm until late 3-pointers against a zone defense from Harris and fellow freshman Ari Stewart extended the lead to 37-30 at halftime.

And that's when Wake Forest turned to its simple and effective strategy.

Knowing from pre-game preps that UNCWs defense would set up to their advantage, Gaudio instructed his team to spread the floor and run their guards off screens, which the Demon Deacons coach said the Seahawks would not contest. And successfully doing it on their first three possessions of the second half, Wake Forest had a comfortable 45-30 lead and milked it for the remainder of the game.

"We weren't really getting our shots, so we said, 'Go to the rack,' " Harris said. "They never switched their game plan. They never hedged out."

And that lack of an adjustment fueled the momentum the Deacons built. Wake Forest converted three conventional three-point plays off the penetration and scored 25 of its 43 second-half points off layups, which accounted for most of Smith's 19 points and Harris' 11 points.

When those layups weren't going down, though, the Demon Deacons were 3-of-22 from the field.

Yet as Seahawks coach Benny Moss watched his defense break down repeatedly in the second half, he hedged on adjusting his defense, fearful of giving up more 3-pointers to the Demon Deacons if he switched back to a zone.

"They kept us on our heels all night," Moss said.

Despite the breakdowns, the Seahawks trimmed a 12-point Demon Deacons lead to 72-67 with 1:25 remaining, only to see Williams make eight consecutive free throws to close out a grinding victory.

"Sometimes, you've got to will these games out," said Smith. "And that's what we did."

WAKE FOREST (7-2) — Aminu 7-12 3-7 17, McFarland 0-4 1-4 1, Smith 9-19 1-1 19, Harris 4-7 2-5 11, Williams 6-7 11-12 23, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 2-4 0-0 5, Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, Woods 2-2 0-2 4. Totals 30-56 18-31 80.

UNC-WILMINGTON (4-6) — Lacy 2-6 2-2 7, Ohuaregbe 3-7 1-4 7, Fields 4-6 3-5 11, Tomko 5-14 1-1 12, Grant 3-9 0-2 8, Downey 3-6 0-0 8, Rendleman 2-6 3-4 7, Jeralds 0-0 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Wolf 0-2 2-2 2, Felder 2-4 3-8 7. Totals 24-60 15-28 69.

Halftime—Wake Forest 37-30.
3-point goals—Wake Forest 2-4 (Stewart 1-1, Harris 1-3), UNC-Wilmington 6-23 (Downey 2-4, Grant 2-5, Lacy 1-4, Tomko 1-7, Wolf 0-1, Felder 0-2).
Fouled out—Fields.
Rebounds—Wake Forest 42 (Aminu 13), UNC-Wilmington 36 (Rendleman 9).
Assists—Wake Forest 10 (Smith 5), UNC-Wilmington 10 (Tomko 3).
Total fouls—Wake Forest 22, UNC-Wilmington 26.
A—4,384.