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WINSTON-SALEM — In the end, with Wake Forest clinging to an evaporating lead, three coaches on the Miami bench leaped to their feet and hollered for someone — anyone! — to foul Ish Smith when the ball came to him.

They didn’t. And Smith, the Demon Deacons’ senior leader, quickly passed the ball to … a freshman.

Those three coaches? They sat down.

C.J. Harris, the kid from Mount Tabor who turns 19 in a couple of weeks, is already more than a freshman. He played 35 grueling minutes and scored a team-high 12 points in Wake’s 62-53 victory over Miami in a defensive struggle Tuesday night at the Joel Coliseum.

“It was terrible out there. Scrappy,” Harris said. “There was no flow at all. If either team started to get in a flow, they turned it over or committed fouls back-to-back. It was an ugly game, but luckily we pulled through.”

Harris hit all six of his free throws. Four of those foul shots came down the stretch — Wake had just one field goal in the final 9:58 — none bigger than both ends of a one-and-one bonus that pushed the Deacs’ lead to 59-53 with 1:46 left.

Halfway through the ACC season, Harris is now 78-for-91 (86 percent) from the foul line.

“I have the confidence in myself, and I feel like the team has confidence in me to go up there and knock down free throws,” Harris said. “I think of those as, well, free points.”

They’re not. Smith, who finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists, was just 2-for-5 from the foul line and is a 48-percent free-throw shooter (30-for-62).

Bottom line: Freshman or not, Wake Forest (15-5, 5-3 ACC) needs Harris.

The Deacs needed his improved defense, early and late, on Miami’s shooters. The Deacs needed his 2-for-5 shooting from 3-point range to loosen up the Hurricanes’ 2-3 zone defense. The Deacs needed his free-throw shooting to protect a lead that dwindled from 17 points down to three.

“You can’t make that (freshman) excuse anymore,” Harris said. “Coach (Dino) Gaudio stays on me and Ari (Stewart) about how we’re not freshmen anymore. We can’t pout. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’re out there just like the seniors are, so we’ve got to play like it.”

Stewart, Wake’s other freshman, shot 2-for-4 from 3-point range and had eight points in 14 minutes off the bench.

“Boy, my assistants got into me after the game about 'Ari should’ve played more,’” Gaudio said. “You know what? He should have. I’m not perfect. … I should’ve played him more, but I just felt like our defense was the thing that was going to carry us. I was probably wrong on that one.”

While Stewart’s defense is still a work in progress, Harris has become a reliable defender.

With Harris’ help, and three key blocked shots by Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest held Miami scoreless when the game was in doubt.

“It shows how good our defense is,” Harris said. “We shut ’em out for the last seven possessions. It shows we can step up and lock a team down when we need to. … Our identity is defense, and it brought us through tonight.”

Defense keeps Harris on the floor. And for Wake Forest to go from good to great, that’s where he needs to be.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

MIAMI (16-6) — McGowan 1-2 1-2 3, Collins 2-4 1-2 5, Thomas 0-5 0-0 0, Scott 2-10 4-6 9, Dews 3-10 2-2 10, Grant 0-3 0-0 0, Adams 4-8 2-2 13, Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Johnson 2-5 4-4 8, Gamble 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 16-54 15-20 53.

WAKE FOREST (15-5) — Aminu 1-5 4-4 6, McFarland 3-5 3-4 9, Smith 4-12 2-5 11, Harris 2-6 6-6 12, Williams 1-6 5-6 7, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 3-5 0-0 8, Weaver 1-2 1-2 3, Woods 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 18-44 21-27 62.

Halftime—Wake Forest 36-27.
3-point goals—Miami 6-18 (Adams 3-5, Dews 2-4, Scott 1-4, Thomas 0-1, McGowan 0-1, Jones 0-1, Grant 0-2), Wake Forest 5-13 (Stewart 2-4, Harris 2-5, Smith 1-1, Williams 0-1, Aminu 0-2).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—Miami 36 (Johnson, Scott 6), Wake Forest 34 (Aminu, Smith 9).
Assists—Miami 7 (Grant, Scott 2), Wake Forest 12 (Smith 6).
Total fouls—Miami 21, Wake Forest 17.
A—11,241.