WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ? Wake Forest struggled with turnovers, shaky ballhandling and poor free-throw shooting in its first game of the season.

Fortunately for the second-ranked Demon Deacons, Chris Paul was there to help them through it.

Paul scored 25 points and made several big plays in a decisive second-half run, sending Wake Forest past George Washington, 97-76, Monday night in the preseason NIT.

“There’s still some rough edges that we can smooth out,” Paul said. “I think we played together tonight, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

Paul had six assists and three steals in 37 minutes despite being banged around by the physical Colonials defense, leading the Demon Deacons to a second-round home game Thursday against Virginia Commonwealth.

Justin Gray added 18 points and seven steals for the Demon Deacons, and Vytas Danelius scored 17.

Paul’s effort was the highlight of a Wake Forest performance that followed a familiar pattern from last season. The Demon Deacons had four players score in double figures and shot 56 percent, but they had trouble on defense until switching to a triangle-and-two late in the game.

Ultimately, the Demon Deacons did enough late to secure their 11th straight season-opening victory.

Wake Forest's Chris Paul (3) drives for a basket past George Washington's Carl Elliott. The Deacons won, 97-76, Monday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

George Washington (0-1) tried several halfcourt and fullcourt trapping defenses, hoping to force Paul — the leading vote-getter on the Associated Press preseason All-America team — to give the ball up.

When the Colonials failed, Paul made them pay by spinning through double teams, penetrating into the lane and finding open teammates.

He certainly paid for it. The sophomore was fouled several times while trying to bring the ball upcourt against the traps. He bruised his knee when he fell to the ground on a drive to the basket. At one point, he was even stepped on by teammate Kyle Visser after being knocked down under the basket.

T.J. Thompson scored 16 points and hit five three-pointers to lead George Washington.