Field Level Media
Dec 4, 2021
Daivien Williamson scored a team-high 19 points to help Wake Forest to an 80-61 road win over Virginia Tech on Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.
It was the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Dallas Walton added 17 points for Wake Forest (8-1, 1-0 ACC), which shot 63.5 percent from the field, including 66.7 percent in the second half. Virginia Tech (6-3, 0-1) entered the game as the nation's second-best scoring defense team, allowing just 53.4 points per game.
Alondes Williams had 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Jake LaRavia had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Keve Aluma had 23 points and Justyn Mutts accounted for 15 for the Hokies, who committed nine turnovers in the second half and 12 overall.
LaRavia's pair of free throws gave the Demon Deacons an 18-point bulge at 72-54. They upped the lead to 20 on Williams' layup with 3:55 to play.
Wake Forest led only 38-34 at halftime, but the Demon Deacons exploded in the second half, outscoring the Hokies 42-27. Williamson scored 11 in the half on 5-of-7 shooting.
Aluma kept Virginia Tech close with a 3-pointer with 16:44 left that brought the Hokies to within 48-41. Virginia Tech scored the game's next four points to close to within 48-45 on Nahiem Alleyne's free throws at 16:03.
From that point, Wake Forest used a 32-16 burst to close out the game.
Wake Forest stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the game's first two minutes, and Virginia Tech never led on Saturday.
Virginia Tech cut the margin to 32-28 on a Mutts layup with 3:30 remaining in the first half, but the Hokies couldn't get any closer than four points before halftime.
Aluma finished the first half with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
--Field Level Media