Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons Match Player Stats On Feb 19, 2022

Alondes Williams scored 11 of his 23 points in the last eight minutes as Wake Forest overcame visiting Notre Dame 79-74 in a key Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday afternoon at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wake Forest (21-7, 11-6 ACC) avoided its first three-game losing streak of the season, staying alive in the race for the ACC regular-season title.

Notre Dame (19-8, 12-4) dropped out of a tie for first place with No. 9 Duke, which takes on visiting Florida State later in the evening.

Jake LaRavia hit two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to clinch the outcome, giving him 20 points for the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest made 15 of 16 of its free-throw attempts.

Teammate Khadim Sy came off the bench to score 15 points and grab 10 rebounds.

Blake Wesley poured in 24 points, hitting six of 11 shots from 3-point land for Notre Dame. Cormac Ryan added 12 points, Paul Atkinson Jr. had 11 points and Prentiss Hubb finished with 10 points and six assists for the Fighting Irish.

The teams traded the lead during a back-and-forth stretch of the second half. Notre Dame was up 61-56 with slightly more than 10 minutes to play.

Williams scored four of the next six points as the Demon Deacons went ahead. His basket off a drive at the 4:20 mark gave Wake Forest a lead at 67-66, and the lead didn't change hands again.

Williams, the ACC scoring leader, hit 10 of 25 shots from the field. He also pulled in 10 rebounds.

It was the first time this season that Irish lost after making 10 or more shots from 3-point range. The Irish were 14 of 31 from long range, but they were hurt by an uncharacteristic 15 turnovers.

Wake Forest hit just six of 17 attempts from beyond the 3-point range.

Notre Dame used a 17-4 run in the first half to build a 41-29 lead. The Demon Deacons responded by scoring the last five points before the half as the Irish went 3:17 without scoring.

--Field Level Media