WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – On a milestone achieving night for forward Jake LaRavia as he scored his 1000th career point, the Wake Forest men’s basketball outran Louisville, 99-77, in the Deacs’ penultimate home game of the season.
Wake Forest (22-8, 12-7 ACC) leaned on a group effort in the win as all five starters scored in double figures. Meanwhile, LaRavia became the 55th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points when he tallied his ninth point of the game at the charity stripe in the first half. Overall for the game, the junior from Indianapolis poured in 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists, a block, and a steal on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 13-of-14 shooting from the free throw line.
Four other players finished in double figures in the victory, led by Dallas Walton’s career-high-tying 22 points, Daivien Williamson’s 15 points, Isaiah Mucius’ 12 points, and Alondes Williams’ 11 points.
The Deacs earned their third win in program history over Louisville and the first since March 1, 2017.
Wake Forest has now reached 12 ACC wins in a single season for the seventh time in program history and first time since the 2008-09 season. Additionally, Wake Forest can tie its single season record of 13 ACC wins on Wednesday night against NC State that it previously set during the 2004-05 and 2002-03 seasons.
Louisville (12-16, 6-12 ACC) fell behind quickly as the Deacs opened the game on a 17-2 run. Wake Forest broke down the Cardinal defense as it shot 58.2 percent from the field (32-of-55) and 48.1% (13-of-27) from downtown on Saturday night.
After Louisville made a run in the first half to cut the team’s lead to eight points (44-36) at halftime, Wake Forest came out roaring in the second half and ballooned its lead to as large as 32 with 6:01 remaining in the game.
Wake Forest will face NC State on Senior Day in the team’s regular season finale on Wednesday, March 2 at 9 p.m. Several men’s basketball student-athletes being honored on Wednesday have remaining eligibility and following this season those individuals will assess the potential of returning for the 2022-23 season.
How It Happened
Louisville scored the game’s first basket, but Wake Forest responded with 17 unanswered points to command an early 17-2 lead at the 14:51 mark of the first period.
Six Deacs found the net during the run, highlighted by a pair of makes from downtown by Isaiah Mucius.
Dallas Walton’s first triple of the evening extended the team’s lead to 16 (20-4) with just over 14 minutes remaining in the opening half.
Mucius and Walton connected on back-to-back triples to give Wake Forest a 20-point advantage (34-14) with 10:17 to go until halftime.
Jake LaRavia’s jumper ended an 11-1 Cardinal run and gave the Deacs a 41-29 lead with 4:29 remaining in the first half.
Wake Forest entered halftime with a 44-36 lead over Louisville.
Seven of eight Demon Deacons to see the floor in the first half scored, led by Jake LaRavia’s 12 points and Dallas Walton’s 10 points.
Wake Forest shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the floor in the opening period, including 46.2 percent (6-of-13) shooting from downtown.
A trio of free throws from Cameron Hildreth and Daivien Williamson put the Deacs on the board in the second half and extended their lead to nine (47-38) with just over 18 minutes left to play.
Hildreth and Alondes Williams netted a pair of triples and LaRavia slammed down an alley oop as part of an 8-0 Wake Forest run that restored the team’s double-digit lead (55-39) with 16:28 remaining in the contest.
Mucius’ fourth triple of the evening extended the team’s lead to 17 (60-43) with 13:18 left in regulation.
Williamson converted a three-point play at the stripe to cap off an 11-1 Wake Forest run that extended the team’s lead to 25 (73-48) with just under 10 minutes to play.
Williamson connected on his second triple to give the Deacs a 27-point lead (80-53) with just over eight minutes left in the final half.
Walton scored in the post, blocked a shot, and netted his second three-pointer of the night all within a 17-second window to extend the lead to 32 (86-54) with 6:28 on the clock.
Moments later, Walton drained his third three-pointer to tie his career-high with 22 points.
Miles Lester’s second three-pointer of the season iced the game and secured a 99-77 Wake Forest victory over Louisville.
Key Moment
After Louisville scored the game’s first two points, Wake Forest rattled off 17 unanswered points to give the Deacs a double-digit lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the evening.
Six players scored during the run, led by Mucius and his pair of three-pointers. Williamson also contributed a triple, while Hildreth, LaRavia, Walton, and Williams each scored a bucket inside the arc.
Stats of the Game
Wake Forest has the opportunity to tie its single season record of 13 ACC wins set during the 2004-05 and 2002-03 seasons.
Additionally, Wake Forest has now reached 12 ACC wins in a single season for the seventh time in program history and first time since the 2008-09 season.
Jake LaRavia became the 55th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points when he tallied his ninth point of the game at the charity stripe in the first half.
2019-20 (Indiana State): 283
2020-21 (Indiana State): 308
2021-22 (Wake Forest): 423
Total: 1,014
Additionally with Alondes Williams (72 points away) and Isaiah Mucius (71 points away) just shy of this career achievement, Wake Forest could have four active players with 1,000 career points as Daivien Williamson achieved this earlier this year.
Coach’s Comments
“We got off to a great start. We were up 14-2 through the first four minutes. Then we got off to another great start in the second half. Those are important times in the game and we really did well during that time. When we force teams to miss, we get out in transition and we are a really good team offensively in transition. We got to the line a lot tonight and we converted from the line. I thought it was a really good overall game. We had over 1,000 students at the game tonight, which is incredible, and we are over 11,000 students here for the year, which is the most since 2009. We still have a huge game on Wednesday night, Senior Night, we really want to fill the arena. It’s fun to be back inside the Joel.” – Coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will face NC State on Senior Day in the team’s regular season finale on Wednesday, March 2. Several men’s basketball student-athletes being honored on Wednesday have remaining eligibility and following this season those individuals will assess the potential of returning for the 2022-23 season.
Tipoff in LJVM Coliseum is set for 9 p.m. and the game will air live on Bally Sports South and other regional sports networks
