WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest men’s basketball will advance to the quarterfinal round of the National Invitational Tournament and face Texas A&M after their victory over Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday afternoon inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons’ (25-9, 13-7) victory marks their fifth 25-win season in program history and first since the 2004-05 season. Additionally, the team’s 18 home wins is the most in program history. With 25 wins, Wake Forest has won more games this season than they played last season.
Free throws proved to be critical in the contest, as Wake Forest won the free throw battle by the game’s margin, with 29 made free throws on 37 attempts (78.4 percent) versus 23 made free throws on 28 attempts (85.2 percent) for VCU.
Wake Forest (22-of-51, 0.431) also outshot VCU from the field, holding them to just 40.4 percent shooting while also forcing 19 turnovers – the team’s most forced turnovers since November.
The team sustained another well-balanced offensive attack in NIT action, with five players finishing in double figures. Alondes Williams led the pack with 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting while also chipping in five assists and four rebounds.
Dallas Walton followed close behind, with 16 points on a near-perfect 5-of-6 outing from the field and 4-of-4 mark from the stripe. Walton’s seven rebounds led the team on the glass, and the graduate big man also grabbed a pair of steals.
Jake LaRavia tallied 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, 11 of those points coming in the second half. LaRavia also grabbed six rebounds, dished three assists, and contributed a pair of steals on defense.
Daivien Williamson also played a significant role in the second half, where the Winston-Salem native scored seven of his 14 points including a clutch three-pointer late in the game. Williamson connected on all six of his free throw attempts and his 86.5 percent mark from the stripe is the 10th-best single-season mark in program history.
Cameron Hildreth rounded out the group of double-figure scorers, having exited the contest with 10 points on 2-of-5 shooting and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Hildreth also played pesky defense, leading the team with three steals while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out two assists.
How It Happened
- A three-pointer from Dallas Walton opened up scoring for the Deacs on their first possession.
- Cameron Hildreth’s layup ended an early 7-0 VCU run and cut the Rams’ lead to three (10-7) coming out of the under-16 timeout.
- Hildreth scored a jumper and Damari Monsanto netted a triple on back-to-back possessions to retake a 14-12 lead with 11:37 remaining in the opening half.
- Alondes Williams’ layup gave the Deacs a 21-18 lead over VCU with just over eight minutes to play until halftime.
- Daivien Williamson and Walton connected from downtown, and Jake LaRavia slammed a dunk in transition to open up an 8-0 run that saw Wake Forest jump out to a nine-point lead (33-24) with 5:31 to go in the first half.
- Williams cashed a make from beyond the arc and dished an assist to Williamson for a layup to provide the team with a double-digit lead (38-27) at the 4:16 mark of the first half.
- Williamson, Williams, and Hildreth collectively went 5-for-6 from the stripe to give Wake Forest a 43-33 lead with under a minute to go until the half.
- The Demon Deacons entered halftime leading VCU 43-35.
- Williams (11) and Walton (10) led the team’s scoring effort at the half.
- Wake Forest shot 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from the floor in the first half and netted 12 of their 14 attempts at the free throw line. Nine of the team’s 13 first-half field goals were assisted upon.
- The team also turned VCU over 13 times in the first half.
- LaRavia’s layup kicked off the second half for the Deacs.
- Minutes later, LaRavia drained his first triple to extend the team’s lead to seven (50-43) at the 16:40 mark of the final half.
- LaRavia netted a pair of free throws to give Wake Forest a six-point cushion (55-49) with just under 13 minutes remaining in the contest.
- Williamson went 2-for-2 at the line to push the Deacs’ lead back to six (59-53) with 11:46 left to play in regulation.
- Hildreth’s pair of free throws and Williams’ layup extended Wake Forest’s lead to seven (63-56) with ten minutes to play.
- Williams’ layup ended a five-minute scoring drought and put the Deacs up five (65-60) with under five minutes until the final buzzer.
- LaRavia scored a layup and Walton finished an alley-oop from Williams after a defensive stop to extend Wake Forest’s lead to seven (69-62) with under four minutes to play.
- Williamson drilled a clutch triple to give the team a nine-point lead (72-63) with 3:15 on the game clock.
- Monsanto’s 3-for-3 trip to the stripe extended the Wake Forest lead to 11 (77-66) with 2:10 left in the contest.
- Wake Forest defeated VCU, 80-74.
Key Moment
After going scoreless for over five minutes, VCU cut Wake Forest’s lead to just three (63-60) with just over five minutes left to play. Williams’ layup temporarily put the Deacs up five, but a pair of VCU free throws cut the lead back down to three.
The team responded with a 9-2 run featuring a layup and pair of free throws by LaRavia, alley-oop finish by Walton, and a clutch three-pointer by Williamson that gave the Demon Deacons a comfortable 74-64 lead with under three minutes left to play.
The run featured a layup and pair of free throws by LaRavia, alley-oop finish by Walton, and clutch three-pointer by Williamson, and ensured that the lead would not drop below six points for the remainder of the game.
Stats of the Game
- Alondes Williams (640 points, 177 assists) and Randolph Childress (644 points, 167 assists in 1994-95) are the only two Demon Deacons to rank inside the top 15 of the program’s single season scoring and assists leaderboard.
- His 640 points ranks 10th, and his 177 assists ranks tied for 11th.
- Additionally, he has more than doubled his scoring in one season at Wake Forest than two seasons at Oklahoma.
- 2019-20 (Oklahoma): 187
- 2020-21 (Oklahoma): 160
- 2021-22 (Wake Forest): 640
Coach’s Comments
“We had another great crowd today with unbelievable energy in the building, and I’m really thankful for all the awesome fans we’ve had all year.
We beat a fantastic basketball team today. VCU is very well coached and are hard to play against with their defensive pressure. We handled their full court pressure well and did a really good job guarding them on defense. We shared the ball well with 14 assists on 22 made baskets and 29-of-37 from the free throw line. We just overall had great energy with five guys in double figures.
Most of all, we’re really excited for 25 wins this season. I said after the NC State game that 20 wins was good, 25 was great, and 30 wins is special. Now, our team has achieved greatness. I’m also really proud of Daivien Williamson. We’ve had the most home wins in school history and he was a big part of that as a Winston-Salem native.” – Coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will travel to Texas A&M for the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 23.
