WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Four Deacs finished in double-figures as Wake Forest defeated Miami 66-54 for their second ACC victory of the season on Saturday afternoon.
Wake Forest (5-7, 2-7) grabbed 39 rebounds, the team’s most in ACC play, and outrebounded Miami (6-10, 2-9) by nine in the victory. The team’s 11 turnovers against the Hurricanes tied for its lowest mark of the season.
The Deacs ended the opening 20 minutes of play with a 10-point advantage, its largest halftime lead against an ACC opponent. After a slow start, Wake Forest’s offense found its rhythm, knocking down nine triples, the most in a half this season.
Daivien Williamson led Wake Forest’s offensive punch for the second consecutive game, scoring 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and three triples.
Jalen Johnson chipped in 15 points off the bench and Isaiah Mucius contributed 13 points while also recording a season-high nine rebounds and two assists.
Carter Whitt had his best game of the season as the freshman tied his career-high with 11 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and a career-high three makes from distance.
Additionally, Ody Oguama grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds (three offensive) and finished with five points in the victory.
How It Happened
Wake Forest got off to a slow start offensively and trailed 7-0 going into the under-16 media timeout.
Junior guard Daivien Williamson ended the drought and scored the Deacs’ first points of the game with a layup at the 15:26 mark.
A 15-0 run featuring two triples from Williamson and a trio from graduate Jalen Johnson, junior Isaiah Mucius and freshman Carter Whitt vaulted the Deacs to a lead of 20-13 and forced a Miami timeout with 7:58 remaining in the first half.
After a 6-0 run by the Hurricanes, Whitt sank his second 3-pointer that pushed the lead back to four (23-19) with 6:34 remaining.
An 11-3 run to end the half featuring two more triples from Johnson gave the Deacs a 10 point (34-24) advantage going into the intermission.
Johnson led Wake Forest with nine points, while Williamson added eight points. Sophomore forward Ody Oguama secured nine rebounds in the first half, just one shy of his career high.
The Deacs drained a season-high nine triples in the half and forced seven Hurricane turnovers.
After going 1-of-11 from the field in the game’s first five minutes, the Deacs shot 10-of-22 for the remainder of the half, including 9-of-16 from beyond the arc.
After Miami cut the lead to six, junior Isaiah Wilkins’ second triple of the game pushed the Wake Forest lead back up to nine (43-34) with 12:56 remaining.
Williamson’s third 3-pointer of the game ended a 5-0 Miami run and pushed the lead back up to eight (48-40) with 8:36 left to play.
Following the under-8 media timeout, the teams traded baskets before Mucius knocked down his second trey as the shot clock expired to bring the lead back to double-digits (54-44) with 5:09 left in the game.
With 1:26 remaining in regulation, Oguama grabbed his career-best 12th rebound and followed it with a putback layup to stretch the lead to 15, which ultimately sealed the contest for the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest secured their second ACC victory of the season with the 66-54 win over the Hurricanes.
Daivien Williamson put up a game-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Jalen Johnson tacked on 15 points and two steals. Isaiah Mucius finished just one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
After trailing 13-5, the Deacs outscored the Hurricanes 61-41 for the remainder of the game.
Key Moment
Wake Forest went on an emphatic 15-0 run that gave the Deacs their first lead (20-13) with 8:02 to play in the half. The Deacs would not surrender the lead for the remainder of the game.
All 15 points in the run were scored from beyond the arc – Williamson hit two, and Whitt, Mucius and Johnson knocked down one a piece.
Stat of the Game
Wake Forest’s 54 points allowed to Miami are its fewest allowed in league play since February 1st, 2020, when the Deacs allowed Clemson to score just 44 points.
Today was just the sixth time in the past 10 seasons that Wake Forest has held an ACC opponent to 54 points or less.
Straight From Forbes
“We did a really good job today of executing the defensive game plan. We didn’t let the ball go middle for the most part of the game, we got to the ice on the ball screen, we guarded the elbows. That was really important, they were really a team that could drive the ball, so we guarded the elbows and they couldn’t drive through the elbow. We played without fouling and for the most part we kept the ball in front of us. When you do that, you’ve got a good chance of winning. They made nine threes, they don’t typically do that, especially with Cross being out of the lineup. They average about three without him. Eleven turnovers today helped us, we were able to set our defense. When you don’t have all those turnovers you’re not playing disadvantaged defense, you’re playing five-on-five, and I thought that was really important.
I thought Daivien made a really big shot when we were 45-40. We were kind of struggling on offense, ran something for him, he shot-faked, got his feet set and made that three in the corner to make it 48-40. Carter was outstanding off the bench. Jalen Johnson and Isaiah Wilkins, those guys played really well off the bench. I thought we did a really good job of sharing the ball, and we changed up our offense a little bit with more screening and cutting. I thought that put a little bit more pressure on the rim. In the first half we got to the rim much like Virginia Tech, but we didn’t make the right play and they blocked a lot of shots. Second half, I thought we did a better job of doing that. Credit to Miami for coming in here shorthanded and competing, I know that’s tough. They’ve got a ton of injuries and we’re all going through it, a lot of crazy stuff. Coach Larrañaga is a great coach and good person, and I’m sure that they’ll battle through this and they’ll be a lot better when they get their full team.”
Up Next
Wake Forest will be back in action on Tuesday for a road matchup with Notre Dame in South Bend.
Tip-off against the Irish is set for 5 p.m. and the game will broadcast on ACC Network.
