WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest men’s basketball team defeated Notre Dame 79-74 on Saturday afternoon inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons (21-7, 11-6 ACC) outscored the Fighting Irish 44-33 in the game’s final half en route to clinching the first above .500 finish in conference play since the 2009-10 season (9-7).
Wake Forest’s 11 conference wins this season is the most since the 2008-09 season. Additionally, this season marks the seventh time in program history that the Deacs have achieved this conference win total.
As a team, Wake Forest shot 41.4 percent from the floor (29-of-70) and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-17), but shot the ball significantly better down the stretch with marks of 52.9 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from downtown in the second half.
The Demon Deacons found success getting to the free throw line, where they made 15 of their 16 attempts (93.8 percent). Wake Forest outrebounded the Irish by a decisive 43-to-27 margin. The team’s 16 offensive rebounds tied its season high, and led to a 16-to-4 advantage in second chance points.
Despite his slow start in the first half, Alondes Williams caught fire in the second half when the Milwaukee, Wis. product scored 17 of his 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Williams is currently just 96 points away from reaching 1,000 career points and boasts the 18th most single season assists in program history (343) after dishing out three today.
Jake LaRavia continued his stellar play on Saturday as he finished the contest with 20 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals on 5-of-8 shooting. LaRavia played a crucial role in the team’s success on offense as the Indianapolis native netted 10 of his 11 attempts at the free throw line. He is now just 24 points away from eclipsing 1,000 for his career.
In addition to his 15 points, forward Khadim Sy played a significant role in the Deacs’ dominant performance on the boards. The veteran big man grabbed six of his 10 rebounds on the offensive glass, besting his previous career-high of four.
How It Happened
- Jake LaRavia scored the Deacs first seven points of the contest, providing the team with an early 7-4 lead just over two minutes into the game.
- Isaiah Mucius drilled his first three-pointer of the afternoon to give Wake Forest a 12-6 lead going into the under-16 timeout.
- After Notre Dame took the lead on a run of its own, Wake Forest answered with a 12-0 jaunt that helped the Deacons retake the lead (25-24) with 9:14 left to play in the opening period.
- LaRavia’s layup in the post ended an 8-0 Irish run and brought the Deacs within five (32-27) with just over six minutes until halftime.
- LaRavia went 4-for-4 at the stripe over two trips to cut the deficit to six (41-35) with 1:19 until the intermission.
- Wake Forest entered halftime trailing Notre Dame, 41-35.
- LaRavia led the team’s first-half effort with 15 points and four rebounds.
- The team went 11-for-11 from the free throw line in the first half.
- Daivien Williamson opened up the second half with a pair of makes from downtown, his second cutting the Irish lead to two (43-41) just one minute into the second period.
- Mucius slammed a dunk in transition to bring the Deacs within one-point (51-50) with 15 minutes remaining in the contest.
- Alondes Williams knocked down a jumper from mid-range to retake the lead (54-53) with 13:30 remaining in the final half.
- Williams’ dunk off an assist from LaRavia allowed Wake Forest to retake the lead (62-61) with 7:41 to play until the buzzer.
- Williams converted a three-point play at the stripe to give Wake Forest a 65-63 lead with 6:14 on the clock.
- Williams and Sy scored layups to provide the team with a 69-66 advantage with 3:37 to play.
- Another Williams layup extended the lead to four (72-68) with two minutes remaining.
- Mucius drilled a clutch triple to provide the Deacs with a five-point cushion (75-70) with 1:20 left in the contest.
- Williams answered a Notre Dame triple with a layup to extend the team’s lead to four (77-73) with 49 seconds to play.
- Following a pair of free throws from LaRavia, Wake Forest defeated Notre Dame, 79-74.
Stat of the Game
- Two Demon Deacons finished with a double-double in the same contest for the first time since a pair of players accomplished this feat against Notre Dame during the 2019-20 season (2/29/20).
- Alondes Williams: 23 points, 10 rebounds. Fifth career double-double.
- Khadim Sy: 15 points, 10 rebounds. Second career double-double.
Coach’s Comments
“That was a great college basketball game. Notre Dame has a really good team and Coach (Mike) Brey has done an unbelievable job, especially on offense. They hit nine threes and turned us over nine times in the first half, but the key was that we weathered the storm and we were only down six at halftime.
“We made some adjustments at halftime against the zone offense and how we were defending them, and went to just motion offense. As a result, the ball was zinging around and moving like we’re used to seeing with this team. Daivien (Williamson) hit two huge threes to open the second half and get us going.
“On top of that, we started to defend better. We switched one through four on ball screens and were more aggressive denying the wings. We were 9-of-27 from two in the first half, and as one of the top two-point shooting teams in the country, we flipped the script and went 16-of-24 from two in the second half. Our 16 offensive rebounds also really helped us win, I mean, we were one rebound away from having three guys with a double-double. That just goes to show how hard our players played.” – Coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Following Saturday’s contest, Wake Forest will face Clemson on Wednesday, February 23 in the team’s final road game of the regular season.
Tipoff in Littlejohn Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
