By Phillip Murray
Despite having six players score in double figures for the first time since 2012 and shooting a season-best 58.9 percent from the field, the Wake Forest basketball team fell to Virginia Tech, 93-91, at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. on Wednesday night. The Demon Deacons nearly forced overtime, but a last-minute rally by Virginia Tech, and a critical missed free throw caused them to fall short of victory.
The Demon Deacons dropped to 10-6 on the year with a 1-3 mark in ACC play, while the Hokies improved to 11-6 and 3-1 in the conference.
Codi Miller-McIntyre (season-high 22 points), Devin Thomas (16), Konstantinos Mitoglou (14), Mitchell Wilbekin (13), Bryant Crawford (13) and Rondale Watson (career-best 11) all reached double digits in points for the Deacs, while Justin Bibbs led the way with 32 for the Hokies .The Deacs trailed by as many as 10 late in the first half before a Miller-McIntyre buzzer-beater cut Wake Forest’s halftime deficit to seven at 45-38. Both teams shot 15-of-29 (51.7 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
The Deacs came out of the gates strong in the second half, quickly erasing Virginia Tech’s lead with a 15-6 run capped by a Mitoglou 3-pointer to pull in front, 53-51, sparking the see-saw action that ensued in the final 16 minutes.
After a back-and-forth second half that included three ties and six lead changes, Wake Forest found itself down by six with 30 seconds to play.
Wake Forest shot 58.9 percent from the floor (33 of 56), but the Hokies held off the Demon Deacons by making 29 of 35 from the free-throw line (82.9 percent).
A Wilbekin three closed the gap to 90-87 before a Justin Robinson free throw to extend the lead back to four. With 7.3 seconds to play, a clutch deep 3-pointer by Miller-McIntyre made it 91-90, but the Hokies’ Terry Blackshear, Jr. answered the 3 point sot with a pair of game critical free throws.
The play that could have sent the game into over time was when Miller-McIntyre was fouled while attempting a game-tying shot from beyond the arc with one second on the clock. The pressure proved to be tremendous as McIntyre missed the first of three shots from the free-throw line. After he made the second shot, the Deacs looked to tie the score with a tip in following a missed third try, but they were unable to do so.
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Wake Forest has lost 16 straight ACC road games. The Demon Deacons haven’t won an ACC road game since winning in Blacksburg on Jan. 22, 2014. … The Demon Deacons lost a game decided by six points or less for the first time this season. . Wake Forest is now 2-6 in Blacksburg since Virginia Tech joined the ACC for the 2004-05 season
Up next for Wake Forest is a noon game on Saturday against Syracuse. Syracuse is the second to last worst ranked team in the entire conference. The Demon Deacons could establish some much-needed momentum at home with a win, before facing tough road tests against No. 5 North Carolina and No. 8 Miami.