Wake Forest wins physical battle, takes down Virginia Tech
Despite a poor shooting performance from the floor — Wake Forest hit just 36.5% of their shots from the field — the Deacs earned their second ACC win of the season against reigning conference champion Virginia Tech 77-75.
“I’m really proud of my team,” head coach Steve Forbes said in his postgame press conference. “We only had seven turnovers, and we took one or two bad shots. That’s it. We got all the 50-50 balls, got a bunch of offensive rebounds, a couple more offensive possessions. That all adds up.”
“I thought they were relentless,” Justyn Mutts said. “They just kept going.”
The win makes back-to-back big wins for Wake Forest. Before the holiday break, the Deacs upset a ranked Duke team. Now they have another Quad 1 win that should stand up in March.
“We feel great,” Tyree Appleby said after the game. “Coach always tells us how we act tells how we handle success. We were having a lot of success early in the year and then dropped two straight [and an additional loss to Rutgers]. We just have to keep responding and come with the right approach.”
With exactly a minute left in regulation, Virginia Tech forward Grant Basile knocked down a three-pointer on a brilliant inbounds play to get the Hokies within two points of the Deacs’ lead. But, two consecutive offensive rebounds gave Wake Forest an extended possession, and Damari Monsanto hit two free throws to seal the victory.
QUICK HITTER: Wake Forest Basketball defeats Virginia Tech 77-75
Appleby led the way for Wake Forest in the win, scoring 24 points on 5-10 shooting while playing all 40 minutes. He added four three-pointers, including one with four minutes remaining. At the back end of the game, Appleby made his mark from the free-throw line — he converted 10 of his 13 attempts, and made three of four in the final two minutes to help push the Deacs over the finish line.
“Physicality,” Appleby said of the team’s ability to get to the free-throw line for 26 shots. “Coach told us we’re 1-2 in our close games against physical teams. We weren’t trying to make it 1-3. We just had to play physical and I think we did that the whole game.”
“That’s one thing that gives you an advantage in the game,” Andrew Carr added. “Coming into the ACC, it was definitely a big thing to try and be physical. As a team, that needs to be our identity, being gritty, grimy, tough and together. That’s something we try to stick by every game, and that’s how we’re going to win a lot of games in the ACC.
Evan Harris - Deacons Daily
Evan Harris - Deacons Daily
Evan Harris - Deacons Daily
Evan Harris - Deacons Daily
Wake Forest Basketball
Evan Harris - Deacons Daily
After working through an injury in the past two games, the holiday break allowed Appleby to get back to 100%.
“[I felt] way better,” Appleby said. “I was dealing with a little ankle problem. The little break helped me get the recovery I needed, and we came back fresh. We came back ready to play.”
Without star guard Hunter Cattoor, who is averaging 32 minutes and 10 points per game, the Hokies were forced to rely on the veteran leadership of Sean Pedulla and Mutts. Both players scored 18 points, but got into foul trouble. Each had four fouls for a significant portion of the second half.
Despite losing the overall rebound battle by one, Wake Forest was dominant on the offensive glass, nabbing 14 rebounds. Not only did that help the team close out the game in the second half, but also gave the Deacs 20 second-chance points.
“We have to rebound the ball,” Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said after the game. “[Wake Forest] is really good, but they’re not a great rebounding team. When I play three bigs out of necessity, and we give up 14 offensive rebounds, that’ll get your tail whipped.”
READ: Wake Forest men's basketball coach Steve Forbes' media availability
Averaging less than 10 turnovers per game, Virginia Tech also gave the ball up 13 times to Wake Forest’s seven. The Hokies got into foul trouble as well — four players ended the game with four fouls, and the Deacs entered the bonus with 10 minutes left in the second half and were in the double for the final eight.
After playing just seven minutes in the victory over Duke, guard Daivien Williamson shined for Wake Forest off the bench, knocking down four three-pointers in 22 minutes of action.
“Daivien made some really big shots when we needed it,” Forbes said. “Daivien’s had his moments and those games where he plays well, and some where he hasn’t. Today he played really well. He stayed with it.”
Cameron Hildreth led the Deacs in rebounds with eight, and Matthew Marsh was a perfect 3-3 from the floor, further carving out his role as the starting center in 31 minutes.
With the win, Wake Forest moves to 10-4 on the season and 2-1 in conference. Holding a top five spot in the ACC, the Deacs will travel to Chapel Hill for a matchup with North Carolina in five days' time. Forbes believes they’ll be prepared for a tough environment.
READ: Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman enters the transfer portal
“We’ve been on the road,” he said. “We’ve been to Wisconsin, Clemson, Rutgers. We’ve been in some places. We’ll get out there and compete, play hard. We’ll be ready.”
Tip off is set for 9pm ET, Jan. 4 on ACC Network.
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Essex is the lead football writer and a managing editor for Deacons Daily. Essex served as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black for two years, in addition to roles as a beat and feature writer.