Miami defeats Wake Forest 74-72; Deacs' ACC Tournament run ends in quarterfinals
A full game story with quotes and analysis is available here.
Just 24 hours after earning their first ACC Tournament win since 2017, the dream ended for Wake Forest against No. 1 Miami in a 74-72 quarterfinal loss at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Deacons struggled shooting the ball in certain parts of the game. Despite earning 55 combined points from guards Tyree Appleby, Cameron Hildreth and Daivien Williamson, the team finished shooting 40.9% from the field and a 35.5% three-point conversion rate. The Deacs also missed 7 of their 14 free throws, a crucial misfire down the stretch.
Seven minutes into the first half, Miami took control with a six-point lead. Wake Forest, at the time, was shooting 1/11 from the field. But, the tides quickly turned; Miami didn’t score for over three minutes and missed three-straight shots, allowing Wake Forest to tie the game at 10 going into the under-12 timeout.
Tied at 14, the Hurricanes knocked down back-to-back shots to extend the lead back out to five, but leading into the under-eight, Wake Forest got their first score of the day from Appleby and a critical charge drawn by Andrew Carr.
Wake Forest tied the game with two additional scores from Appleby, but a defensive overextension by Carr and steal-to-dunk on Hildreth gave Miami a four-point lead, forcing Steve Forbes to call his first timeout of the game.
After trailing by seven, Appleby converted a nifty layup and with just minutes remaining in the first half. Then, Wake Forest made a critical defensive stop — Matthew Marsh blocked a clear Miami layup, which led to a swish from behind the line by Williamson, cutting Miami’s lead to two and pushing Jim Larrañaga to call a timeout.
The Hurricanes ended the half on a 4-0 run, but Wake Forest nearly closed the half on a very high note — Hildreth nailed a three-pointer from halfcourt, but the ball left his hands just milliseconds after the buzzer sounded. With that, a closely-fought first half finished with Miami holding a 34-29 lead.
To open the second half, Wake Forest struggled offensively, missing open shots. On the defensive end, they had trouble closing out and boxing out, leading to a 10-4 stretch for the Hurricanes and a timeout called by Forbes. The Miami lead had stretched out to 11 less than three minutes into the second.
For several minutes, the low double-digit lead for Miami persisted, but with back-to-back threes from Bensley Joseph and Isaiah Wong, the advantage ballooned to 17, and Wake Forest officially hit the danger zone with 13 minutes remaining.
In two minutes of action, Wake Forest embarked on a 7-0 run to reduce Miami’s lead to just 11, spearheaded by a bucket from Williamson.
Trailing by 15, and with their backs against the wall, Wake Forest nailed back-to-back threes from Williamson and Klintman to reduce the Miami lead back to single-digits. Then, on another run, this time 8-0, Wake Forest got within seven with four minutes remaining.
With just over a minute remaining, Wake Forest earned a critical defensive stop. On the other end, Hildreth cut the lead to just five with a three-pointer. Forbes used his last timeout with 59.5 seconds remaining, setting the game plan for Wake to attempt and stun the Hurricanes.
But, Wong quickly drove down the court to put the Canes up by seven. Appleby drew the Deacs back within four with a desperation three-pointer with just over 30 seconds remaining.
At the line, Jordan Miller missed the front end, and Wake Forest was able to race and knock down a three-pointer with just seconds remaining.
For the second-straight day, Williamson had a shot at the buzzer-beating win, but his attempt from halfcourt went wide, and Wake Forest fell in heartbreaking fashion for their seventh two-point loss of the season.
With the loss, the Deacs will miss out on the NCAA Tournament for the sixth-straight year [the 2020 tournament was canceled due to COVID-19] and hope to receive a bid to one of the postseason tournaments. Miami moves forward to the semifinals to face the winner of No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Pitt.
Wake Forest Team Stats:
27-66 FG (40.9%)
11-31 3PT (35.5%)
7-14 FT (50.0%)
36 reb, 13 offensive
15 assists
10 turnovers
Miami Team Stats:
31-59 FG (52.5%)
6-19 3PT (31.6%)
6-11 FT (54.5%)
38 reb, 9 offensive
15 assists
12 turnovers
Wake Forest Key Players:
Tyree Appleby: 24 pts, 8-24 FG, 5-15 3PT, 5 reb, 5 ast
Cameron Hildreth: 17 pts, 6-11 FG, 2-3 3PT, 7 ast, 4 reb
Daivien Williamson: 14 pts, 6-14 FG, 2-5 3PT
Miami Key Players:
Jordan Miller: 18 pts, 8-16 FG, 9 reb, 5 ast
Isaiah Wong: 17 pts, 7-10 FG, 5 ast
Norchad Omier: 14 pts, 5-8 FG, 10 reb
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