Virginia defeats Wake Forest 76-67
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Despite a career day for Damari Monsanto, who nailed seven threes for 25 points, Wake Forest could not pull out the victory over Virginia, who escaped Winston-Salem with a 76-67 win.
After both teams failed to score on their first two possessions, Tyree Appleby put home the first points of the game off an offensive rebound. Then Monsanto drained his first three-pointer, giving the Deacs an early 5-0 lead.
Ben Vander Plas scored Virginia’s first points off an offensive rebound — the Hoos missed their opening eight shots.
After a nice rebound and score from Andrew Carr, Kihei Clark drilled Virginia’s first three-pointer, tying the ballgame at seven. Clark then another three to give Virginia their first lead.
Appleby matched Clark with a three of his own to put Wake back out front.
Armaan Franklin scored back-to-back shots for the Cavaliers — a three-pointer and deep two — which countered a silky smooth Hildreth layup to give Virginia a one-point advantage at the under-12.
Franklin drained his second three out of the timeout, and then Isaac McKneely hit one himself for Virginia’s ninth-straight point, forcing Steve Forbes to call a timeout.
On the next possession, Franklin hit another three to give Virginia a double-digit lead. Reece Beekman added a three for the 15-point advantage.
Franklin scored five-straight points to extend the Cavaliers lead to 19. Monsanto appeared to break the dam with a three-pointer, but McKneely came right back and hit one of his own. Monsanto wasn’t done yet, though, knocking down a second in as many possessions to bring the Deacs back within 14.
With the help of Monsanto, who scored four-straight field goals for Wake Forest, the Deacs closed the Virginia lead to 10 at halftime. In the final 3:31, Wake outscored Virginia 12-5.
Vander Plas opened the second half with a three for Virginia, continuing their torrid scoring from behind the arc. But then, the Deacs fought back with a layup from Appleby and deep two by Monsanto. A three from Hildreth got Wake Forest to within six of the Virginia lead, and forced head coach Tony Bennett to call a timeout.
After a three-pointer by Ryan Dunn, Wake Forest scored four-straight with Carr. A McKneely three-pointer calmed the storm for Virginia.
Following a dunk by Bobi Klintman, Vander Plas drained a three. But Monsanto quickly responded with his own to cut the Virginia lead down to three, forcing Bennett to call a timeout.
After the lead went all the way down to one, the Cavs put together a 4-0 mini-run, and Forbes called a timeout with 6:00 left on the clock.
Appleby responded to a Franklin dunk with a nifty layup, keeping the Virginia lead at five. A three-pointer from Beekman gave Virginia a key eight-point lead with two minutes remaining.
And just when things seemed gone, Monsanto nailed two threes in just seconds to bring the Deacs back within four with under a minute remaining.
But, Virginia was able to close out the final minute off Wake Forest missed shots, and left the Joel with a nine-point victory.
Wake Forest Stats:
20-51 FG (39.2%), 9-27 3PT (33.3%), 32 reb, 9 TOs
Virginia Stats:
24-60 FG (40.0%), 15-34 3PT (44.1%), 38 reb, 10 off. reb, 7 TOs
Key Player Stats:
Damari Monsanto (WF): 25 pts, 9-19 FG, 7-15 3PT
Cameron Hildreth (WF): 16 pts, 3-7 FG, 9-10 FT, 7 reb
Tyree Appleby (WF): 13 pts, 4-16 FG, 5 ast
Armaan Franklin (UVA): 25 pts, 9-21 FG, 5-13 3PT, 10 reb
Kihei Clark (UVA): 12 pts, 2-7 FG
Isaac McKneely (UVA): 11 pts, 3-6 3PT
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