Virginia Tech hammered Wake Forest 94-65 in ACC action from Cassell Coliseum on Saturday night. The Hokies are now 11-5 overall, and 2-2 in ACC play. Wake dropped to 7-11, with an 0-3 mark in conference play.
The Hokies dominated from start to finish, out-shooting Wake 58.6% to 40%. Tech also had 23 assists and just 10 turnovers, while the Demon Deacons had eight assists and 16 turnovers. VT won the rebounding battle 30-23.
Virginia Tech won this game despite getting only nine points from leading scorer Malcolm Delaney. Delaney was just 3-of-9 from the field, but he dished out nine assists and his teammates were making their open shots. Manny Atkins led the Hokies with 16 points in 17 minutes off the bench. He was 5-of-7 from the field, and 2-of-3 from three-point range.
Five other Hokies also scored in double figures, led by Victor Davila with 14 points. Davila had a number of easy dunks under the basket, and was 6-of-8 from the field. Terrell Bell added 12 points, while Jeff Allen and Erick Green finished with 10 points apiece. Freshman forward Jarell Eddie scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds in 21 minutes, easily his best game as a Hokie.
Even Tech’s walk-ons got into the action. Paul Debnam scored four points, and had one rebound, one assist and one steal in four minutes. Prince Parker, a recently added forward from the football team, scored two points on his only basket. Senior forward Andrew Griffin had one rebound in two minutes.
The 29 point loss to Virginia Tech was Wake Forest’s biggest loss of the season. Overall, this was probably Virginia Tech’s easiest ACC win since joining the conference for the 2004-2005 season.
Wake Forest actually played well in the opening minutes of the game. They led 7-0 early, but the Hokies quickly rallied, taking an 11-9 lead following a three-pointer by Terrell Bell. Bell’s shot was part of a 14-2 Tech run, which put the Hokies up 20-11 following a three-pointer by Jarell Eddie.
Virginia Tech kept their foot on the gas for the remainder of the half, going into the intermission with a 44-24 lead. They kept going in the second half, leading by as many as 31 points before clearing their bench late in the game.
The Hokies have now won seven of their last eight games. They’ll look to keep their streak of good play going on Thursday night when they travel to College Park to take on Maryland. Tip-off is scheduled for 9pm, and the game will be televised by ESPN2.
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