Check below for game stories from all the ACC basketball action on Saturday. While we’re in non-conference play, stories will be listed in alphabetical order, by which ACC team is involved.
We will continue to update as Saturday’s games wrap up.
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arkansas held off late clemson rally to win 74-68
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) – Michael Qualls scored 17 points and Arkansas got just enough defensive stops late to hold off Clemson for a 74-68 win on Saturday.
The Tigers limited Arkansas to only two field goals the final 10 minutes, created several second-chance opportunities and watched as the Razorbacks missed eight free throws in the final 6:05.
“We had a comfortable lead, but the game is not over until it’s over,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said.
Arkansas used great 3-point shooting to help build a 16-point lead after halftime. Alandise Harris’ 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer gave the Razorbacks a 40-32 lead and Rashad Madden added two more treys in Arkansas’ first two possessions of the second half.
The Razorbacks (6-2) made 10 of their first 15 attempts from 3-point range against Clemson, which entered the game allowing the fewest points per game in the NCAA.
“It’s what they were giving us,” Anderson said. “Some were in transition. The Clemson defense packs it in there and they make you shoot jump shots.”
The Tigers eventually clamped down on Arkansas’ shooters, holding the Razorbacks without a made basket for more than 6 minutes during one stretch late in the second half. Bobby Portis’ jumper from the baseline with 4:07 left and breakaway slam with 4 seconds remaining were Arkansas’ only made field goals in the final 10 minutes, 17 seconds.
The defensive prowess allowed Clemson (7-2) to climb back into the game. The Tigers used an 11-2 run to pull within 65-60 on a K.J. McDaniels 3-pointer with 2:49 remaining.
McDaniels finished with a career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Damarcus Harrison had a fast-break chance seconds after the McDaniels 3, but Harris, who had missed four straight free throws minutes earlier, blocked him from behind to preserve a five-point advantage for the Razorbacks.
“He was on his way to a layup and we always tell our guys to never give up on a play,” Anderson said. “I think Alandise wanted to make amends… for missing those free throws. Players have to make plays going down the stretch. Obviously that was a big play.”
McDaniels added a dunk with 29 seconds left to pull Clemson to within 70-66. The Tigers twice pulled to within four points in the final minute, but couldn’t get any closer.
Clemson had several chances to further cut into the Arkansas lead, recording 19 offensive rebounds, but the Tigers only capitalized with 14 second-chance points. During one possession in the second half, Clemson had four offensive rebounds but came away with no points.
The Tigers were held to 32.8 percent shooting Saturday, but made up for the poor shooting by converting 25 of 29 free throw attempts.
Clemson controlled the tempo for much of the first half, running a slower pace that seemed to frustrate the contrasting styled Razorbacks. The Tigers capped a 9-0 run with a pair of McDaniels dunks in transition to take a 26-24 lead with 7:06 remaining before halftime.
Arkansas began to speed things up when the Razorbacks began to hit shots from beyond the arc. Harris and Madden made consecutive 3-pointers to give Arkansas the lead for good with less than 5 minutes left in the first half.
Michael Qualls, who scored a team-high 17 points for Arkansas, also added a pair of makes from 3-point range in the first half. Madden added a career-best four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
The game was the first between Arkansas and Clemson since a Razorbacks win in 1962.
The Razorbacks won their 19th straight game at home.
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Georgia tech blows past etsu 87-57
ATLANTA (AP) – Marcus Georges-Hunt scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half Saturday, when Georgia Tech used a big run late in the period to blow open the game on the way to a 87-57 win over East Tennessee State.
In the second half, Georgia Tech (7-3) connected for six of its 10 made 3-pointers as Stacey Poole Jr. hit three treys himself while scoring a career-high 11 points.
If the Yellow Jackets were overconfident after their stirring come-from-behind win over previously undefeated Illinois on Tuesday, it sure didn’t show Saturday.
“We may have played as well as we’ve played all year,” said Tech coach Brian Gregory. “Our guys were really dialed in and focused. That was good to see.”
The Jackets don’t play again until facing Kennesaw State on Dec. 16. As they break for final exam week, they looked like they’re locked in on the court.
The Bucs (4-6) hung around for a bit.
The Yellow Jackets led just 24-19 after ETSU’s Jalen Riley made a pair of free throws with 7:35 left in the first half. Riley finished with 12 points off the bench.
Georges-Hunt countered with a 3-pointer at the other end, though, and Tech raced from there to a 21-point halftime lead.
“Coach kept emphasizing (getting the ball inside) because that makes it much easier for me and the perimeter players if we get the ball inside,” Georges-Hunt said. “Our posts are so great at what they do, when the ball goes inside . . . it leaves perimeter players open.”
The Jackets didn’t seem fazed that Gregory started freshman Corey Heyward and sophomore Solomon Poole at the guard spots rather than Trae Golden and Chris Bolden.
Golden and Bolden came off the bench as Gregory disciplined them for being late to the team’s pre-game breakfast. Golden scored 13 with five assists, Robert Carter Jr. had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Tech held ETSU to 31.3 percent shooting (21-for-67).
Freshman A.J. Merriweather scored 18 points to lead ETSU, and he grabbed seven rebounds. The Jackets had a 46-36 edge in rebounding, however, and generally bullied their way around inside.
Add the fact that the Bucs’ two leading scorers entering the game, 6-foot-6 forward Kinard Gadsden-Gilliard and 6-3 guard Rashawn Rembert did not score from the field, and it was a long afternoon for the visitors. Rembert was 0-for-6 and Gadsden-Gillard was 0-for-5.
“They’ve got size, they defend . . . better than anybody we play . . . they’re a great rebounding team . . . kind of my worst nightmares,” said ETSU coach Murry Bartow, whose team had won four of five. “Offensively we weren’t very good, defensively we weren’t very good, and we got out-rebounded by 10.”
As the Yellow Jackets pulled away at the end of the first half, they scored the final 11 points of the period and ETSU went scoreless over the final 4:08.
The second half was more of a rout. The Yellow Jackets’ biggest lead came when Poole Jr. poured in a trey for an 83-40 edge with 4:59 left in the game.
There was a highlight for the Bucs. Ron Giplaye, a transfer from Providence, played five minutes in the second half in his first action since undergoing open heart surgery a few months ago. Bartow said he had work done on his right coronary artery.
Giplaye scored two points and grabbed three rebounds with a steal and an assist.
“It was a very serious deal, but he’s starting to get back to form,” Bartow said. “I think he’s a guy who can help us. He’s just not in great shape yet.”
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North Carolina beats UNC Greensboro 81-50
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – James Michael McAdoo hit the boards, attacked the rim and looked active on defense. It helped shake the junior free of his recent struggles, not to mention help North Carolina follow its takedown of No. 1 Michigan State with an easy home win.
McAdoo had 13 points in his first double-figure scoring performance in nearly three weeks, helping the Tar Heels beat UNC Greensboro 81-50on Saturday night.
“I think it just helps me personally get in a rhythm, getting easy buckets, getting out in the passing lanes,” McAdoo said. “I feel like that’s something I’ve always been really good at and it’s something I haven’t been able to do a lot this year. But I was able to get a couple of those baskets today and that really just helped me.”
McAdoo led five players in double figures for the Tar Heels (6-2), who blew the game open with a 25-1 run to close the first half, including the last 20 points. UNC led by 30 at halftime and never let the Spartans (4-5) get closer than 21.
The Tar Heels again played without leading scorer P.J. Hairston and senior Leslie McDonald due to NCAA eligibility concerns. But McAdoo’s surge, along with a solid first-half defensive performance, gave coach Roy Williams plenty to feel good about as UNC heads into an exam week before hosting No. 3 Kentucky next weekend.
The 6-foot-9 McAdoo had scored 21 points in the opening win against Oakland, 11 against Holy Cross and then 27 in the home loss to Belmont on Nov. 17. But he hadn’t scored more than nine points since, shooting 9-for-35 (26 percent) in the past three games.
Williams said earlier this week he had met with McAdoo recently but declined to say what was discussed amid those struggles.
“I just don’t want James Michael to pressure himself,” he said Saturday. “Just be a basketball player and do the best you can do. If the shot’s not going in, become a better defender. And that’s one thing I think I’ve got to get him sold on – just being a better defender and let the other things come to him.”
McAdoo finished with seven rebounds, two blocks and three steals in 25 minutes.
“He’s such a great teammate,” sophomore Marcus Paige said. “He’ll do whatever it takes to win, whether it’s taking a backseat role for a stretch in the game or it’s being aggressive and trying to get to the free-throw line.”
It was a rare by-the-book performance for the Tar Heels in a wild first month of the season.
There was the home loss to Belmont in which the Tar Heels missed 26 free throws and a loss at UAB in an emotional game for Williams against longtime assistant Jerod Haase.
Yet there was also an upset of then-No. 3 and reigning national champion Louisville, a surprising result topped only when the Tar Heels traveled to East Lansing and beat the Spartans 79-65 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Wednesday night – marking UNC’s NCAA-record 13th win against the top-ranked team in The Associated Press poll.
They looked active on defense in Saturday’s first half and forced 15 turnovers, converting that into 20 points while holding UNC Greensboro the final 8-plus minutes of the half without a basket.
The Spartans, coached by former Tar Heels player Wes Miller, shot just 6-for-21 (29 percent) in that first half to trail 44-14.
“Coming off a big win against Michigan State, I think they’re starting to hit some strides, especially defensively,” Miller said. “Their pressure and their ability to get in the passing lanes just really shell-shocked us there in the first half, especially in that last eight minutes. I thought it really kind of dismantled the things we were trying to do offensively.”
Sophomore Brice Johnson scored a game-high 14 points off the bench to lead North Carolina, while Paige looked sharp on the perimeter again with 12 points, eight assists and one turnover.
Freshman guard Nate Britt scored 11 in a solid follow-up to his season-high 13 points against the Spartans, while fellow rookie Kennedy Meeks had 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
UNC shot 49 percent and took a 46-28 rebounding advantage. UNC Greensboro shot 41 percent, with much of that production coming after the Tar Heels had long since put the game away.
Kyle Cain and Kayel Locke each scored 13 to lead UNC Greensboro.
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Warren leads nc state over long beach state 76-66
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina State guard Anthony “Cat” Barber has supreme confidence in his basketball ability. But, like any freshman, there are nights where his jump shot is off and he’s getting used to the college game.
But there are games like Saturday’s 76-66 victory over Long Beach State at PNC Arena where Wolfpack fans get a glimpse of Barber’s potential on both ends of the floor. Not only did he score 19 points, but he helped break open a close game in the second half and played stellar defense on the opponent’s top player.
“Cat is getting more comfortable,” said Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried. “I probably should have played Tyler (Lewis) more but what kept Cat in the game was his defense on (leading scorer and preseason All-Big West guard Mike) Caffey. Caffey got away on a couple of breaks, but in the halfcourt sets, Cat did a great job on Caffey.”
NC State (6-2) pulled away midway in the second half after Long Beach State (1-9) cut the lead to 50-49 with 12:41 left. A three-point play by T.J. Warren (23 points), as well as key hoops by Ralston Turner and Kyle Washington off the bench, led an 11-2 run to give the Wolfpack a 61-51 lead with 9:31 remaining.
Long Beach State never got closer than 61-55 with 7:56 left and NC State pushed the lead up to 71-57. The 49ers, who have lost nine straight, went on an horrific scoring drought in the second half with only six points over a 10-minute stretch.
“Caffey (16 points, 6 assists) never got his rhythm,” Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said. “Barber did a great job on him, and he is getting better and better for them. He’s hitting his jump shots and if that happens, he is going to be a very good player.”
Long Beach State attacked the larger Wolfpack inside in the first half. Forward Dan Jennings (18 points) scored 10 of his 12 first-half points going right at 7-1 NC State Center Jordan Vandenberg and the 49ers scored 14 of its 29 first-half points inside the paint.
Even though the Wolfpack got little from Warren in the first half, Barber and backcourt mate Desmond Lee (15 points) controlled the half. Both players scored 11 points apiece as NC State led 36-29 at halftime.
“Every day I am learning and doing better,” Barber said. “I’m tired of everyone saying I can’t shoot. I am going to bring it out and show everyone I can shoot. If I have an open 3, I’m going to shoot that. Anything I can see and think I can make, I’ll shoot it to help us win.”
After trailing 36-29 at halftime, Long Beach State came out in the second half and outscored the Wolfpack 17-12 in the first seven minutes to cut the lead to 48-46. Caffey snapped out of his first-half struggles to score six of the 49ers’ first eight points of the half.
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Grant Scores 25, Notre Dame Beats Delaware 80-75
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Jerian Grant regained his shooting touch just in time to give Notre Dame a win over Delaware.
The Fighting Irish couldn’t make a shot from the field in the final eight minutes and weren’t doing much better from the free-throw line until Grant made a pair of jumpers from about 15 feet in the final 95 seconds to spark Notre Dame to an 80-75 victory over Delaware on Saturdayin the first round of the Gotham Classic.
“Those two were huge for us, no question,” Irish coach Mike Brey said.
Brey told Grant he wanted him to take a shot.
“When that happens, I know I am going to have to take this shot. I have a lot of confidence because my teammates and coaches have confidence in me that I am going to make it,” he said.
Delaware coach Monte Ross said he thought his team defended Grant well.
“That was better offense than our defense. That’s what the game of basketball is all about,” he said.
The Irish (6-2) moved ahead 67-58 when Tom Knight scored inside with 8:50 left. The Irish didn’t make another shot from the field until Grant hit his first jumper with 95 seconds left, ending a 0-for-4 scoring streak. The Irish also missed three free throws during that stretch, including Grant and Sherman missing the front-end of a par of one-and-ones.
The Blue Hens (5-4) used a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 70-69 with 2:09 on a layup by Jarvis Threatt, who led the Blue Hens with 23 points.
Grant, who missed two shots during the scoreless drought, said he wasn’t aware how long it had been since the Irish had made a basket.
“I just knew we needed a basket. They were creeping in,” he said.
Pat Connaughton, who had 21 points, made four free throws in the final minute and Garrick Sherman, who added 19, made two as the Irish held on. A transferred from Michigan State, Sherman said Grant is the player the Irish want with the ball in key situations.
“He hits the most tough shots of anybody I’ve ever played with,” he said.
Notre Dame had a 37-27 rebounding advantage over Delaware and outscored the Blue Hens in the paint 36-24. The Blue Hens shot 54 percent in the second half, but couldn’t come up with the big shots or stops when they needed it at the end.
“Defensively, we just didn’t get the stops we needed to,” said Anderson, who had 19 points for Delaware.
Threatt said it was a tough loss for the Blue Hens.
“Especially knowing that late in the game, the mistakes were on us. It was on our part,” he said.
Davon Usher added 19 points for Delaware.
Notre Dame used a 13-0 run late in the first half to open a 42-35 halftime lead and scored the first two baskets of the second half to push it to 46-35. Grant later brought the crowd to their feet with a one-handed fast-break dunk on a pass from Eric Atkins to give the Irish a 56-44 lead with 14:15 left.
Brey said that, although the Irish appeared ready to break the game open several times, he expected it to be close at the end and kept reminding his team of that.
“I just kept telling our guys in any dead balls or timeouts, this is going to be game situations. You are not going to win by 12,” said Brey, who coached at Delaware for five seasons before taking over at Notre Dame in 2000.
Brey added that he was happy to get the win because he never would have heard the end of it from his former Delaware players.
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No. 4 Syracuse beats Binghamton 93-65
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – Trevor Cooney and C.J. Fair each scored 17 points and No. 4 Syracuse hit Binghamton with a long-range barrage in a 93-65 victory on Saturday night.
Syracuse (9-0), which beat Indiana 69-52 on Tuesday night, upped its nonconference home winning streak to 48 games in the Carrier Dome and figures to move up to No. 2 next week after top-ranked Michigan State and No. 3 Kentucky lost this week.
With a starting lineup of one sophomore and four freshmen, Binghamton (2-7) figured to struggle against the bigger, more athletic Orange, and the Bearcats did after a solid start.
Jerami Grant had 14 points for Syracuse, Dajuan Coleman had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Ron Patterson added a season-high 10 points, hitting two of the Orange’s 13 3-pointers, two off the school record.
Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis had his first off-game of the season, picking up four fouls and finishing with three points and three assists in 19 minutes.
Sophomore Jordan Reed, who leads Binghamton in nearly every statistical category, led the Bearcats with a season-high 26 points and seven rebounds. Marlon Beck II had 14 points and Nick Madray 11.
Syracuse was torched three times from long range in the first 4 minutes. Beck started the surge with a 3 from the right wing and Madray followed with two more, the second giving the Bearcats an 11-3 lead as Ennis picked up two quick fouls and went to the bench.
The Bearcats had snapped a four-game losing streak with a 74-70 victory at Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday night, thanks to 68 percent shooting, but they nearly blew a 19-point lead by committing 23 turnovers against a pressing defense.
The Orange used the same strategy to rally and it worked like a charm. Syracuse reeled off 18 straight points, the first 10 coming in 76 seconds thanks in part to three steals. Michael Gbinije started the surge with a 3, Cooney added two more, and Grant finished it with a resounding two-handed slam dunk to give the Orange an 21-11 lead at 12:46.
Binghamton notched just four baskets in the final 10:51 of the first half as the Orange steadily pulled away. Syracuse hit nine 3-pointers, nabbed eight steals, scored 22 points off Binghamton’s 11 turnovers, and out-rebounded the Bearcats 24-15, 12-5 on the offensive glass, to take a 54-30 halftime lead.
Syracuse finished 13 of 36 from long range, forced 18 turnovers and notched 12 steals. Binghamton finished 6 of 22 from beyond the arc after its hot start.
Three of Syracuse’s freshmen – Patterson, B.J. Johnson, and Tyler Roberson – hadn’t played in five games, since the Orange’s 69-50 win over Colgate on Nov. 16. That changed after Ennis picked up his second foul less than 4 minutes into the game.
Patterson played 15 minutes, one more than Johnson and Roberson, who had six points. Johnson was 0 for 5, all on 3-pointers.
Syracuse led by 33 midway through the second half after 3-pointers by Patterson and Gbinije and a putback by Coleman. The Orange’s biggest lead was 37 in the closing minutes.
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Green bay holds on to beat virginia 75-72
ASHWAUBENON, Wis. (AP) – Greg Mays scored a career-high 24 points, and Keifer Sykes added 21 as Wisconsin-Green Bay pulled out a 75-72 win over Virginia on Saturday.
Sykes made two free throws for the Phoenix (5-2) with 8.7 seconds left after Joe Harris missed a 3-pointer for Virginia. The Cavaliers (7-3) had a final chance to tie the score, but Justin Anderson missed a 3-point shot as the buzzer sounded.
Virginia fought back from a 13-point deficit early in the second half, tying the score at 69 on a 3-pointer from Malcolm Brogdon with 1:51 left. Brogdon led the Cavaliers with 17 points. Harris and Anthony Gill each added 12 points.
Green Bay never lost the lead down the stretch after Brogdon’s score-tying 3.
Sykes, on a drive to the basket from the left side, dropped the basketball to Mays open on the right side for a lay-in to put the Phoenix back ahead at 71-69 on its next possession.
Jordan Fouse then intercepted a pass in the backcourt as Green Bay went with a full-court press on the ensuing inbound. Fouse finished off the big play with a drive down the lane for a layup to extend the lead to four points with 1:15 left. He set a single-game school record with eight steals as the Phoenix forced 14 turnovers.
A 3-pointer by Anderson at the 58-second mark cut the Virginia deficit to 73-72, leading to the frenetic final seconds of the game.
Virginia shot 50 percent (23-of-46) for the game – three days after the Cavaliers struggled to put the ball in the basket in a 48-38 home loss to No. 8 Wisconsin. The Cavaliers were a frigid 23.4 percent from the floor in that contest.
But the 75 points by Green Bay were the most scored against Virginia this season. The Cavaliers came into the game ranked No. 2 in the country for scoring defense, allowing 52.9 points per game.
Green Bay took a 37-31 halftime lead with a seven-point run to end the half. Mays led Green Bay with 12 points in the first half, and Sykes had 11 points. The Cavaliers kept the score tight for most of the first half despite having Harris, their top scorer, on the bench with two fouls for the last 13 ˝ minutes.
After Virginia pulled within 37-35 early in the second half, Green Bay quickly pushed its lead to 13 points with an 11-0 run in less than two minutes.
Mays knocked down a 3-pointer in the fourth shot of a sequence for the Phoenix. Then after a lay-in by Alec Brown, Love hit an open 3 from the left corner in back-to-back possessions to put Green Bay ahead 48-35 with just over 16 minutes left.
The Phoenix didn’t let the lead dip below eight until Harris made three straight baskets to cut the margin to 61-55 with seven minutes to play.
That was the start of a 13-3 run for Virginia, which pulled within 63-62 at the 4:01 mark.
The loss is the second straight for Virginia this week and spoiled the Green Bay homecoming for Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett. Bennett, in his fifth season at Virginia, was a star player in college at Green Bay from 1988-92 and still holds the school record for career points (2,285) and assists (601).
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Wake Forest Rallies To Beat Richmond 76-66 In OT
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) – A year ago, a double-digit deficit would have been almost insurmountable for Wake Forest to make up.
Saturday against Richmond, the Demon Deacons did it twice — and went on to win.
Codi Miller-McIntyre scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half and overtime periods, and Wake Forest overcame its turnover problems to beat the Spiders 76-66.
Tyler Cavanaugh added 15 points for the Demon Deacons (8-2), including a pair of free throws early in overtime that put Wake Forest ahead to stay.
“We’ve been in this situation multiple times, and we didn’t want the same thing to happen,” said Miller-McIntyre, who hit a pair of free throws with 7.4 seconds left to send the game into overtime. “That’s what’s showing our maturity as a team. Last year, I think we would have just laid down and folded, but this year we fought back.
“It’s extremely big. It’s kind of like a stress reliever — a little bit of happiness before we go into exams.”
Devin Thomas had 11 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, and Travis McKie 10 points for the Demon Deacons, who shot 60 percent (3 of 5) from the field in overtime while holding Richmond to 1-of-9 shooting.
“Simply put, our team showed great resolve,” Wake Forest head coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “A great will to fight all the way to the end, and it turned out well for us. I’ve said all along that they have great character, and they displayed that tonight.”
It was the first overtime game — and first OT win — for the Demon Deacons in Bzdelik’s four years as coach, and extended their winning streak in extra-period games to six straight, dating back to the 2009-2010 season.
It also gives Wake Forest its best season start since 2009-2010, when the Demon Deacons finished 20-11 — including five overtime wins — and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
“You have to win pivotal games like this,” Bzdelik said. “These are the kind of games that, if you have the kind of season that you want to have, can put you in some post-season play in March.
“You just have to win these type of games. We did find a way to do it.”
Yet that looked very much in doubt in the second half against the Spiders, who had won three straight over Wake Forest.
Behind 18 points from Cedrick Lindsay and 14 from Kendall Anthony, Richmond (7-3) led by as many as 12 points midway through the second half after battling to a 32-31 halftime lead.
The Spiders also forced the Demon Deacons into 21 turnovers, leading to a 31-7 advantage in points off turnovers. But Wake Forest dominated on the boards, outrebounding Richmond 53-24, including a 19-8 advantage in offensive rebounds.
“Our defense was good, and we made them take a long time to score,” Richmond head coach Chris Mooney said. “(But) they really crushed us on the backboards, which was frustrating. We stopped them to an extent in the transition (game), but we didn’t have too many answers on rebounding.”
The Spiders opened the second half by scoring nine unanswered points, with Terry Allen’s layup with 14:05 left giving them a 41-31 lead. But the Demon Deacons went on their own run, with William Arnaud Adala Moto’s layup with 12:50 left pulling Wake Forest within two points.
Richmond responded with a 13-2 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes, with back-to-back 3-pointers by Anthony giving the Spiders a 53-41 lead with 8:10 remaining, their biggest of the game.
However, Miller-McIntyre scored eight points — including the game-tying free throws — over the final seven minutes as the Demon Deacons outscored Richmond 20-8 to force the extra period.
“Once we knew it was going to overtime, we knew we were going to win it,” Miller-McIntyre said. “We needed that extra few minutes to get going.
“We knew this was a big win we had to get because they’ve beat us three years in a row, and we’re at our home court. So we didn’t want that streak to continue.”
After Cavanaugh put Wake Forest ahead in OT, Miller-McIntyre and Coron Williams followed with 3-pointers, and Miller-McIntyre hit 3 of 4 from the line to push the Demon Deacons’ lead to 72-62 with 2:01 left.
The Spiders pulled no closer than seven points the rest of the way, managing just a Deion Taylor tip in and free throws from Anthony and Alonzo Nelson-Ododa over the final two minutes.
“Eventually (Wake Forest) had just enough time,” Mooney said. “They really capitalized on the energy they created. They were getting more open shots in overtime and they made them.”