Wake Forest Eliminated By Miami In ACC Tournament Despite Late-Game Push

A late-game push wasn't enough as the No. 13-seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-20, 4-15 ACC)  couldn't make up for early second-half shooting struggles against the No. 12-seed Miami Hurricanes (14-17, 5-13 ACC), falling 79-71 Tuesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

Kicking off the week in Charlotte, both teams kept it close in a game of runs throughout the first half, but Demon Deacons leading scorer Brandon Childress was held scoreless for the first 14 minutes of the second half as Wake Forest fell behind by as many as 12 before fighting back in the game's final minutes.

Ultimately, head coach Danny Manning and the Decs were eliminated for the second straight year in the first round.

"Today we just didn't make enough plays," Manning said. "They did a good job getting into the paint but looking at the stat sheet, both teams scored 27 fields goal, both teams had seven 3-pointers and we outrebounded them by one. We turned the ball over far too many times."

Falling behind 6-0 to start the game, Wake Forest used a 16-3 run to lead 16-9 halfway through the first half. 

Childress started the game hot with nine points in the game's first 13 minutes and 12 at the half, but the Hurricanes shut him down the rest of the way holding him to just one 3-pointer that came with 6:32 remaining.

In total, Childress finished the game 4-12 from the field and 5-7 from the free-throw line to finish with 15 points.

"It's tough. With me as a leader and veteran of the team I thought I could do more," Childress said. "We came up short. We had some good plays and good stretches throughout the game but we didn't do a good job putting together a collective 40 minutes of basketball together."

Despite nine turnovers, Wake Forest outrebounded the Hurricanes 17-12 and shot 50 percent from the field to Miami's 36 percent.

The Demon Deacons trailed just 34-31 at halftime.

"It was a very hard fought game by both teams," Miami head coach Jim Larranaga said. "Their pressure at times was very good and bothered us but at other times we handled it really well and scored."

The Hurricanes opened up the second half with a 9-4 run and pulled ahead by 11 with 13:43 left.

Junior guard DJ Vasiljevic led Miami with 21 points and six rebounds. Senior guard Anthony Lawrence chipped in a 20-and-10 double-double.

Both played key minutes as the Hurricane's primary ball-handler due to senior guard Zach Johnson and sophomore Chris Lykes falling into foul trouble.

"I thought what we were doing offensively really worked cause Anthony (Lawrence) played point guard in high school and he handled it really well tonight," Larranaga said.

With five minutes to play, Wake Forest hit a 3-pointer and immediately stole the ball for another basket to cut the Miami's lead to 68-61.

"We were just really trying to win the basketball game. But we weren't consistent throughout the game, and it's happened multiple times this year," freshman forward Jaylen Hoard (16 points and seven rebounds) said. "It's frustrating because we fight hard out there on the court but can't seem to put like 40 minutes together."

Cutting the deficit to as little as four, the Deacons were unable to catch the Hurricanes, missing three-straight shots with a minute remaining.

"They came out and made more plays than us this afternoon, and we didn't get the win that we desired or wanted," Manning said.

Now 65-92 in five seasons with Wake Forest, Manning is on the hot seat despite his huge contract entering the offseason.

"You know, I feel I'll be back," Manning said. "I look at the scorecard, the score sheet and everyone that scored is an underclassman.  We had some guys that grew a significant amount this year in terms of their growth from the start to the finish, and that's how we want to build it."