Miami topples Wake Forest 79-71 in ACC Tournament

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — DJ Vasiljevic scored 21 points, Anthony Lawrence added 20 points and 10 rebounds and Miami defeated Wake Forest 79-71 on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

Chris Lykes added 13 points for Miami, which avenged a 76-75 loss at Wake Forest two weeks ago.

Miami (14-17) advances to face No. 16 Virginia Tech, the tournament’s fifth seed, on Wednesday.

Brandon Childress and Jaylen Hoard each had 16 points for Wake Forest (11-20), which lost four straight games to end the season.

In the previous loss to Wake Forest, Miami surrendered a 10-point lead with less than two minutes to play. Wake Forest again threatened to erase a double-digit lead trimming the deficit to four with one minute remaining. However, the Demon Deacons missed three shots on one possession and the Hurricanes scored on a run-out layup by Lykes to help seal the win.

Miami broke open a close game at halftime with a 12-2 run early in the second half behind a steal and one-handed jam by Zach Johnson and a 3-pointer from Lykes.

Miami built a 34-31 halftime lead behind 12 points from Vasiljevic, who closed out the half with a long-range bomb at the buzzer to give the Hurricanes the lead.

BIG PICTURE

Wake Forest: Danny Manning’s future remains even more uncertain after the Demon Deacons finished another uninspiring season. Manning is 65-93 in five seasons as coach. However, three of the Deacons top five scorers this season are freshmen, including Jaylen Hoard, who came in averaging 13 points per game, so they’re a young team with some potential.

Miami: The Hurricanes got a bad taste out of their mouths with the win and will now look for an upset over the Hokies, who Miami lost to 82-70 on Dec. 30.

UP NEXT:

Wake Forest: Season over.

Miami: Will face No. 16 Virginia Tech in round two.