Wake Forest, Miami Victorious in ACC Thursday Night Hoops

No. 14 WAKE FOREST 85, N.C. STATE 78

N.C. State upset Wake Forest in their first meeting, but the Demon Deacons’ James Johnson (No. 23) wasn’t going to let that happen again. Johnson had career highs with 28 points and 18 rebounds to help Wake dodge the Wolfpack 85-78.

Ishmael Smith added a season-high 18 points, and Chas McFarland had 15 for Wake Forest (21-5, 8-5 ACC), who shot 52.5 percent, held a 42-27 rebounding advantage, and led nearly all the way.

After beginning the season 16-0, the young Deacons are just 5-5 in their last 10 games.

Tracy Smith scored 18 points to lead five double-figure scorers for the Wolfpack (15-11, 5-8), who were denied their second sweep of Wake Forest in coach Sidney Lowe's three seasons.

Johnson had a double-double by halftime and was 12-of-16 from the field to surpass his previous top performance of 26 points—which he matched in the up-and-down Demon Deacons' most recent outing, a 101-91 loss four nights earlier at No. 7 Duke.

Jeff Teague finished with 12 points—nine fewer than his average—on 3-of-12 shooting in his second tough game against N.C. State, which used a box-and-one defense to limit him to three shots and 11 points in the previous meeting.

MIAMI 62, VIRGINIA 55

This one had most of the trappings of a bump and grind Big Ten snoozefest, including a 29-29 halftime score...ZZZZZZ.

Miami scoring machine Jack McClinton scored just 11 points, well below his average, but hit a huge three-pointer with 47 seconds to play to give the Canes a two-possession cushion as they held on to beat Virginia 62-55.

Miami (17-10, 6-8 ACC) had been in a free fall of late, losing six of their last seven, but got some clutch shooting from McClinton when it mattered most down the stretch. His third three-pointer gave Miami a 60-55 lead, and he added two free throws with 19 seconds left.

Virginia (9-15, 3-10) had won two straight at home but failed to score after Jeff Jones' three-pointer produced the eighth tie of the half at 55 with 3:51 remaining. The Cavaliers committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions after pulling even, causing them to fall behind.

Interestingly, yet again, a large number of students and fans came to the game disguised as empty seats.