Wake Forest recovered from a flat start, sparked by Alondes Williams’ career-high 36 points, and rallied for a 77-70 victory over VMI on Tuesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Demon Deacons (10-1) trailed by 17 points in the first half and by 11 midway through the second half. But Williams, an Oklahoma transfer who scored 23 of his points in the second half, was unstoppable down the stretch.
In improving to 8-0 at home, Wake Forest also got 12 points from Cameron Hildreth and 11 from Isaiah Mucius, who gave the Demon Deacons their first lead of the game by sinking a 3-pointer with 3:10 left. Then with 2:03 to go, Mucius gave the Demon Deacons the lead for good with another 3-pointer off a feed from Williams.
VMI (7-5) was aiming to snap a 15-game losing streak against Wake Forest that dated to 1940-41. Kamdyn Curfman scored 24 points to lead the Keydets. Honor Huff scored 13 points, and Jake Stephens added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
When Curfman hit a layup with 7:47 left, VMI led 65-57. However, the Keydets missed their next nine shots, allowing the Demon Deacons to come back.
Wake Forest scored 11 straight points, including six by Williams, who made 11 of 20 shots from the floor and 12 of 13 from the free-throw line.
The hosts made only 7 of 28 shots from beyond the arc, but the Demon Deacons compensated by making 28 of 31 shots (90.3 percent) from the line.
Running a perimeter offense that produced open 3-pointers and backdoor layups, VMI gave Wake Forest fits from the start. The Demon Deacons started slowly, committing four turnovers and missing two shots on their first six possessions.
With Tanner Mans, Sean Conway and Curfman making 3-pointers, VMI bolted to an 11-2 lead. Later in the half, VMI stretched its advantage to 42-25 as Huff hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.
Wake Forest closed the half with the final four points and opened the second half with the first 10 points.
–Field Level Media