No. 25 Virginia Falls To No. 5 Wake Forest, 89-70
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Jan. 2, 2005
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – Chris Paul scored six of his 21 points during a13-0 run early in the second half and No. 5 Wake Forest won its seventhstraight game, 89-70 over No. 25 Virginia on Sunday.
The Demon Deacons (12-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 44-39 beforeJamaal Levy’s putback sparked the big run in the second half. Gray had athree-point play and a 3-pointer and Eric Williams finished it with a freethrow, giving Wake Forest a 57-39 lead with 15:22 remaining.
The Cavaliers (8-2, 0-1) immediately scored nine straight points to close to61-54 with 11:37 left, but Paul scored seven points in a 14-5 response by WakeForest and it cruised to the bruising victory.
Paul, who had nine assists, hit the floor hard after a foul with 1:42 left,and the sellout crowd jeered what it perceived as uneven officiatingthroughout. Several near skirmishes also developed on the court, but withoutany punches thrown.
The loss, which came in just the Cavaliers’ second game since Dec. 8, wasthe 10th straight for Virginia in its conference opener. It also ended a stringof eight straight victories by the home team in the series.
Justin Gray added 17 points for the Deacons, all but three in the secondhalf, and Williams had 15.
Freshman Adrian Joseph, starting in place of injured leading scorer DevinSmith, had 15 points in the first half and led the Cavaliers with 19. J.R.Reynolds added 17 and Gary Forbes had 13.
The Demon Deacons shot 50.9 percent and outrebounded Virginia 45-28.
Wake Forest shot almost 58 percent in the first half and used a 10-2 runmidway through the half to take a lead it never relinquished.
The Demon Deacons had a five-point trip downcourt late in the half whenVirginia coach Pete Gillen drew a technical for arguing an offensive foul call.Paul made both free throws and Taron Downey hit a 3-pointer, the Deacons’ sixthof the half, to give them a 42-34 lead.
Forbes’ 3 for the Cavaliers made it 42-37 at halftime.
The Cavaliers got a huge lift in the half from Joseph, a left-handed shooterwho hit three 3-pointers in the first half and shot 6-for-9.