Cavaliers Suffer 70-60 Loss to #13 Wake Forest

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) –Jeff Teague scored 12 points, including a big 3-pointer late, to help No. 13 Wake Forest beat Virginia 70-60 on Saturday.

Teague struggled most of the game but hit his only 3 after Virginia had cut Wake Forest’s lead to 56-53 with just over two minutes left. The Demon Deacons (22-5, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who had been awful from the free-throw line, hit their last nine foul shots to close out the win.

Al-Farouq Aminu and Chas McFarland also scored 12 points for the Demon Deacons.

Virginia (9-16, 3-11) was led by Calvin Baker with 13 points. Mamadi Diane added 12, and Sylven Landesberg finished with 10 after being held scoreless in the first half.

Wake Forest struggled from the outside but dominated in the paint, scoring 22 of their first 24 points on layups, putbacks and dunks.

The Cavaliers, who have frequently started slowly this season, did so again, committing five turnovers in the first four minutes. Virginia’s Tunji Soroye scored the first basket of the game, but Wake went on an 8-0 run and never trailed again.

Wake Forest scored the first four points of the second half to take a 34-24 lead, but Virginia responded with a 12-3 run to pull within one at 37-36. Landesberg had six points in the run, including his first basket of the game on a running jumper with 17:42 left.

Harvey Hale answered with a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 Wake Forest run, and the Cavaliers could get no closer than three the rest of the way.

The Cavaliers were without 7-foot center Assane Sene, who injured an ankle in Thursday night’s loss to Miami.

Virginia’s 1984 Final Four team was honored during a halftime ceremony. That team went only 6-8 in the ACC but received a surprise at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers beat Iona, Arkansas, Syracuse and Indiana to reach the Final Four, where they lost to Akeem Olajuwon-led Houston.