Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech Second Half Thread
Virginia Tech holds a narrow 47-42 lead over Wake Forest at halftime on Senior Day. The Hokies have done an excellent job getting out in transition offensively, but have struggled to hold Wake Forest on the defensive end, as three-point makes by the Demon Deacons have kept them in the game. ACC Player of the Year candidate, John Collins, has been held down by the Hokies, as he is 0-for-1 from the floor and got called for three first half fouls.
Action Prior to Under 16 Media Timeout
- Wake’s Danny Manning takes the conservative route to start the second half, electing to leave John Collins on the bench.
- Seth Allen and Justin Robinson are killing the Demon Deacons in the paint. They have made a living in the lane today. Allen hits a layup, makes a stop on the other end, and Justin Robinson hits a driving layup in transition, plus the harm. Attack, attack, attack on offense, and it’s been working all game.
- With 16:16 to play in the game, John Collins has scored his first points shortly after re-entering the game. On the other end, the drive and kick to a wide open Outlaw leads to a made three point attempt for the Hokies.
- Collins hits another layup on the other end and then makes a great play defensively to block a driving layup by Justin Robinson. He’s making his presence felt now, beginning to emerge and make a similar impact that he has made all season long.
- At the first media timeout of the half, the Hokies still lead Wake Forest, 58-50.
Action Prior to Under 12 Media Timeout
- John Collins comes out of the media timeout with an alley-oop slam. He has six straight points for the ‘Deacs and cuts the Hokies’ lead to six.
- Lazy, lazy sequence by Seth Allen. Bad pass to the wing gets intercepted, and then jogged back on defense and got beat in transition. Buzz Williams was clearly frustrated with that 10 second stretch on the sideline.
- John Collins has been stellar since re-entering the lineup for Wake Forest. He has drawn a couple of fouls, including one on Tech’s LeDay (his third), and Collins has nine of the last 11 points for Wake to cut the lead to 60-57 with 13:32 to play.
- Keyshawn Woods hit a driving layup for Wake Forest but will go to the bench after injuring his hand. He’s been very good today, with 13 points for the Demon Deacons.
- Team fouls for the Hokies are piling up now, with some questionable calls inside. Five team fouls now in the half for Tech, as Wake Forest becoming ultra-aggressive in the paint with Collins back in the game.
- A Zach LeDay layup puts him at 16 points in his final home game, and over the 1,000-point mark for his career. Congratulations to him on the milestone.
- With 11:42 to play, the Hokies lead the Demon Deacons, 65-61.
Action Prior to Under 8 Media Timeout
- Mitchell Wilbekin hits a three from the corner with 10:57 to play and Wake Forest has their first lead since it was 3-2. It’s 66-65 Demon Deacons now, and the Hokies are starting to go cold on offense and settle for jump shots, which is not how they built the lead in the first place. The downhill offense has disappeared in the second half, while John Collins is now up to 11 points for Wake.
- Zach LeDay downhill for the layup. THERE IT IS. Hoop and the harm, and more importantly, the fourth foul on John Collins, who now goes to the bench. That is a huge foul call, and let’s see if the Hokies can capitalize now.
- Wake Forest getting a decent amount of calls on the offensive end. Highly questionable foul called underneath on Outlaw, who goes to the bench with four fouls.
- Wake Forest holds a narrow 72-70 lead with 7:32 to play in regulation.
Action Prior to Under 4 Media Timeout
- Excellent transition defense by Justin Robinson out of the timeout, as he drew the charge on Keyshawn Woods, who has three fouls now.
- Bryant Crawford has five straight points for Wake Forest and has 19 now for the game. Childress follows up with a deep two, and the Demon Deacons have their largest lead of the game at 79-72, as we quickly roll into a timeout called by Buzz Williams.
- Zach LeDay with a huge three point play coming out of a timeout, and the Hokies got a steal on defense that led to a layup by Allen in the halfcourt offense. A quick 5-0 run has the Hokies back within two, 79-77, as Danny Manning calls a Wake Forest timeout.
Action Prior to End of Regulation
- Collins is back in the lineup for Wake with four fouls and scores right away to extend the Wake lead to four out of the timeout.
- Allen is starting to get more aggressive again, driving through the lane multiple times now in the last couple of minutes, his layup cuts the Wake Forest lead back down to two with a minute forty to go. Allen then drove and kicked it out to Robinson, whose wide open three was missed. It would have given the Hokies the lead, but instead gave Wake a fast break opportunity and two free throws on the other end.
- Robinson misses a contested driving layup out of a Buzz Williams-called timeout, and Zach LeDay called for a crucial foul on a three-point attempt with 41 seconds to go. Wake Forest looking to put the nail in the coffin and steal a win against the Hokies on their Senior Day.
- Down by five, Bibbs misses a three and that should do it for this one unless something crazy happens. Wake makes both free throws after the Hokies foul, but LeDay dunks to cut it back down to five with 24 seconds left.
- Story of the second half for the Hokies, a 2-of-11 mark from deep, while getting overmatched defensively by strong offensive efforts from Wake’s Bryant Crawford and John Collins.
- Wake Forest comes into Cassell Coliseum and beats Virginia Tech 89-84. LeDay finished with 24, Allen finished with 20 on Senior Day. Wake Forest was led by 26 points from Bryant Crawford and 13 second half points from John Collins.