WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Tyree Appleby scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half and Wake Forest held on to beat Virginia Tech 77-75 on Saturday.
Appleby’s two free throws put the Demon Deacons (10-4, 2-1 ACC) up 75-70 before Grant Basile responded with a 3-pointer off an inbounds pass with a minute to go. Wake Forest burned clock then got consecutive offensive rebounds from Andrew Carr after 3-point misses. Damari Monsanto made two free throws for Wake Forest with six seconds left before Darius Maddox sank a jumper as time ran out.
Appleby made four 3-pointers and had seven assists. Carr had 14 points, 11 in the second half, and seven rebounds. Daivien Williamson sank four 3-pointers, including two in the latter minutes, for his 12 points.
Pedulla and Mutts finished with 18 points each. Pedulla had seven assists and Mutts 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season.
The Hokies outshot Wake Forest but were 6 of 21 from the arc to Wake Forest’s 11-of-28. The Demon Deacons were also plus-5 at the free-throw line and points off turnovers.
The Hokies (11-3, 1-2) played without Hunter Cattoor, who is game-to-game after an arm injury suffered in a Dec. 21 overtime loss to Boston College that snapped a six-game winning streak. Cattoor, last season’s ACC tournament MVP, had started 49 straight games. He was tied for the team lead with 27 3-pointers before Basile’s lone 3 on Saturday.
Carr and Appleby combined for the Demon Deacons’ first 17 points in breaking a halftime tie to lead 55-44 - their largest of the game - while the Hokies started off 1 of 7.
Pedulla and Mutts, both playing with four fouls with eight-plus minutes to go, kept the Hokies close, combining for 21 second-half points. Four Hokies finished with four fouls.
The teams were statistically close in the first half, which ended tied 38-all. They traded runs with the Hokies having the largest lead of eight but the half ending with seven lead changes and six ties. Wake Forest didn’t surrender the lead in the second half.
Virginia Tech had won the previous four matchups in Winston-Salem. Wake Forest is 8-0 at home this season.
On Wednesday, Virginia Tech is host to Clemson and Wake Forest is at North Carolina.
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