DJ Vasiljevic scored 21 points, Anthony Lawrence added 20 points and 10 rebounds and Miami defeated Wake Forest 79-71 on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
No. 12 seeded Miami (14-17) advances to Wednesday’s 2 p.m. second-round game versus No. 5 seed Virginia Tech (23-7).
The Hokies and Hurricanes met in last Friday night’s regular season finale at Blacksburg, with Virginia Tech posting an 84-70 win.
Chris Lykes added 13 points for Miami in the win on Tuesday, which avenged a 76-75 loss at Wake Forest two weeks ago.
Brandon Childress and Jaylen Hoard each had 16 points for Wake Forest (11-20), which lost four straight games to end the season.
In the previous loss to Wake Forest, Miami surrendered a 10-point lead with less than two minutes to play. Wake Forest again threatened to erase a double-digit lead trimming the deficit to four with one minute remaining.
However, the Demon Deacons missed three shots on one possession and the Hurricanes scored on a run-out layup by Lykes to help seal the win.
Miami broke open a close game at halftime with a 12-2 run early in the second half behind a steal and one-handed jam by Zach Johnson and a 3-pointer from Lykes.
Miami built a 34-31 halftime lead behind 12 points from Vasiljevic, who closed out the half with a long-range bomb at the buzzer to give the Hurricanes the lead.
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Game Notes
- Miami is now 15-13 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 2-1 in first-round games.
- Wake Forest (11-20) slipped to 44-62 all-time in ACC Tournament play and to 4-9 in the opening round.
- The No. 12 seed is 6-0 all-time versus the No. 13 seed in the ACC Tournament.
- Miami is 9-6 in ACC Tournament play under head coach Jim Larrañaga … This marks the 12th time in 15 seasons that the Hurricanes have won at least one ACC Tournament game.
- DJ Vasiljevic scored 21 points – one shy of his career high – and Anthony Johnson II added 20 points to lead the Hurricanes’ scoring … Lawrence added a game-high 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double in the last six games.
- Vasiljevic, who entered Tuesday’s contest averaging 11.3 points per game, keyed Miami to a 34-31 halftime lead with 12 points in the first 20 minutes.
- Chris Lykes added 13 points, and Zach Johnson scored 12 to give the Hurricanes four players in double figures … The Hurricanes shot 51.9 percent from the floor as a team.
- Wake Forest came up short on Tuesday despite seeing five players score in double figures … Brandon Childress and Jaylen Hoard led with 16 points each, while Chaundee Brown added 13, and Isaiah Mucius and Torry Johnson each scored 10.
- It marked the first time that five Wake Forest players reached double-digits in scoring since the 80-56 win over visiting Charlotte on Dec. 6.
- The Demon Deacons are 5-13 in ACC Tournament games played in Charlotte.
- Miami is now 2-0 versus the Demon Deacons in the ACC Tournament … The Hurricanes claimed an 83-62 win in the first round in Greensboro in 2010 … Wake Forest still holds a 12-11 edge in the all-time series versus Miami … The Hurricanes are 11-10 versus the Deacons since entering the ACC for the 2004-05 season.
- The teams split their two meetings in this regular season … Miami earned a 76-65 win over the visiting Deacs on Jan. 12, and Wake Forest beat the Canes 76-75 in Winston-Salem on Feb. 26.
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