#11 UVA takes control late, tops Wake Forest, 79-62

#11 UVA broke open a tight game with a 19-4 second-half run to dispatch Wake Forest, 79-62, on Sunday in ACC action.

Virginia (12-3, 2-2 ACC) broke a two-game losing streak with the win over the pesky Demon Deacons (10-6, 1-3 ACC), who led 29-28 at the half, and pulled into a 46-all tie on a John Collins layup with 10:19 to go.

It was all Cavs from there. A three by Devon Hall started the run for Virginia. A Jack Salt dunk and-one on a stickback pushed the lead to six, and a pair of free throws by Hall and a jumper by London Perrantes made it 56-46 UVA at the 7:26 mark.

The teams traded buckets before a Perrantes three and a Hall layup extended the margin to 15, at 65-50, with 3:34 to go.

Wake tried to lengthen the game from there, fouling Virginia early and often in the final minutes, perhaps a nod to the strategy employed by the Cavs last year in Winston-Salem, when a UVA team used a late-game foul strategy to rally from a double-digit deficit in the final minute to win at the buzzer.

It didn’t work for the Deacs, as the ‘Hoos went 11-of-14 at the line in the final 2:37.

Virginia shot 49.1 percent from the floor for the game (26-of-53), and was 52 percent from the floor (13-of-25) in the second half, including 7-of-11 from three in the second half.

Perrantes had a game-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting for UVA, which also got 17 from Shayok and 13 from Hall.

Collins led Wake Forest with 16 points.

The Deacons shot 40.4 percent from the field (23-of-57) for the game, and was 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from three-point range.