Second-ranked Virginia led Wake Forest by just one at the under-eight media timeout, but back-to-back threes by Devon Hall and De’Andre Hunter gave the ‘Hoos some breathing room, and UVA held on for a 59-49 win Sunday night in Winston-Salem.
The Cavaliers (18-1, 7-0 ACC) trailed 24-22 at the half, after Wake (8-11, 1-6 ACC) closed on a 14-5 run over the final 9:29 of the first half.
The Demon Deacons led 30-25 early in the second half, but a 15-4 Virginia run, capped by a Kyle Guy three-pointer, put the ‘Hoos back on top, 40-34, at the 11:09 mark.
Wake Forest closed to within 42-41 on a Chaundee Brown jumper with 8:44 to go. The Hall and Hunter threes fueled an 11-4 UVA run over the next 6:11, and Virginia closed the game out at the free-throw line, connecting on 6-of-6 at the charity stripe in the final 1:17.
Guy had 17 points to lead Virginia, shooting 5-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point range, and also contributed a team-high four assists in 32 minutes.
Hunter had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with five rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.
Hall added 12 points and seven rebounds for UVA, which shot 40.4 percent from the floor (21-of-52) and 41.2 percent from three-point range (7-of-17).
Bryant Crawford had 11 points to lead Wake, which shot 37 percent from the field (17-of-46) and 30.8 percent from three-point range (4-of-13).
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Chris Graham
