Jake LaRavia scored 23 points just a few nights after a miserable shooting performance to lift Wake Forest to a 99-77 victory against visiting Louisville on Saturday night at Winston-Salem, N.C.
The outcome was crucial for the Demon Deacons (22-8, 12-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) because it avenged a loss from earlier in the season and took away some of the sour taste from a setback at Clemson earlier in the week.
Wake Forest, which has just one regular-season game remaining, also received 22 points from Dallas Walton, 15 from Daivien Williamson, 12 from Isaiah Mucius and 11 from ACC scoring leader Alondes Williams.
Mucius didn’t play Wednesday at Clemson because of an illness, but he was on target by hitting four 3-point shots Saturday. Walton shot 4-for-4 on 3s, while LaRavia feasted on 13-for-14 free-throw shooting.
Wake Forest made 13 of 27 shots from 3-point range on the way to 58.2-percent shooting overall from the field. Louisville was just 3-for-18 on 3s, yet the Cardinals managed 50.8 percent on all of its attempts from the floor.
Louisville’s top scorers were reserves, with Sydney Curry registering a career-high 28 points on 13-for-18 shooting and Noah Locke checking in with 14 points. The Cardinals (12-16, 6-12) have won just one of eight games since Mike Pegues became the interim coach, replacing Chris Mack.
The Demon Deacons had several big scoring runs, building a huge first-half lead and then seeing that diminish before regrouping and putting the final touches on what became a blowout anyway.
Early in the second half, Wake Forest got back in command when Cameron Hildreth and Williams connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and LaRavia dunked. That made it 55-39.
Both teams shot over 51 percent in the first half, with Wake Forest holding a 44-36 lead. But that was a boost for Louisville in many ways because the Demon Deacons were up 38-18 at the nine-minute mark.
–Field Level Media
