Associated Press
BLACKSBURG, Va. ó Malcolm Delaney knows he and fellow seniors Jeff Allen and Terrell Bell are going to need a lot of help if Virginia Tech is going to make any noise in the ACC this regular season, and even more importantly, make it to the NCAA tournament.
The Hokies, after all, have lost four players that were expected to have significant roles for the season, and are relying on guys that used to watch from the end of the bench.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t play, and with Delaney’s help, they showed it Saturday night, taking on the bulk of the scoring duties as the Hokies dominated Wake Forest 94-65.
Manny Atkins scored a career-high 16 points, Victor Davila had 14 and Jarell Eddie had 12 in the game, which the Hokies (11-5, 2-2 ACC) dominated throughout.
“This game is a great game going into the Maryland game because who knows who may need to step in,” Delaney said after taking nine shots and scoring nine points with nine assists.
“It was just good to get people in the flow,” Delaney said.
The Hokies won for the seventh time in eight games, and bounced back after squandering a 16-point lead in a loss Thursday night at North Carolina.
Having success was important to Atkins, who was 5 for 7 from the field.
“We all have big roles now,” he said.
Including Eddie, a freshman who impressed his teammates in the preseason, but had done little to earn playing time until Cadarian Raines and Dorenzo Hudson were lost for the season, joining Allan Chaney and JT Thompson on the sidelines for the rest of the season.
Eddie made 3 of 4 shots, including two 3-pointers, and grabbed five rebounds.
“It’s really big for me just being able to be on the floor,” he said.
Gary Clark scored 16 points to lead Wake Forest (7-11, 0-3), which lost for the seventh time in its last eight games.