College basketball: Wake Forest dominates Pitt from beginning

Published 10:53 pm Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Associated Press

WINSTON-SALEM — Jake LaRavia scored nine of his 18 points in a little more than the first five minutes and Wake Forest went largely unchallenged in its 91-75 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

The Demon Deacons (18-5, 8-4 ACC) bounced back in strong fashion following their 94-72 loss at Syracuse on Jan. 29. Wake Forest has won seven of its last nine games.

Wake Forest built a 9-0 lead and never trailed. The Demon Deacons extended their margin to 19-6 with LaRavia scoring nine on three 3-pointers. It wasn’t until Femi Odukale’s 3 with 11:52 before halftime that Pitt reached double digits to trail 21-11. Odukale made 1 of 2 foul shots and a pair of baskets to get within 23-16 with 9:36 before the break. But the Demon Deacons pulled away to outscore Pitt 23-8 to close the half and led 46-24 at halftime.

Wake Forest led by double digits the entire second half. The Demon Deacons shot 60% (15 for 25) in the first half and finished 54.9% (28 for 51) overall. Wake’s 15 3s were three more than shots made inside the arc.

Dallas Walton scored 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting and Alondes Williams just missed a triple-double with 15, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Wake Forest.

Odukale scored 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting and John Hugley scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Pitt (8-14, 3-8).

Pitt has a home-and-home hosting Virginia Tech on Saturday before heading to Blacksburg, Virginia to face the Hokies on Monday.

Wake Forest hits the road to face Florida State on Saturday.

Longwood 56, UNC Asheville 48

ASHEVILLE — DeShaun Wade scored 17 points and Longwood stretched its winning streak to nine games.

Wade made 4 of 6 from 3-point range for the Lancers (16-5, 8-0 Big South Conference). Zac Watson had 12 points. Isaiah Wilkins had eight rebounds.

Both teams set season lows for scoring during the game. Longwood scored 22 second-half points, the lowest of the season for the visitors, while the 15 points in the first half for UNC Asheville marked the fewest of the season for the hosts.

Coty Jude had 14 points for the Bulldogs (12-10, 4-5). Drew Pember had four blocks.

Temple 71, East Carolina 63

GREENVILLE — Damian Dunn had 26 points as Temple beat East Carolina.

Dunn shot 13 for 15 from the line.

Jeremiah Williams had 14 points and six assists for Temple (12-7, 5-3 American Athletic Conference). Jahlil White added 7 points and 10 rebounds.

Tristen Newton had 22 points for the Pirates (11-10, 2-7), whose losing streak stretched to five games. Vance Jackson added 18 points and seven rebounds. Tremont Robinson-White had 10 points.

The Owls improve to 2-0 against the Pirates this season. Temple defeated East Carolina 78-75 on Jan. 8.

Presbyterian 64,  Campbell 58

CLINTON, S.C. (AP) — Rayshon Harrison had 16 points as Presbyterian got past Campbell.

Trevon Reddish-Rhone had 12 points and six rebounds for Presbyterian (10-13, 2-6 Big South Conference), which snapped its four-game home losing streak. Cedric Henderson Jr. tied a season high with 21 points and had seven rebounds for the Fighting Camels (12-8, 5-4).

VMI 76,  UNC Greensboro 65

GREENSBORO — Kamdyn Curfman scored 18 points and Trey Bonham added 17 as VMI got past UNC Greensboro 76-65 on Wednesday night.

Bonham added seven assists and six rebounds for the Keydets (13-10, 6-5 Southern Conference). KeJake Stephens chipped in with 15 points, four assists and three blocks. Honor Huff had 14 points.

Keyshaun Langley had 19 points for the Spartans (12-10, 4-6). Kobe Langley added 12 points.

The Keydets leveled the season series against the Spartans. UNC Greensboro defeated VMI 72-56 on Jan. 8.

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Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com