Wake Forest University
Notre Dame
Thomas Leads Deacons Past Fighting Irish 65-58
1/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2014
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By Alex Botoman, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@TieDyeNation)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Devin Thomas scored 21 points on a near-perfect shooting day to lead Wake Forest to a 65-58 win over Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon at Joel Coliseum.
In the first ACC game between the two teams, Thomas went 10-of-11 from the field to hit the 20-point mark for the third time this season in addition to pulling down six rebounds.
The sophomore forward made his first 10 field goals, and had he stopped there, he would have tied the school record for perfect shooting of 10-for-10, held by Kyle Visser. Even after missing his final attempt, Thomas's 10-for-11 mark for a 90.9 percent field goal percentage was the seventh-best in program history for a player making at least 10 shots in a game.
The Demon Deacons (14-6, 4-3 ACC) opened up an eight-point lead in the second half, but the Fighting Irish (11-9, 2-5 ACC) clawed their way back to go in front by a point with 2:34 remaining.
Codi Miller-McIntyre took over at that point, scoring six straight points to put the Deacons back in front and with Notre Dame forced to foul, Travis McKie and Arnaud William Adala Moto to combined to make six consecutive free throws to put the game away.
Overall, the Demon Deacons went 14-of-19 (73.7 percent) from the charity stripe, their best mark of the ACC season and their fourth straight game of better than 70 percent.
Travis McKie hit double figures for the second game in a row, totaling 14 points and three rebounds. Coron Williams notched 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Tyler Cavanaugh led the Demon Deacons with seven rebounds, his most in ACC play.
The Demon Deacons shot 48.9 percent in the game while holding the Fighting Irish to only 39.3 percent, including a 2-of-16 mark from behind the arc.
Travis McKie hit two early 3-pointers as Wake Forest opened up an 8-4 advantage in the opening minutes. After Notre Dame briefly came back to take a one-point lead, a Coron Williams 3-pointer sparked a 12-2 run that gave the Demon Deacons their biggest lead so far at 25-16.
The Fighting Irish chipped away in the final minutes of the half, but the Deacons remained in front 25-21 at the halftime break.
The Irish continued their momentum after halftime and tied the game at 25-25 in the opening minutes of the second half, forcing a Wake Forest timeout. The Deacons regrouped to go back in front, but could not gain more than five points of separation until midway through the period when they opened up a 49-41 lead.
The Fighting Irish kept fighting though going in front by a point with less than three minutes left. But Miller-McIntyre's awakening and solid free throw shooting carried the Deacons to victory.
Wake Forest will face one of its biggest tests on Wednesday when No. 2 Syracuse comes to Joel Coliseum for a 9 p.m. tip. The game will be broadcast on the ACC's regional sports networks and can also be heard on the Wake Forest IMG Sports Network.
