Wake Forest University
10-12,3-9ACC
Louisville
20-3,11-1ACC
Deacs Fall at No. 5 Louisville
2/5/2020 11:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Wake Forest men's basketball couldn't withstand a second half surge from No. 5 Louisville, falling 86-76 on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center. The Demon Deacons fell to 10-12 overall and 3-9 in the ACC, while the league-leading Cardinals improved to 20-3 and 11-1 in the ACC.
Andrien White scored 17 points to lead the Deacs, the fourth time in the last five games he has led the team in scoring. Olivier Sarr had 16 points and Brandon Childress added 14 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a fast start offensively, with the Deacons holding a 14-13 lead after the first five minutes. Wake continued their hot start and used an 8-0 run to push the lead to 22-13, a lead that extended to 32-17 with 6:30 to play in the half after a 10-0 run by the Deacs. Wake Forest took a 46-34 lead into the break, its largest halftime lead of the season.
Louisville used an early 20-2 run in the second half to take their first lead of the game, which they extended to 60-53 with 12:30 to go. Louisville was still up seven, 71-64, with 8:00 to play, but the Deacs couldn't take advantage of a long stretch when the Cardinals couldn't make a field goal and trailed 74-68 with 4:44 left when Sarr fouled out. Louisville closed out the 10-point win over the final minutes.
NOTEWORTHY
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Wake Forest's 46 first half points were its most against an ACC opponent since 2017 (scoring 47 in the first half at Duke)
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Brandon Childress recorded his 400th career assist in the first half, becoming the sixth Demon Deacon to amass at least 1,200 points and 400 points in his career
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Torry Johnson had a career-high six assists, eclipsing his previous career high of five set while at Northern Arizona
QUOTABLE
"Today we got off to a really good start offensively especially from three, " head coach Danny Manning said. "We shot the ball well and I thought we did a really good job of getting the ball in the paint and we had guys ready to shoot it on the catch and that gave us a chance to build the lead. Second half, not so much. They are physical and big and had their way with us in terms of carving out space in the paint and they shot the ball at a high clip. "
UP NEXT
Wake Forest concludes the two-game road trip on Saturday with a visit to Syracuse. Game time at the Carrier Dome is 8:00 p.m. and the game will air on ACC Network.
