National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wake Forest 58, Virginia Tech 55
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 7, 2012
Where: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Officials: # Mike Eades, # Tim Kelly, # Jamie Luckie
Attendance: 10037
By SportsDirect Inc.

C.J. Harris drilled a pair of late 3-pointers in a return from injury to lift Wake Forest to a 58-55 win over visiting Virginia Tech in Saturday’s ACC opener.

After Virginia Tech took its first lead of the game with a little more than a minute remaining, Harris, who had made just one of his first five shots, dropped jumpers on consecutive possessions for Wake Forest (10-5, 1-0 ACC).

Harris missed Wake’s loss to Wofford with a strained groin but played strong down the stretch for the Demon Deacons, who have already matched last season’s conference win total. Harris finished with 13 points, while Travis McKie chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds, as one of the ACC's worst rebounding teams finished with a double-digit advantage on the boards.

Even more impressive than Wake's clutch shooting was its 1-2-2 zone defense. The Demon Deacons entered the game as the worst scoring defense in the conference but took a 32-24 lead into halftime.

It was the first halftime deficit of the season for Virginia Tech (11-4, 0-1 ACC).

Erick Green scored a game-high 19 points, as the Hokies clawed back with 20 points off turnovers. Green, though, was slow to rotate on Harris’ 3 that made it 55-53 with a minute left.
Top Game Performances
 
Virginia Tech   Wake Forest
Erick Green 19 Scoring C.J. Harris 13
Erick Green 6 Assists C.J. Harris 4
Victor Davila 7 Rebounds Travis McKie 15
Victor Davila 2 Free Throws Made C.J. Harris 4
Dorian Finney-Smith 2 Steals Tony Chennault 1
Jarell Eddie 1 Blocks Carson Desrosiers 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Virginia Tech 55 39.7 6-22 3-6 10 30 4 7 10
Wake Forest 58 38.5 8-18 10-13 13 37 6 3 15