WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Darius Thompson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give No. 11 Virginia a 72-71 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday night.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 28 points and Anthony Gill added 17 points for the Cavaliers (16-4, 5-3 ACC). The league’s top 3-point shooting team shook off a miserable night on the perimeter, hitting four 3-pointers in the final minute to pull out an unlikely victory.
Bryant Crawford scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and Devin Thomas added 19 points for the Demon Deacons (10-10, 1-7 ACC), who blew a 10-point lead with 90 seconds left. Crawford missed one of two free throws with four seconds left to set up Virginia’s last chance.
Devon Hall brought the ball up court and passed to Thompson in the left corner, and the redshirt sophomore banked in his 3-pointer over Thomas to end it.
Marila Shayok finished with 10 points for the Cavaliers, who trailed, 64-58, entering the final minute before Brogdon’s 3 made it a three-point game with 53.6 seconds left.
After Gill’s dunk with 46.3 seconds to play made it 66-63, Virginia had three consecutive empty possessions while Wake Forest hit four of six free throws to push its lead to 70-63.
Shayok hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a four-point game with 14.5 seconds left, Thomas missed two free throws with 11.2 seconds to play and Brogdon hit another 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left to pull the Cavaliers to 70-69.
Crawford then missed his first free throw, but made the second and the Demon Deacons set up a full-court press, which Hall broke before finding Thompson for a 3-pointer that stood after a brief official review and gave the Cavaliers their first ACC road victory this season.
That shot also denied the Demon Deacons their second victory over a top-25 team this season and first at home.
The Cavaliers, who make 40.5 percent of their 3-pointers, were just 1-for-13 from behind the arc in the first 39 minutes before hitting four to end the game.
Thomas briefly went out after rolling his left ankle when he stepped on Virginia forward Jarred Reuter’s foot after hitting a jumper with about 15:30 left. He had to be carried off the court by two teammates, but checked back in with 11:22 to play.
Gill reached the 1,000-point mark for his career on a three-point play with 10:41 left in the first half.
Wake Forest’s Dinos Mitoglou finished with 11 points for the Demon Deacons, who missed their first eight attempts from 3-point range but hit six of nine from long range after halftime to build a 14-point lead.
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