Wake Forest puts away Tech

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Georgia Tech saved some face but not the game.

The Yellow Jackets played wretchedly for 25 minutes Wednesday night, and it cost them a 86-71 loss to Wake Forest at Lawrence-Joel Coliseum.

The Jackets were behind 51-28 at halftime and trailed by as many as 27 with 15 minutes left in the game only to rally to within eight with four minutes to go.

The comeback fizzled down the stretch, though, as the shots stopped falling and Wake made its free throws.

Anthony Morrow scored a team-high 29 points, 24 in the second half. He scored 13 of 17 points during Georgia Tech's second-half run that gave some respectability to an otherwise atrocious performance.

Lewis Clinch added 14 points off the bench for the Jackets (9-6, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Forward Jeremis Smith finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Demon Deacons' Justin Gray scored 25 points, and Eric Williams added 21 points and 11 rebounds. The duo alone outscored Georgia Tech in the first half.

Wake Forest (12-5, 1-3), who picked up its first ACC win of the season, showed a defensive intensity lacking in previous conference games. ACC foes came in averaging 80 points a game and shooting 41 percent. Georgia Tech made 42 percent of its shots in the loss.

The Yellow Jackets committed 22 turnovers, 14 in a wretched first half. They also forced officials to dig deep into the rule books. Point guard Zam Fredrick was whistled for two palming violations. Center Ra'Sean Dickey double-dribbled. Paco Diaw drew a charging foul just bringing the ball up the court.

Reach Adam Van Brimmer at (404) 589-8424 or adam.vanbrimmer@morris.com.