Tyrece Radford Leads Tech in road win at Wake Forest

Jackson Didlake

January 18, 2021

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - With 11 seconds remaining, Tyrece Radford sank a free throw to put No. 20 Virginia Tech up eight, the sixth straight point secured by Radford from the charity stripe to help seal a 64-60 victory against Wake Forest.

“There is no such thing as a bad road win. We’ll take it,” Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said. “We didn’t play good basketball tonight. We won, and last time I checked, that’s all that matters.”

Radford willed the Hokies (11-2, 5-1 ACC) to a win from start to finish, recording a game-high 20 points while adding four rebounds. His performance came much needed with a down night from Keve Aluma and Jalen Cone, who combined for a single field goal and five points overall, all coming from Aluma.

“They weren’t good tonight and they’d be the first to recognize that It was just one of those games,” Young said. “They were chasing Jalen as hard as he’s been chased.”

With the lackluster performances from Aluma and Cone, the Hokies needed role players to step up and they got just that from Hunter Cattoor and David N’Guessan. Both scored 13 points, recording 26 of the Hokies 28 points off the bench.

“Good luck. That’s a hard team to prepare for,” Young said about playing the Hokies when the bench gets going. “Cattoor is doing it every night.”

Ismael Massoud led the way for the Demon Deacons (3-5, 0-5 ACC) with 12 points and four rebounds off the bench. Daivien Williamson added 11 points and three steals and Isaiah Mucius had 10 points and seven rebounds before fouling out late.

The Hokies shot an impressive 47.8% from the field in the victory while holding the Demon Deacons to 36.7%. Virginia Tech shot 45.8% from the field in the first half.

Meanwhile, Wake Forest struggled in the period, hitting seven of 31. The Hokies’ defense was the story of the first half, recording nine blocks, with four coming from Aluma.

The Hokies took a 29-23 lead into the half before a quick 9-2 run, finished by an Isaiah Wilkins triple that brought Wake Forest within two. Cattoor responded with a three that started an 8-0 Hokies run.

Things appeared to be going well for the Hokies, but the Demon Deacons refused to go away. Wake Forest went on a 16-2 run that tied the contest with 8:07 remaining. The Hokies kept fighting though and eventually took a two-point lead before Radford hit six straight free throws to ice the game.

With the win, the Hokies improve to 5-1 in conference play.

“That’s where we’re supposed to be,” Young said. “We’re Virginia Tech.”

The Hokies return to action on Wednesday at home against Boston College.