Georgia Tech routs Wake Forest 74-39
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Glen Rice Jr. scored 21 points, Iman Shumpert had 20 and Georgia Tech cruised to its biggest win ever in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beating woeful Wake Forest 74-39 Wednesday night.
The Yellow Jackets (9-8, 2-2) didn't have a letdown coming off a 78-58 win over North Carolina. They led by as many as 42 and eclipsed their previous mark for largest conference win, a 31-point blowout of Florida State in 2002.
Of course, it helped to be playing Wake Forest (7-12, 0-4), which lost for the eighth time in nine games and hasn't come close in ACC play, losing by an average of 26 points.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Wake Forest made 14 of 54 shots (26 percent) from the field, 9 of 26 (35 percent) at the foul line and had no one in double figures. It was the school's lowest-scoring game since a 44-34 loss to North Carolina on Jan. 8, 1959.
Georgia Tech hardly tried to run it up, clearing the bench and scoring its final points with 5:27 remaining.
Wake Forest settled for its last lead, 7-6, on Travis McKie's layup with just under 17 minutes left in the first half. The Demon Deacons then went more than 4 minutes without scoring, missing eight shots from the field and a couple of free throws, in addition to turning it over three times.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It would only get worse.
Georgia Tech pushed the margin into double figures for the first time when Shumpert converted a three-point play for a 22-12 lead just past the midway point of the opening half.
The Yellow Jackets took total command when Shumpert and Rice hit back-to-back 3s, Daniel Miller stripped the ball away and fed Maurice Miller for a layup that led to another three-point play, then Rice slammed back Daniel Miller's missed jumper with one hand to make it 37-16 late in the first half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Yellow Jackets led 44-26 at the break, and the Demon Deacons went the first 12½ minutes of the second half before finally making their first basket, C.J. Harris' 3-pointer.
Georgia Tech stretched it out to 59-29 with more than 12 minutes to go, and Maurice Miller's two free throws provided the home team's final points and biggest lead, 74-32.
The Yellow Jackets have an embarrassing loss on their record, a 17-point setback at Kennessaw State in the opening week of the season, but Georgia Tech looked like a championship-caliber team against the Demon Deacons.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rebuilding under first-year coach Jeff Bzdelik, Wake Forest knew it was in trouble even before ACC play began, losing at home to Stetson and Winthrop and on the road to UNC Wilmington — all by double-figure margins.
The Deacons have been downright dreadful in ACC play and took their worst loss yet, which is saying something. They were coming off a 29-point defeat at Virginia Tech.
Ari Stewart led Wake Forest with just nine points.