Wake Forest prepared for its first big road test of the season by failing what some might have considered a pop quiz.
The misfiring Deacons never held the lead in the final 32 minutes and were beaten soundly 78-68 by plucky William & Mary in front of 9,911 mostly disbelieving fans at Joel Coliseum.
The Deacons shot 35 percent (26 of 74) against the Tribe's packed-in zone defense, but struggled to guard long enough against the Tribe' clock-milking Princeton offense.
As a result the Deacons fell to 4-1 heading into Tuesday's showdown at No. 6 Purdue in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
"We have to forget about it," said C.J. Harris, Wake Forest's freshman guard who led the Deacons with 17 points. "We have to practice (today) and not let it hang over our heads. If we do, we are in for a rude awakening."
On a night when Al-Farouq Aminu, the Deacons' 6-9 sophomore forward, made only 4 of 18 attempts from the floor and scored 11 points, they took nearly half of their field-goal attempts from behind the 3-point line and made only 10 of 36.
David Schneider, a 6-3 senior guard, and Danny Sumner, a 6-7 senior forward, scored 16 points each to lead William & Mary and each made key plays down the stretch to propel the Tribe (4-2) to its fourth straight win.
Deacons coach Dino Gaudio said that he liked the way his team guarded the motion of the Tribe's offense -- the Deacons gave up few back-door layups.
"But 12 seconds and under (on the shot clock) they beat us off the dribble, off the bounce," he said. "I thought they played very well, they're very well coached, they hit a couple of deep 3s when they had to, a couple of times with the shot clock winding down. I am not happy with the loss, but this business is about dealing with adversity and getting back to work."
Aminu scored one of the Deacons' rare transition baskets less than seven minutes into the game for a 6-5 Wake Forest lead. But Matt Rum made two free throws 50 seconds later and William & Mary wouldn't trail again.
Schneider and JohnMark Ludwick hit 3-pointers late in the first half as the Tribe opened up a nine-point lead during a stretch in which Wake Forest failed to score on six straight possessions, and the lead was 31-22 at halftime.
Tony Woods, a 6-11 sophomore forward who started for the Deacons but played only four minutes, was whistled for traveling inside on the Deacons' first possession of the game. And before five minutes had elapsed, Chas McFarland had the ball stripped away under the basket, and Aminu was called for traveling after taking an entry pass.
mlinker@wsjournal.com.
727-7324
W&M Min FG M-A FT M-A OR-T A PF PTS
McDowell 32 4-8 4-5 2-3 1 0 14
Sumner 29 5-9 5-5 2-7 0 0 16
Kitts 24 3-4 3-5 3-10 1 2 9
Schneider 32 3-13 9-12 0-10 4 1 16
McCurdy 26 2-4 2-3 0-3 1 5 6
Gaillard 17 2-4 0-0 1-3 0 0 4
Rum 23 0-3 4-4 0-2 1 4 4
Ludwick 17 3-5 0-1 0-1 1 3 9
Totals 200 22-50 27-35 9-41 9 15 78
Percentages: FG .440, FT .771. 3-Point Goals: 7-17, .412 (Ludwick 3-5, McDowell 2-2, Sumner 1-2, Schneider 1-5, Gaillard 0-1, Rum 0-2). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 4 (Sumner 3, Kitts). Turnovers: 11 (Kitts 3, Schneider 2, McCurdy 2, Ludwick 2, McDowell, Gaillard). Steals: 6 (Schneider 3, Ludwick, Rum, Sumner). Technical Fouls: None.
WF Min FG M-A FT M-A OR-T A PF PTS
Aminu 35 4-18 3-4 8-20 3 1 11
Woods 4 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 2
McFarland 25 4-6 0-0 4-9 0 4 8
Smith 38 5-15 0-1 0-3 11 3 12
Williams 34 4-8 0-1 2-4 2 5 8
Harris 33 5-15 2-4 0-0 0 5 17
Stewart 10 1-5 0-0 3-4 0 3 3
Tucker 5 2-4 0-0 1-1 0 4 6
Weaver 16 0-2 1-2 1-3 1 0 1
Totals 200 26-74 6-12 20-45 17 25 68
Percentages: FG .351, FT .500. 3-Point Goals: 10-36, .278 (Harris 5-10, Tucker 2-3, Smith 2-9, Stewart 1-4, Weaver 0-1, Williams 0-2, Aminu 0-7). Team Rebounds: 0. Blocked Shots: 4 (McFarland, Woods, Aminu, Williams). Turnovers: 10 (Aminu 5, Williams, Tucker, Woods, Stewart, McFarland). Steals: 7 (McFarland 2, Harris 2, Aminu, Weaver, Smith). Technical Fouls: None.
William & Mary 31 47 -- 78
Wake Forest 22 46 -- 68
A--9,911.
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