Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Louisville Cardinals
· NCAA Men's BasketballWake Forest holds off late rally, tops Louisville 80-72
Louisville trailed by 18 points after Cameron Hildreth's jumper put the Demon Deacons up 62-44 with 7:22 left, but Jae'Lynn Withers hit two 3s and Mike James knocked down three more as the Cardinals roared back to cut the deficit to just three, 70-67, with 2:40 remaining.
Monsanto hit a wide-open 3 from the corner and Tyree Appleby hit two free throws to push the Wake Forest lead back to eight and after Withers hit two free throws, Monsanto stroked a deep 3 to make it a nine-point lead, 78-69 with 1:26 left.
Monsanto finished shooting 5 of 12 from distance, 8 of 16 overall from the floor, to lead Wake Forest (11-5, 3-2 ACC) with 21 points. Hildreth hit 8 of 10 from the floor and finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Appleby added 13 points and eight assists and Daivien Williamson hit 3 of 6 from distance off the bench and contributed 13 points.
Louisville trailed by 17 points at intermission after hitting just 11 of 30 from the floor. James, who was 1 of 3 from beyond the arc in the first half, hit 4 of 6 in the second half and finished with 24 points to lead the Cardinals (2-14, 0-5). El Ellis had 20 points and eight assists with a pair of steals and Withers added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Louisville, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of its 1983 Final Four team before tip-off, lost at home to Wake Forest for the first time. The Demon Deacons now are 9-4 all-time in the series and have won back-to-back games.
UP NEXT
Wake Forest plays host to Florida State Wednesday before traveling to face Boston College Saturday.
Louisville plays at Clemson Wednesday and plays host to Pittsburgh Sunday.
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Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 80 - 72 |
| 2nd 0:00 | End of 2nd half | 80 - 72 |
| 2nd 0:13 | Damari Monsanto Defensive Rebound. | 80 - 72 |
| 2nd 0:16 | Mike James missed Jumper. | 80 - 72 |
| 2nd 0:20 | Brandon Huntley-Hatfield Offensive Rebound. | 80 - 72 |
Statistics
WAKE |
LOU |
|
|---|---|---|
| 29-55 | FG | 26-59 |
| 53 | Field Goal % | 44 |
| 13-32 | 3PT | 9-28 |
| 41 | Three Point % | 32 |
| 9-14 | FT | 11-20 |
| 64 | Free Throw % | 55 |
| 31 | Rebounds | 36 |
| 8 | Offensive Rebounds | 15 |
| 23 | Defensive Rebounds | 21 |
| 14 | Assists | 9 |
| 3 | Steals | 5 |
| 1 | Blocks | 1 |
| 11 | Turnovers | 14 |
| 1 | Team Turnovers | 2 |
| 11 | Total Turnovers | 14 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 21 | Points Off Turnovers | 12 |
| 4 | Fast Break Points | 6 |
| 28 | Points in Paint | 34 |
| 21 | Fouls | 16 |
| 22 | Largest Lead | 0 |
Game Information
Location: Louisville, KY
Attendance: 11,986 | Capacity:
2025-26 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 17-1 | - | 35-2 |
| Virginia | 15-3 | 2 | 30-6 |
| Miami | 13-5 | 4 | 26-9 |
| North Carolina | 12-6 | 5 | 24-9 |
| Clemson | 12-6 | 5 | 24-11 |
| Louisville | 11-7 | 6 | 24-11 |
| NC State | 10-8 | 7 | 20-14 |
| Florida State | 10-8 | 7 | 18-15 |
| California | 9-9 | 8 | 22-12 |
| Stanford | 9-9 | 8 | 20-12 |
| Virginia Tech | 8-10 | 9 | 19-13 |
| SMU | 8-10 | 9 | 20-14 |
| Wake Forest | 7-11 | 10 | 18-17 |
| Syracuse | 6-12 | 11 | 15-17 |
| Pittsburgh | 5-13 | 12 | 13-20 |
| Notre Dame | 4-14 | 13 | 13-18 |
| Boston College | 4-14 | 13 | 11-20 |
| Georgia Tech | 2-16 | 15 | 11-20 |


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