WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Darius Songaila helped Lithuania to a
bronze medal in the Olympics. He looks ready to lead No. 4 Wake
Forest toward an Atlantic Coast Conference championship.
|  | | Broderick Hicks scored 10 points and was one of five Demon Deacons in double figures. |
The unbeaten Demon Deacons, playing in their biggest ACC game
since the Tim Duncan era, rolled to a 96-73 victory over previously undefeated Virginia (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) on Tuesday night in the conference opener for both teams.
And it was another big guy who led the way as Wake Forest scored
its most points against Virginia since 1968.
The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Songaila was 11-of-12 from the field and
scored a career-high 27 points for the Demon Deacons (12-0), who
shot 58 percent and won their 17th straight dating to last year's
NIT championship.
"He's a killer. He's a mangler," Virginia coach Pete Gillen
said of the Wake Forest junior. "He kills innocent bystanders
sometimes in the post. He was knocking people around and if you can
do that he's going to be tough to guard.
"When bodies are cracking all over you've got to respond,
you've got to crack back," Gillen added. "We didn't crack back
enough."
Songaila scored 22 points against the Cavaliers last March when
he hit 14 of 14 free throws.
"Against certain people Darius is going to be very, very
dominating and tonight was one of those nights -- no matter who they
put on him," Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said.
The Cavaliers (10-1) trailed for only 7:34 of 400 minutes coming
into the game and had won all of their games by at least 16 points.
But Virginia led for only three possessions in this one as Wake
Forest held the Cavs to 41 percent shooting.
The percentage snapped Wake Forest's run of holding 18 straight
teams under 40 percent, but that was little consolation for a
stunned Virginia squad.
"The defense is a key for us," Odom said. "I see they hit the
40 (percent) mark and that's not pleasing, but like every streak,
they come to an end."
Chris Williams led the Cavaliers, off to their best start in
eight years, with 18 points, but leading scorer Roger Mason (16.2)
was held to a season-low five.
"We've got to play harder. They played hard for 40 minutes,"
Gillen said. "I said, 'Hey, this will happen again, home or away
is irrelevant, you've got to be more aggressive.' It was physical
tonight and we didn't adjust."
Wake Forest led 47-37 at halftime, and put the game away in the
opening 6:11 of the second half, going on a 22-10 run to go up by
22 points.
Most of the run was accomplished without Virginia center Travis
Watson, who picked up his fourth foul early in the half and went to
the bench.
That cleared the way inside for Josh Shoemaker, who made three
straight layups in the middle of the run, while Robert O'Kelley
added a 3-pointer, two driving layups and two free throws for a
69-47 lead with 13:49 remaining.
Virginia closed to 69-58 three minutes later, but Watson missed
the front end of a 1-and-1 and Wake Forest scored on four straight
possessions to close out the Cavaliers.
Watson fouled out with 3:44 left, finishing with nine points and
nine rebounds.
Wake Forest was worried about Virginia's press, but turned the
ball over just nine times and hit the 90-point mark in an ACC game
for the first time since January 1994.
Wake Forest point guards Ervin Murray and Broderick Hicks had
five assists and no turnovers in a combined 47 minutes on the
court.
"As the point guards we had to set the tone for everybody
else," Murray said. "So far this year we've been doing a good job
of that."
Songaila's previous high was 26 points against Georgia Tech last
season.
The Demon Deacons were ready from the start, making six of their
first seven shots to forge an early lead and setting a much quicker
pace than the Cavaliers anticipated, outscoring Virginia 16-2 on
first-half fastbreak points.
Songaila, quiet offensively during Wake Forest's early season
run, was 4-for-4 in the opening 2:18 to dominate inside.
"The fact that we have good outside shooters makes the job of
the inside guys easier," Songaila said. "And they didn't have
enough size inside to handle us. That made it easier."
Virginia, who had a 9-2 record against the Demon Deacons in ACC
openers before Tuesday night, settled in to a close game before
Wake Forest went on an 11-2 run as five players scored for a
10-point halftime lead.
"We wanted this game, but they wanted it more," Gillen said,
"They played harder than us, they were more physical, more
aggressive and they deserve a lot of credit."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Virginia Clubhouse
Wake Forest Clubhouse
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