Williamson's last-second shot lifts Wake
Mar. 8—GREENSBORO — Wake Forest guard Daivien Williamson found a bit of redemption Wednesday.
With the score tied, Williamson forced Syracuse's Joseph Girard III into missing a jump shot with seven seconds left then sprinted down court, received a pass from Tyree Appleby and buried a 3 from about 30 feet with a half-second left, pushing Wake Forest past Syracuse 77-74 in the opening game of the ACC tournament second round at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The loss marked the end of Jim Boeheim's career as the Orange's head coach after 44 seasons.
Shortly after Boeheim said in a post-game press conference that the decision was up to the university as to whether he would return, the school announced associate head coach Adrian Autry had been named as Boeheim's replacement.
Willamson, who went to Winston-Salem Prep and followed Demon Deacons head coach Steve Forbes from East Tennessee State to Wake, had a chance to hit a go-ahead shot against Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament first round. But the attempt was blocked and the Fighting Irish hit the game winner.
"It's kind of crazy how things come full circle, because two years ago I was on the opposite end of this," Williamson said. "So the last two years I just kind of put my head down and continued to trust myself and put the work in so I'd be prepared for moments like this. Because, I mean, we all know I didn't make the right play against Notre Dame, so I knew that I would be prepared the next time that I was in a situation like this and I was confident in myself and I knocked the shot down."
Williamson not only forced Girard into a miss, he grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Appleby, who went around a screen set by center Andrew Carr in his sprint upcourt. Appleby dribbled into the middle of the floor and passed to Williamson on the right.
"I instantly looked for Ty because I know I'm going to get the ball right back. So once I passed it to him, I heard him telling me to run. So I just kept running and running. And I got to the right spot. I knew he was going to give it to me, I just had to be ready and knock the shot down and I did."
Syracuse's desperation attempt for a tying 3 ended with a blocked shot at midcourt.
The Demon Deacons, who led by as many as 12 in the second half after a 19-2 run over seven minutes, improved to 19-13 and advanced to face No. 1 seed Miami in Friday's quarterfinals.
Williamson and Bobi Klintman each scored 17 for the Deacs, and Klintman also grabbed 11 rebounds. Appleby added 15 points and dished 12 assists.
Cameron Hildreth also netted 15, capped by a turnaround shot from the middle of the lane that lifted Wake into a 74-74 tie with 35 seconds left.
Wake avenged a 72-63 loss at Syracuse on Saturday.
Girard was not the main option on the Orange's final possession according to Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.
"We were going to go high-low," Boeheim said. "Benny (Williams) couldn't get it to Jesse (Edwards). He tried. That was the play, and then we got it to Joe and he had to make a play there. I would have liked to have seen him drive it, but he thought that was the shot."
Williams and Judah Mintz scored 18 for the Orange while Edwards had 12 and Chris Bell 11.
Syracuse drops to 17-15.
PITT-GEORGIA TECH
Pitt, the No.5 seed, withstood a second-half rally by Georgia Tech and prevailed 89-81. The Panthers face No. 4 Duke in today's second game at 2:30 p.m.
