Florida State Seminoles vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons Match Player Stats On Jan 08, 2020

Devin Vassell scored 17 points as No. 10 Florida State squandered a double-digit lead but recovered to defeat host Wake Forest 78-68 on Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.

M.J. Walker's 15 points and Trent Forrest's 14 points and 10 rebounds also provided a boost for Florida State (14-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won its seventh game in a row.

Brandon Childress poured in 20 points, and Olivier Sarr added 10 points for Wake Forest (8-6, 1-3), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Demon Deacons were trying to knock off a nationally ranked team for the second time in four games, but 17 turnovers hurt their cause.

Wake Forest pulled ahead at 45-41 early in the second half, which began with Florida State going empty on its first five possessions (three turnovers and two missed shots). It ended up being an 11-0 run for the Demon Deacons.

RaiQuan Gray hit a go-ahead 3-pointer that seemed to spark the Seminoles, even though he picked up his fourth foul seconds later.

Soon after, Florida State went up 62-53. The margin didn't seem safe until Malik Osborne's 3-pointer made it 67-56 with 2:46 to play.

The Seminoles were coming off a victory against a top-10 team for the second time this season, but their early surge didn't last.

Florida State built a 15-3 lead in barely more than five minutes and still led 20-8 with 12:38 left before halftime. But the Demon Deacons got within 30-28 with 5:21 to play in the half as Florida State fell into foul trouble.

The Seminoles led 41-34 at halftime, holding Wake Forest to 30.4 percent shooting from the field.

Wake Forest was 18-for-22 on free throws in the first half, accounting for more than half of its points. That was the most first-half foul shots for the Demon Deacons in almost three years.

Wake Forest junior guard Chaundee Brown, the team's second-leading scorer with 13.3 points per game, sat out with a lower leg injury

--Field Level Media