BLACKSBURG – Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 24 points to carry No. 9 Virginia Tech to an 87-71 ACC victory over Wake Forest at Carilion Clinic Court on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the win, the Hokies moved to 15-2 overall on the season, 4-1 in the ACC. They beat Wake Forest for the third straight time and for the sixth time in the past seven meetings. Wake fell to 8-9 overall, 1-4 in league play.
 
The Hokies started pulling away midway through the first half. They trailed 16-15 after a Brandon Childress 3-pointer with 12:08 left in the half, but they then went on an 11-2 run to take the lead for good. Five different players scored in that run, with Ty Outlaw and Justin Robinson hitting 3-pointers.
 
Tech shot a blistering 59.3 percent in the first 20 minutes and played well on the defensive end, too, holding the Demon Deacons to 31.6 percent shooting from the floor.
 
Wake Forest trailed by as many as 20 in the second half, but cut the lead to 75-65 on a jumper by Chaundee Brown with 4:03 remaining. The Hokies, however, responded, getting a layup from Isaiah Wilkins with 3:37 to go and two free throws from Alexander-Walker with 3:09 left to push the lead to 14. The Deacons got no closer than 11 after that.
 
Alexander-Walker made 7 of 12 from the floor, including three 3-pointers, and he went 7 of 9 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four assists.
 
Outlaw added 14 points, and Robinson finished with 13 for the Hokies, who shot 56.9 percent from the floor. Wake shot just 37.5 percent for the game, but stayed in the game by hitting 27 of 38 free-throw attempts
 
Childress paced the Deacons with 28 points.