Terps Notch 20th Win, Hold Off Wake Forest

Dez Wells' 23 points, Alex Len's 10 rebounds lead way for Maryland

Dez Wells scored 23 points and Maryland pulled away to beat Wake Forest 67-57 on Saturday and spoil Chris Paul Day.

The Raleigh native was 11 of 12 from the field and finished two points shy of his career high of 25 set Dec. 2 against George Mason.

The Terrapins (20-9, 8-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) overcame 19 turnovers and some serious foul trouble to hold the Demon Deacons (12-16, 5-11) without a field goal for the final 4 minutes and claim their second ACC road win of the season.

C.J. Harris scored 19 points and Devin Thomas added 17 for Wake Forest, which had the ball down 61-57 with 2 minutes left but couldn't get any closer.

Travis McKie missed an open 3 that would have cut it to one. Nick Faust put Maryland up 63-57 when he got past Codi Miller-McIntyre for a jumper in the lane.

McKie - desperate to make something happen on Wake Forest's next possession - then turned it over in the lane with about 1 minute left and the Terrapins pulled away for their second win in three games while giving Wake Forest just its third ACC loss at home.

Alex Len added 10 rebounds for Maryland, which has won six straight in the series and claimed the teams' meeting in College Park by 26 points.

The Terps seemed to be in deep trouble after they were whistled for eight fouls in the first 3:47 of the half. Key players Len, Wells and James Padgett all picked up their third during that stretch.

Everything seemed to point toward a Wake Forest win.

Maryland entered just 1-6 in ACC road games while the Demon Deacons have quietly re-established Joel Coliseum as a tough place for league teams to visit.

Wake Forest entered 5-2 in home league games with the two losses - to Georgia Tech and a top-five Duke team - by a combined six points. In the Demon Deacons' last game here, they handed then-No. 2 Miami its first ACC loss in lopsided fashion, 80-65.

Plus, Wake Forest was honoring Paul, the MVP of the NBA All-Star game and the point guard on the school's first No. 1 team in 2004-05. A banner bearing Paul's likeness and jersey No. 3 was unfurled from the rafters at halftime.

The Terrapins did their best to spoil the party.

Maryland outscored Wake Forest 19-9 during the final 9 minutes of a sloppy first half, then went up 32-24 a few seconds into the second half on a dunk by Wells.

Wake Forest erased that lead by reeling off nine quick points against the suddenly foul-prone Terrapins, with Harris' steal and dunk putting the Demon Deacons up 33-32 with 15:08 left.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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