On a night that marked the departure of seniors Todd Billet and Majestic Mapp, it was the other co-captain whose star shone brightest in Virginia's 84-82 victory over No. 11 Wake Forest. Junior Devin Smith's baseline drive and freethrow propelled the Cavaliers (16-10, 6-9 ACC) to the upset victory over the Demon Deacons (19-7,9-6).
"I saw Levy coming at me," Smith said. "He couldn't stop me from driving."
Smith did just that as he drove baseline and converted on a tough lay in over three defenders. The sellout crowd of 8,392 erupted as the ball bounced around the rim and then in to give Virginia the lead with six seconds remaining. Minutes earlier Smith electrified the crowd with a one handed slam over Vytas Danelius that gave Virginia a 80-77 advantage. Smith led Virginia with 15 points off of the bench.
"He's a pretty strong guy," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "The fact that he got it off is a credit to him."
With three seconds left, the Cavaliers intentionally fouled Paul. Making the first and missing the second, Elton Brown snatched the rebound with under two seconds left. But a traveling violation by Brown gave Wake Forest one last chance. But as Jamal Leveys fadeaway baseline jumper missed, the Cavalier faithful rejoiced as they rushed the court.
"It was a tremendous game,"Gillen said. "Thank God it didn't go into overtime. I don't think I could have taken another five minutes of that."
Wake Forest connected on twelve three pointers for the game as they fired away early and often from long range. The backcourt of freshman Chris Paul and sophomore Justin Gray shined as they each scored 21 points and 20 points respectively. Behind their efforts, the Demon Deacons were able to extend their lead to as much as nine points.
The Cavaliers responded in the second half, as they turned a four point halftime deficit to a 58-57 lead with 14 minutes courtesy of a Derrick Byars lay in. Though the game was contested until the final second, the Cavaliers never relinquished the lead as they shot 60 percent from the field in the final period.
Freshman guard T.J. Bannister dished out 12 assists in leading the Cavaliers to their fifth concesutive senior night victory. The 12 assists were the most a Virginia player has gotten in a game since Cory Alexander in December of 1992.
"I had to come out and play a great game," Bannister said. "Everyone is gelling and playing well."
Indeed several Cavaliers contributed to the win over Wake Forest. Billet finished with 13 points including three from long range. Jason Clark tied a season high with eight points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Byars provided a spark, dropping 15 points and pulling down five boards.
"I think we played our best game," Gillen said. "Wake Forest played a great game. We met a team that was playing very well."
Wake Forest came into Charlottesville riding a six game winning streak.
"Give Virginia credit, they played well," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. "It doesn't hurt that they shoot better from the field than we do from the line."
The Demon Deacons converted just 12 out of 24 opportunities from the charity stripe, including nine misses in the second half.
With the senior night win, the Cavaliers have now won three games in a row and four out of their last five. The team will take its momentum to College Park, Maryland as they face the Terrapins on Sunday in the season finale.
"Were doing a great job of taking one at a time," Billet said. "We're staying humble and it's paying off"
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