Wake Forest stomps FSU, 87-48

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) Justin Gray scored 20 points, Eric Williams had 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and No. 6 Wake Forest avenged a heartbreaking loss earlier in the season by routing Florida State 87-48 on Saturday.<br> <br> Sixth-man Taron Downey ran his streak of 3-pointers to six before finally missing and finished with 14 points for the Demon Deacons (21-3, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who lost in overtime at Tallahassee three weeks ago. In that one, Downey missed a free throw with less than a second left in regulation that would have won it, and Wake Forest came out intent on not letting this one slip away.<br> <br> Von Wafer had 16 points for the Seminoles (11-13, 3-8), who tied it at 17 midway through the first half before their troubles began. They couldn&#39;t hold on to the ball, and when they did, shots that had been going in clanged off the rim, and the Deacons got their vaunted running game going.<br> <br> Trent Strickland converted a pass from Gray into a layup, the start of a 31-11 run to close the half. Florida State was 1-of-11 at one point and had 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, while Wake Forest got points on 11 of 12 possessions to take control.<br> <br> Downey made it 39-20 with a 3 and an easy basket after a steal, forcing a timeout by Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton. Adam Waleskowski momentarily stopped the drought with a layup, and Chris Paul was called for a charge on the other end to give the ball back to Florida State. That was Paul&#39;s second foul of the half, and he left for good with 4:53 left.<br> <br> The Deacons hardly missed their star point guard. Jamaal Levy and Gray each made two free throws, Strickland slammed home a putback and Downey swished another jumper from beyond the arc to increase the margin to 48-24. Four points just before the break by Wafer kept Florida State within 20.<br> <br> It didn&#39;t matter. After Alexander Johnson started the second half with a free throw for the Seminoles, Wake Forest removed any doubt about the outcome with eight straight points, including a beautiful fast-break basket by Gray. He faked a behind-the-back pass to Levy to completely fool Wafer, then cruised in for a layup.<br> <br> Strickland added 10 points and Paul finished with eight points, seven assists and seven steals.<br> <br> Jason Rich scored 11 points for the Seminoles, who have lost four straight since ending a 26-game road losing streak in the ACC by beating North Carolina State. They shot only 35 percent against Wake Forest, and their struggles were epitomized by Al Thornton.<br> <br> He had 26 points in the upset of the Deacons, but fouled out of the rematch with about 9 minutes left with only four points.

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