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Pitt cooled off by Wake Forest

By The Associated Press 2 min read

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Ismael Massoud had a career-high 31 points and made 8 of 10 from 3-point range, Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes earned the first ACC win of his coaching career, and the Demon Deacons beat Pittsburgh 76-75 on Saturday.

Massoud's eight 3s tied for third best in program history (Craig Dawson 11, 2002; Randolph Childress 9, 1995). Childress is currently an assistant coach for Wake Forest.

Massoud made all five of his 3-point attempts in the first half and his final 3-pointer gave the Demon Deacons their largest lead at 75-65 with 4:49 left. Massoud, whose previous career high was 17 points, had a scoreless night in Wednesday's 80-73 loss to North Carolina.

The Demon Deacons (4-6, 1-6) never led until Jonah Antonio made it 60-57 with 9:45 left on the second of his three straight 3-pointers. Those 3s came late in Wake Forest's 26-5 run that ended at 66-57 with 8:17 to go.

Antonio finished with 15 points and Jalen Johnson added 10 points.

Pitt (8-3, 4-2) was coming into the game with a three-game winning streak including back-to-back wins over Syracuse and a 79-73 win over Duke on Tuesday.

The Panthers had a 10-1 run to cut the deficit to one and forced a turnover with 5.3 seconds left that gave them an inbounds play from the frontcourt sideline, but Xavier Johnson missed a pull-up jumper and Wake Forest's Ody Oguama grabbed the rebound just before time expired. Johnson had 14 points and eight assists.

Justin Champagnie had 17 points, eight rebounds and a career-high five steals for Pitt. Abdoul Karim Coulibaly added 15 points, and Au'Diese Toney scored 11.

PITTSBURGH (8-3): Champagnie 7-12 1-3 17, Coulibaly 4-6 6-7 15, Horton 1-5 0-0 2, X.Johnson 6-15 2-3 14, Toney 5-11 0-0 11, Odukale 2-5 5-8 9, Brown 1-3 2-2 4, Sibande 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 27-59 16-23 75.

WAKE FOREST (4-6): Massoud 10-14 3-4 31, Mucius 0-3 0-0 0, Oguama 2-4 3-4 7, Antonio 5-8 1-2 15, Williamson 4-10 0-0 9, J.Johnson 4-9 0-0 10, Whitt 1-6 0-0 2, Okpomo 0-0 0-0 0, Neath 0-1 2-2 2, Wilkins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 9-12 76.

Halftime--Pittsburgh 45-38. 3-Point Goals--Pittsburgh 5-12 (Champagnie 2-3, Coulibaly 1-1, Sibande 1-1, Toney 1-1, Horton 0-2, X.Johnson 0-4), Wake Forest 15-32 (Massoud 8-10, Antonio 4-7, J.Johnson 2-6, Williamson 1-4, Mucius 0-1, Neath 0-1, Wilkins 0-1, Whitt 0-2). Rebounds--Pittsburgh 29 (Champagnie 8), Wake Forest 27 (Oguama 10). Assists--Pittsburgh 16 (X.Johnson 8), Wake Forest 18 (Williamson 8). Total Fouls--Pittsburgh 15, Wake Forest 22. A--79 (14,665).

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