GREENSBORO – Al-Farouq Amini launched a free-throw attempt that came a good six inches from getting to the rim in the first half. Ari Stewart fired two shots from the corner that glanced off the side of the backboard.

Miami plundered the Demon Deacon defense for open shots and dunks.

That summed up the effort as fifth-seeded Wake Forest never got going and fell to 12th-seeded Miami 83-62 in the third straight ACC Tournament opening-game loss in three seasons under coach Dino Gaudio.

Wake fell to 19-10 and now waits until Sunday to see if it will get a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Miami improved to 19-12 and plays fourth-seed Virginia Tech today.

Freshman center Reggie Johnson, a Winston-Salem native, led the Hurricanes’ breeze, going 8-for-8 from the field and scoring a career-high 22 points to help offset the absence of leading scorer Dwayne Collins, who was sidelined by a stress condition in his tibia.

The Hurricanes set the groundwork for the rout by scoring on eight of their first nine possessions. They shot 51 percent from the field, 47 percent from 3-point range and 15 of 18 at the foul line.

The Deacons’ late-season shooting woes continued as they made just 20 of 57 (35 percent) field goals. Ish Smith went 7 of 14 for 14 points. Tony Woods had 11, as did Aminu, who was pulled by Gaudio for his poor play early in the second half after the Hurricanes went up by 20. C.J. Harris added 10 thanks to two late 3s.

“I was very disappointed in our defense,” Gaudio said. “It’s been a staple for us all year. ... They just beat us in every aspect of the game.”

Miami scored 40 points in the paint, easily getting to the offensive board after missed shots.

“We didn’t keep the ball in front of us enough,” Gaudio said. “We were getting beat with dribble penetration and when our big guys came over to help, if the shot misses, his guy comes over to rebound.”

As bad as the Deacons were, they trailed just 32-25 with 5:22 left in the first half. Miami went on a 10-2 run for the remainder of the period and then scored the first eight points of the second half to go up 22 with 17:19 left in the game.

“We never got any stops,” Gaudio said. “We never gave ourselves a chance to win the game.”

Gaudio also had no explanation for Aminu’s lackluster performance, which included poor shooting and poor passing and poor defense. Senior center Chas McFarland was also benched, playing just a minute in the second half.

Woods got extended minutes while they sat.

“I wish I had an answer for (Aminu’s) poor play,” Gaudio said. “He just wasn’t playing well, so I was just trying to put guys out there who would give us the best opportunity to win.”

gsmith@hpe.com | 888-3519