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BLACKSBURG, Va. (MCT) — Wake Forest, a hungry team all season, ran into one hungrier last night.

Virginia Tech scored on 29 of 40 second-half possessions to outscrap the 23rd-ranked Deacons 87-83 in front of a riled capacity crowd of 9,847 at Cassell Coliseum.

The Hokies, led by star guard Malcolm Delaney, shot 52 percent from the floor and drilled 20 of 29 free throws after halftime.

''We didn't get stops when we needed to and we didn't box out when we needed to," said freshman C.J. Harris of Wake Forest. "That's what hurt us the most.

''Our identity is defense. If we don't play defense we lose, and we know that."

Although the Hokies entered the game desperately needing a win to buff up their NCAA Tournament resume, they didn't really get untracked until they found themselves trailing by as many as 11 points through the first eight minutes of the second half. But from the time reserve Cadarian Raines blocked a shot by David Weaver of the Deacons to set in motion a fast break that resulted in an arena-rocking dunk by Dorenzo Hudson, the Hokies outscored the Deacons 18-8 to take a 70-69 lead on Delaney's 3-pointer from the right wing.

Delaney, the ACC's leading scorer with 19.7 points a game, left his mark by scoring 10 of his game-high 31 points in the next six minutes before fouling out with 23.6 seconds left. His driving basket followed by a 3-pointer on the next possession extended the lead to 78-74 with three minutes remaining, and the Hokies — who scored 55 points in the second half — protected their lead by making seven of 10 free throws down the stretch.

''That was a hard-fought basketball game against two teams that are extremely competitive and prideful," Coach Seth Greenberg of Virginia Tech said. "I give credit to our guys. We were determined, resilient and we stayed together...."

Hudson, who made nine of 12 free throws, finished with 21 points and seven rebounds, reserve J.T. Thompson contributed 16 points and a strong defensive effort against Al-Farouq Aminu, Terrell Bell had 14 rebounds and four blocks and Delaney complemented his offensive production with nine rebounds.

Aminu led Wake Forest (18-6, 8-4) with 25 points and 11 rebounds, but scored four points while making one of three field-goal attempts in the second half. L.D. Williams made nine of 11 shots from the floor to score 19 points and Ish Smith had 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

But Smith had three costly missed shots after Wake Forest lost the lead and Williams was kicking himself for missing two free throws when the Deacons trailed 75-74 with 3:18 remaining. And Gaudio said he was disappointed to see the Hokies (21-4, 8-3) battle their way to 19 offensive rebounds, 11 of them in the second half.

''They kicked our tail on the offensive boards -- I really think that's a telling stat," Coach Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest said. "And when you have Terrell Bell get seven offensive (rebounds), that is a telling number. And I told our kids that after the game."

Both teams were saddled by foul trouble to inside players. Forward Jeff Allen of the Hokies, who averages 11.6 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds, played 18 minutes after picking up four fouls in the first 24 minutes.

Starting center Chas McFarland of the Deacons fouled out with 8:54 remaining, having played 15 minutes and reserve Tony Woods fouled out with 5:07 remaining, having played 14 minutes.

McFarland's second foul was assessed only after a technical foul had been called against Thompson and the officials, Mike Eades, Bob Donato and Tim Kelly, reviewed the play on video tape and also hit McFarland with a technical.

''I hate sitting there watching my team," McFarland said. "I feel like I should be out there with them.

''I put a lot of the loss on me, because I did get myself in foul trouble and took myself out of the game."

Williams said there was plenty of blame to go around.

''Every miss they had they were getting it back," Williams said. "They had 19 offensive rebounds.

''You're not going to beat San Luis Obispo State that way. Obviously we've got to clean some things up."

WAKE FOREST (18-6) — Smith 6-14 6-9 18, Harris 3-10 0-0 7, Williams 9-11 0-2 19, Aminu 8-15 8-11 25, McFarland 2-6 4-5 8, Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 1-7 0-0 2, Weaver 1-2 0-0 2, Woods 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 31-68 18-27 83.

VIRGINIA TECH (21-4) — Hudson 6-12 9-12 21, Delaney 9-20 10-13 31, Allen 3-6 2-6 8, Bell 2-6 1-2 5, Davila 1-2 1-2 3, Raines 0-3 2-4 2, Green 0-1 1-2 1, Witcher 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 5-10 6-6 16. Totals 26-61 32-47 87.

Halftime—Wake Forest 40-32.
Percentages — Wake Forest FG .456, FT .667.; Virginia Tech FG .426, FT .681.
3-point goals—Wake Forest 3-15 (Williams 1-2, Aminu 1-4, Harris 1-4, Smith 0-1, Stewart 0-4), Virginia Tech 3-15 (Delaney 3-8, Bell 0-1, Green 0-1, Allen 0-2, Hudson 0-3).
Fouled out—Delaney, McFarland, Woods.
Rebounds—Wake Forest 38 (Aminu 11), Virginia Tech 47 (Bell 14).
Assists—Wake Forest 15 (Smith 8), Virginia Tech 7 (Delaney 3).
Blocked shots—Wake Forest 55 (Aminu 2), Virginia Tech 7 (Bell 4).
Turnovers—Wake Forest 11 (Harris 3, Smith 3), Virginia Tech 13 (Allen 4, Bell 4).
Steals—Wake Forest 6 (Williams 2), Virginia Tech 4 (Delaney 2).
Total fouls—Wake Forest 28, Virginia Tech 23.
Technicals—McFarland, Thompson.
A—9,847.
Officials—Mike Eades, Bob Donato, Tim Kelly.