By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – It’s time for the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference to take notice: Wake Forest’s Josh Howard is among the best in the league.
Howard had his second big game of the week, scoring 30 points to lead No. 19 Wake Forest to a 73-66 victory over Georgia Tech on Sunday night.
“He made a pretty strong statement about being among the best, if not the best player in the ACC,” said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt.
Howard, who scored 23 in Wednesday night’s win over No. 17 Maryland, opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers and made big shots when needed to guide the Demon Deacons (12-1, 2-1 ACC) to their 11th consecutive home win.
Howard finished one point shy of his career high of 31, set earlier this season at Wisconsin.
He hit 3-of-4 3-pointers, went 11-for-12 at the free throw line, added three assists and blocked five shots – one with 44 seconds left that went into the stands.
“I know I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the ACC,” Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. “He possess an iron will and will not lose. I’m glad I get to coach him.”
Howard, one of just two seniors on one of the youngest squads in the ACC, had to carry the load for Wake Forest as well as settle his teammates down.
Coming off the win over Maryland, he spoke to the entire team about not following the victory with a letdown against Georgia Tech (8-6, 2-2).
“I just try to lead by example and talk the guys through it when things go wrong,” Howard said. “If I can do that, I’m pretty happy at the end of the night.”
Chris Bosh led Georgia Tech with 22 points and 10 rebounds and B.J. Elder added 18 points.
The Yellow Jackets lost their fifth straight in Lawrence Joel Coliseum, where they are 5-15 all-time and haven’t won since 1998.
It wasn’t a smooth win for Wake Forest, though.
The Demon Deacons, who started three sophomores and a freshman, made several little mistakes that caused Prosser to kick the scoring table twice and punch the side of it four times.
Wake Forest played excellent defense on Georgia Tech guard Marvin Lewis, the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer, who was coming off a career-high 33 points in a win over Florida State earlier this week. But the Deacons held Lewis to seven points and limited his looks at the basket – he attempted just seven shots.
And Howard carried the load offensively.
With guard Justin Gray sidelined for the second straight game with a broken jaw and center Eric Williams in foul trouble and limited to 15 minutes, Howard stepped up every time the Demon Deacons needed a big basket.
“He’s like `Father Josh,”‘ Prosser said. “He talked to the team about the fact that we spent a lot of emotional energy against Maryland and then he came out and played big – he knew he had to because of our numbers situation.”
With Wake holding on to a six-point lead early in the second half, Howard had a powerful hanging dunk off of a miss and followed it with an aggressive drive to the basket that drew a foul. He made both free throws to give the Deacons a 54-44 lead.
After baskets by Ed Nelson and Bosh cut Wake Forest’s lead to 58-54 and the Deacons were struggling to score, Howard followed a basket by Jamaal Levy with four straight free throws to push the lead back to 64-54 with 2:17 left.
Wake Forest, which leads the ACC in rebounding, outrebounded Georgia Tech 48-38. The Demon Deacons have yet to be beaten on the glass this season.
“I’m not disappointed in my team, I thought they played very hard,” Hewitt said. “We’ll get better.”
