Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech forward Victor Davila hangs on the rim after a dunk against Wake Forest during the second half of Tuesday's game.

Virginia Tech guard Dorenzo Hudson shoots over Wake Forest forward David Weaver during the second half of Tuesday's ACC game at Cassell Coliseum.

BLACKSBURG -- The Virginia Tech men's basketball team pulled off a signature comeback to pick up a signature victory.

The Hokies rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit and beat No. 23 Wake Forest 87-83 on Tuesday at Cassell Coliseum.

Malcolm Delaney, who scored 31 points, pumped his fist at game's end and hugged coach Seth Greenberg.

Greenberg then exhaled several times and choked up as he thought about ex-Hokie Allen Calloway, who died of cancer last year.

"That game ... reflects Allen," said Greenberg, whose team took the lead for good with 3:41 left. "We were determined, resilient. We stayed together. The second half, that was probably the best we've executed all season."

Tech (21-4, 8-3) won its fifth straight game and moved into second place in the ACC, one-half game in front of Wake (18-6, 8-4) and Maryland (7-3). First-place Duke (9-2) visits Miami tonight and hosts Tech on Sunday.

"We're going into Duke playing for first place and nobody expected that to happen," said Delaney, whose team topped last year's total of seven ACC wins.

The Hokies, who remained unbeaten at home, gave their NCAA tournament resume a big boost. They improved to 2-2 against teams currently in the top 50 of the RPI. Wake began the day No. 11 in the RPI.

The Hokies shot 33.3 percent from the field in the first half but 51.6 percent in the second half.

"We never quit," Delaney said. "We couldn't get stops at one point in the game and we couldn't get out in transition. We switched to zone, kind of mixed it up on them a little, got some stops and got out in transition. That's what got us back in the game."

Tech outrebounded the taller Demon Deacons 25-15 in the second half.

Jeff Allen played only 18 minutes because of foul trouble, but J.T. Thompson had 16 points and Terrell Bell had 14 rebounds and four blocks.

"That's what makes teams great," Bell said. "Everybody just works together. We're trying to be one of those teams."

Down 61-50 with 12:31 left, Tech went on a 21-8 run to grab a 71-69 lead with 6:05 to go.

"We knew they [were] going to jump on the pump-fake, so we started doing that," Thompson said. "It made the shot a little more clear because it's a little hard to make shots with them big guys down there."

Dorenzo Hudson had nine of his 21 points in the run, including a dunk after a Cadarian Raines block to cut the lead to 61-54.

"We kind of got down on ourselves a little bit in the first half," Hudson said. "We just came out and played ball in the ... second half."

After turning the ball over, Bell hustled down the court and blocked a shot. Delaney made a layup and was fouled by Chas McFarland, who fouled out of the game. Delaney made the free throw to cut the lead to 65-64.

Delaney sank a 3-pointer to give Tech its first lead of the second half at 70-69.

"We got out in transition, but we also executed," Delaney said. "Every set we ran in the second half, we executed well."

Allen missed two free throws, but Thompson got the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to give Tech a 73-72 lead with 5:07 left.

"We've got to play a little more intelligently," Wake coach Dino Gaudio said. "We have to box out on the free-throw line."

Delaney made a layup to give Tech the lead for good at 75-74 with 3:41 left, then buried a 3-pointer to pad the lead.

Wake's Al-Farouq Aminu had 25 points and 11 rebounds, but 21 of his points came in the first half.

Before the game, Greenberg presented a check for $7,021 to the American Cancer Society, the result of a fundraising campaign in memory of Calloway.

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. 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). Total Fouls--Wake Forest 28, Virginia Tech 23. Technicals--McFarland, Thompson. A--9,847.