Wake Forest road the hot hand of guard Bryant Crawford and the Demon Deacons' defense came up with crucial stops late Tuesday to defeat the LSU Tigers 77-71 at Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

Crawford led four Demon Deacons (9-3) in double figures with 19 points on six-for-10 from the field, including three of five from 3-point range.

Freshman forward Ben Simmons led the Tigers (7-5) with 21 points while forward Craig Victor II added 19 points.

Forward Konstantinos Mitoglou sank two crucial 3-point shots late in the second half for the Demon Deacons, who trailed much of the second half.

Simmons, who was averaging just over 19 points per game entering the contest, tried to single-handedly bring back the Tigers in the final minute. He scored seven of the final 10 LSU points, but the Tigers' defense couldn't come up with a stop when it needed it most.

Wake Forest went scoreless for more than three minutes midway through the second half, but LSU was unable to capitalize on Demon Deacons offensive ineptitude. A pair of free throws by Simmons gave LSU a 51-46 lead with 8:31 to go.

But Wake wasn't about to fold and the Demon Deacons made the Tigers pay for the missed opportunity.

Forward Devin Thomas scored five straight points, Crawford nailed a 3-point jumper and Mitoglou connected on two more 3-point jumpers for the Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest had a sizable advantage on the glass, pulling down 40 rebounds -- 14 on the offensive end -- to 33 rebounds by LSU.

The Tigers were dreadful from long range, connecting on only two of 14 3-point attempts (14.3 percent).