WINSTON-SALEM – In the last minute of the first half, going into a Virginia timeout, somebody’s version of Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” came over the sound system at Joel Coliseum.

It's my life

It's now or never

Wake Forest’s life has been on the NCAA tournament bubble for most of the last four seasons. Trailing by 11 at halftime and stinging from two résumé-damaging losses in the past two weeks, it was an appropriate — perhaps coincidental? — song choice.

In related news: The Deacons never led in the second half of an 83-75 loss to Virginia on Wednesday night, dropping their third game of the last four.

As was the case in giving up 51 points in the second half against Florida State two weeks ago, as was the case in giving up 85 at N.C. State on Saturday — defense was the issue for Wake Forest (19-9, 11-6 ACC).

“This team here has lost their identity … to defend and win basketball games,” coach Steve Forbes said. “That’s the biggest problem, we have not defended.

“You know, ultimately, that’s on me. It’s not the players.”

At least one of those players feels differently.

“I mean, we just need to look in the mirror, honestly,” senior center Efton Reid III said. “We need to go back to what we were doing.”

There’s a chasm between how Wake Forest defended for most of the season and how it’s defended across the last four games — with the second half at SMU being the exception.

Virginia shot 63% in the first half and was 6-for-11 on 3-pointers. The Cavaliers (14-14, 7-10) scored 1.38 points per possession for the first 20 minutes; that clip only dipped to 1.25 for the first 18 minutes of the second half, until Wake Forest needed to foul to extend the game.

The main source of Wake’s defensive pain was Isaac McKneely, one of the best 3-point shooters in the ACC for a couple of seasons. He scored a season-high 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting.

Wake Forest cut the deficit down to two, at 66-64, with 6:52 left. Virginia scored on its next possession to start a 9-2 run, during which McKneely scored five points.

“Every time we needed a stop, I thought McKneely stepped up and made a big play,” Forbes said. “I thought he was the best player on the court tonight.”

Hunter Sallis led Wake Forest with 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting and Cameron Hildreth scored 22 on 9-for-16 shooting.

But, as has been hammered home — offense wasn’t so much the issue.

“I think for the most part, we were just behind the play a lot,” Sallis said. “I mean, we knew that Virginia would come in here and run their stuff. That’s what they always do.

“Their actions where they run double-staggers (screens) and stuff like that, we were just behind the play a lot. They (saw) them fall early and when you (see) them fall early, you see a big hoop.”

The lead oscillated in the first several minutes. Wake’s last lead came 8½ minutes into the game when Hildreth threw in the Deacons’ first 3-pointer.

No, really — it was thrown in.

Wake’s first of only two 3s in the game was an errant lob pass from Hildreth on a miscommunication. The low liner of a pass somehow went in.

The Deacons were 2-for-14 shooting 3s, missing all eight they took in the second half. That’s a clip of 14.3%, and it pales in comparison to the 10-for-22 clip (45.5%) that Virginia put up.

For those scoring at home: Wake Forest lost the game by eight and Virginia made that many more 3s than the Deacons. Both teams shot 56% from the field, Wake Forest making one more field goal; the Cavaliers made two more free throws (15 to 13) than the Deacons (both took 20).

Virginia’s only real run of the first half was scoring the last six points, which were 3-pointers by McKneely and Dai Dai Ames in the last minute. That sent this game to halftime with the score at 44-33.

That marked a season-high for points in a half by Virginia, and the Cavaliers’ total of 83 is the most they’ve scored in a game this season.

TIP-INS: Wake’s season percentage on 3s dipped to 28.8% with this game. The 3-point line was introduced in men’s college basketball in 1986; Wake Forest has never had a season in which its percentage was under 30%. … Reid had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Wake’s bench, which was Parker Friedrichsen (13 minutes), Juke Harris (12) and Omaha Biliew (five), combined for two points, which were free throws by Harris. Between that trio, there was one rebound, three fouls, one turnover and one shot attempt (a missed 3 by Friedrichsen). … This is the third home loss for Wake Forest in the last 33 days, after winning its first 10 home games of the season. The Deacons’ only home win in that span was against Pittsburgh, and they’ve won twice in the state of California and once in Dallas during these past 33 days.