ACC Roundup - Wake Is On Something Of A Roll
The Deacs are putting things together but there is still a potential problem
Don’t look now but Wake Forest has won five straight games. And while it’s December, a time when teams don’t necessarily challenge themselves, Wake’s opponents have been Charleston Southern, a team with some basketball tradition, Florida, Rutgers, NJIT and Delaware State.
Plus the Deacs were close to winning seven straight until an overtime loss to LSU put a crimp in that idea.
And don’t forget this - all of those recent wins, including Towson, which was just before the LSU loss, were by double digits.
And the win over Delaware State, Monday night’s opponent, was by 29.
Not the toughest opponent to be sure, but a trend is a trend and Wake is trending up.
Wake got solid play out of four starters. Andrew Carr had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Miller had 17 points, five assists and two steals.
Cameron Hildreth had 14 points, four assists and, surprisingly, just one rebound.
And while Hunter Sallis wasn’t efficient - he shot just 6-15 - he scored 19 total.
Wake clearly isn’t getting what it wants at center though. Efton Reid has been eligible for three games. He scored 12 against Rutgers in his first game and has scored two since. He had 14 rebounds against Rutgers. He’s had three against NJIT and seven Monday night.
Sophomore Zach Keller got the nod Monday night but scored just two points and grabbed just three rebounds in 14 minutes.
They need to solve that. But the rest of the starters look pretty solid, and freshman guard Parker Friedrichsen has been a pleasant surprise.
Wake will now face Presbyterian, Virginia Tech and Boston College before facing Miami. Wake could be 10-3 at that point and the schedule is favorable for a while after that. Keep an eye on the Deacs; things could get interesting.
On Tuesday, Notre Dame hosts the Citadel, Virginia visits Memphis and Florida State welcomes North Florida.
Realistically, the Irish should beat the Citadel and Florida State ought to beat North Florida, but the ‘Noles are struggling. Then there’s Virginia and Memphis.
Normally, UVA is the easy bet, particularly against a team that hasn’t dealt with Tony Bennett’s Pack Line defense. However, Virginia is somewhat lacking in the post, at least so far, and Memphis, collectively, is as close to getting Social Security as any team in college basketball has ever been. So it’s a tough call here. This seems reasonable though - Penny Hardaway likes to run and Virginia makes that very hard. It’ll be tough to force Virginia into a running game.
Tuesday’s ACC Action
- The Citadel @ Notre Dame || 6:00 || ACCN
- Virginia @ Memphis || 7:00 || ESPN2
- North Florida @ Florida State || 8:00 || ACCN
- Wake Forest cruises past Delaware State, 88-59
- Balanced scoring powers Wake Forest past Delaware State
- Wake Forest’s Andrew Carr Dominates Delaware State From Above The Rim
- Sallis, Carr help Wake Forest cruise to an 88-59 victory over Delaware State
- Sallis, Carr help Wake Forest cruise to an 88-59 victory over Delaware State
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