What To Watch For Vs. Wake Forest
Coming off of a program defining win against the #5 Louisville Cardinals, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12-13, 6-8 ACC) got a little bit of extra time to prepare for their next opponent as they had a bye in the schedule this past weekend. Next up for the Jackets, they'll travel up to Winston-Salem for showdown with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-14, 4-11 ACC). Tip is scheduled for Wednesday, February 19th at 7:00pm EST, and can be viewed on your Regional Sports Network.
Here are a couple of the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Tech's 84th all-time matchup with the Demon Deacons:
Living On The Line
Whether they are on the offensive or defensive side of the ball, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons spend a lot of time on the charity stripe. They lead the ACC in both free throw attempts and makes (35th & 17th nationally respectively), and are 3rd in the league in free throw percentage at 74.5%. Whenever it comes to intentional fouls, more often than not it doesn't pay off for the competition.
However on the flip side of that coin, they also send their opponents to the line with a high frequency. They commit a whopping 19.0 fouls per game, which ranks dead last in the ACC. Free throws have been a sore spot for a large part of Georgia Tech's season, but hopefully the Jackets can continue their clutch shooting at the charity strip like against the Cardinals.
Nose For The Ball (Or Lack Thereof)
In terms of pure ball-handling ability on both ends of the floor, the Demon Deacons are among the poorest in the Atlantic Coast Conference. On the offensive side of things, the Deacs only tally 12.4 assists per game (12th in ACC), turn the ball over 14.5 times per game (14th in ACC), resulting in an assist/turnover ratio of 0.86 (13th in ACC).
It doesn't get much better when on defense. They only average 5.0 steals per game (319th in D1), and force 11.24 turnovers as whole per game (335th in D1), good for league-worst marks. Their lack of a nose for the ball on the defensive side results in the Deacs letting opponents shoot 42.0% from the field and 32.7% from beyond the arc, both of which rank in the bottom half of the league.
Floor General
Like the Yellow Jackets, the Demon Deacons also have a do-it-all floor general type at the point guard position. Senior point guard Brandon Childress is unquestionably one of the leaders of this Wake Forest team. He leads the Deacs in points per game with 15.0 (10th in ACC), assists per game with 4.6 (7th in ACC) and steals per game with 1.4. Childress is everywhere on the floor, and slowing him down will be a priority for the Jackets.
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