Can Wake Forest Get a Much-Needed Bounceback Win in Atlanta?
In this story:
There is no way to sugarcoat it, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have been on major slump recently. Despite almost pulling off an upset against top-25 Louisville over the weekend, the Deacs find themselves on a five-game losing streak and in need of a victory.
Tonight, the Deacs will be in Atlanta to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The game will tip off at 9 pm and will air on the ACC Network.
The Yellow Jackets come into this game on a little slump of their own. They are also on a five-game losing streak since knocking off NC State on the road in Raleigh. They are shooting a miserable 44.9% from the floor and are averaging 13.3 turnovers per game.
Despite the struggles, the Yellow Jackets have a promising frontcourt of Kowacie Reeves Jr and Baye Ndongo. Both are averaging in double figures scoring the ball, and they make up an intimidating front line defensively. Most of Georgia Tech's defensive statistics according to KenPom are not bad. The challenge for the Deacs will be navigating this frontcourt and putting the ball in the basket.
For Wake Forest, we have seen this team be right there in big games time and time again. Now is the time to go out against a spiraling Georgia Tech team and get an ACC road victory. In a lot of ACC games we have seen from the Deacs this season, they go through bad spurts and get behind in a hurry. That makes it hard to battle back. They were down 15 against Louisville in the second half and 19 to NC State. Tonight, Wake needs to maintain focus and not get behind.
Point Guard Problem?
Wake Forest will be without Nate Calmese until at least the end of the month. That means that guys are forced to step up in his absence and fill that point guard role. Sebastian Akins has been starting in his place the last couple of games. He got pulled less than a minute into the Louisville game, but then came back and put together a pretty solid performance with 12 points and four assists.
Freshman Isaac Carr has been taking on some of the point guard minutes as well. He has had some solid stretches in games, including a nine-rebound performance against Pitt, but has also let some of the freshman inexperience show at times, too.
It was evident near the end of the game against Louisville that Wake needed that end-of-game point guard presence. To win tonight, Wake Forest will need to get more consistency from the point guard position. It does not need to come in the form of a large scoring output, but rather consistency in setting up the offense and getting other guys good shots.
We all know it's been a frustrating last few weeks for the team. They have shown a lot of heart in games, but have just failed to execute down the stretch when it matters. Let's see if tonight will be the breakthrough this team needs to get back on track. I hope it is. Go Deacs!
Recommended Articles
Justin is a student at Wake Forest University. He is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and aspiring finance major interested everything sports. In his freshman year, Justin completed an internship with the Wake Forest Ticketing Department where he gained some valuable insight into the sales and operations aspects of collegiate athletics. Before working with Wake Forest On SI, Justin was a contributing writer for Wake Forest’s student publication The Old Gold and Black. Currently, Justin serves as a student manager on the Wake Forest Men’s Tennis team. In his free time Justin enjoys spending time with his family and friends on the golf course and traveling.