Keys to the Game: Wake Forest vs Boston College
Wake Forest is back in action at the Joel on Tuesday evening, celebrating Senior Night against visiting Boston College. The Eagles are flying high after a recent 15-point win over Virginia followed by a week off. Here’s what Wake needs to do to notch their second-straight victory. .
Move the ball
Last time out against BC in Chestnut Hill, the Deacs played a phenomenal offensive game, putting up 85 points on 52% from the field. The squad did a great job of sharing the wealth — they finished with 16 total assists, surpassing their season average of 13.1.
This time around, with Damari Monsanto now out for the season, it becomes even more important to move the ball in order to get the other playmakers quality looks. This job falls squarely on the shoulders of Tyree Appleby, who leads the ACC in passing with 6.2 assists per game. Appleby dished out seven dimes and only turned it over twice in his last matchup with the Eagles — if he can have a similarly productive passing night, I like the Deacs’ chances to come away with a win.
I believe the onus is also on Cam Hildreth to have a bounce-back night after going 1/9 from the field against Notre Dame on Saturday and failing to record a single assist. In the first game between these two teams in January, Hildreth was brilliant, finishing with 20 points on 7/12 shooting and adding seven assists. Hildreth seems to match up well against the Eagles — Tuesday provides a great opportunity for him to right the ship.
Lock down the Post
I wrote about this last time Wake faced BC — Quinten Post is the Eagles best offensive player, averaging nearly 16 points per game on an efficient 53.9% shooting and 44.7% from three-point land. He’s had some fantastic games recently, scoring at least 20 points in three of his last five contests.
Post has been knocking down the deep ball at a high clip during that stretch, going 9/14 from downtown including a perfect 5/5 en route to a 21-point performance against NC State. The consistency hasn’t always been there — Post followed up the five triples with an 0/4 performance against Virginia — but his ability to get hot from deep is something to keep an eye on.
Post is also a force on the boards, leading the Eagles with 6.1 rebounds per game. In the first matchup between these two teams, he was held to just three boards (one offensive), limiting his chances to create extra possessions for the offense. Wake’s bigs need to repeat the same formula in order to find success Tuesday night.
Force turnovers
Boston College got careless with the ball against Wake in January, coughing it up 15 times en route to 23 Demon Deacon points. Four members of the Wake Forest starting lineup recorded at least two steals, leading to 10 in total.
I’ve written all season long that this Wake Forest team is at their best defensively when they play with active hands and find a way to force opponents into making mistakes. They rank sixth in the ACC in turnovers created, averaging 12.2 per game. With Monsanto’s scoring now missing the rest of the way, the ability to turn defense into offense becomes even more important for this team.
On offense, Wake needs to do their part in taking care of the ball as well. They executed well in this facet against BC a month ago, finishing with only eight turnovers. However, they’ve dealt with some ball security struggles recently, combining for 33 cough-ups over two games against Miami and NC State. Their ability to avoid costly mistakes could be one of the deciding factors against a well-rested BC team coming off a week off and a huge win over Virginia.
