Roadmap for Wake Forest Basketball Finishing Out Non-Conference Play
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The Demon Deacons are moving through their schedule and are approaching the start of conference play next month. The Deacs have three non-conference opportunities left on the schedule. All of them will take place at the Joel, so fans have ample opportunities to see the team as the holiday season kicks off.
Tomorrow, the Deacs will face Queens at 5 pm. The game will be available to watch on ACC Network Extra. Then, midweek, Wake will square off against Longwood on Wednesday at 7 pm, also on ACC Network Extra. Finally, the Deacs will take on Vanderbilt in a marquee, Quad 1 home opportunity on Sunday, December 21 at 1 pm. The game can be watched on the CW Network.
So, with the road in front of them, some may ask what the Deacs need to do (besides win) as they head into conference play. Here is a major key for Wake Forest to keep an eye on in these final non-conference matchups.
Get More Consistent Frontcourt Scoring Punch
Several Demon Deacons have stepped up this season to take active roles in the offense. Guards Juke Harris, Myles Colvin, and Mekhi Mason have taken turns having big games offensively, with Juke being the most consistent of the trio and Calmese running the show. Spillers is currently the second leading scorer on this team, averaging 14.2 points per game. These are good numbers, but it would be great to see a little more consistency out of the frontcourt in general.
Spillers has shown he can be an offensive weapon against Memphis and West Virginia, but in some games this season, including Michigan, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma, he either shied away offensively or got in early foul trouble. Wake needs Spillers on the court and active offensively, as seen by all three of his bad games resulting in losses. He is a key piece for this team that needs to bring that consistent edge to the offensive end in ACC play.
We have seen Omaha Biliew continue to grow offensively, complementing his strong defense as the season has progressed. He has become quite the outside shooting threat. Wake needs Omaha's outside shot to continue to be a weapon to spread out opposing defenses, and they need him to also be comfortable scoring down low.
Cooper Schwieger may be the most interesting member of this frontcourt. He displayed a great offensive skillset at Valparaiso, yet has been more limited so far for the Deacs. The team likes his consistency and steadiness as he is good at moving the ball and orchestrating the offense. However, we have seen even more flashes from Schwieger in games against Michigan and West Virginia, where is showed he can score in the paint and hit threes. This team needs Schwieger to step up and continue to be more aggressive, looking to score on offense.
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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.