Strong defensive showing lifts Wake Forest over Notre Dame
Wake Forest bounced back nicely on Saturday night, taking down Notre Dame 66-58 behind a solid defensive performance that held the Irish to below 40% from the field and only 22 points in the second half. Though the Deacs weren’t stellar on offense — they shot 35% from the floor — their execution in other areas was enough to get the job done.
“I was pleased with the fact that we didn’t play great offense tonight, but we won the game because we guarded,” Forbes said. “We didn’t shoot great. We shot 35%. But we won the basketball game. That’s the most encouraging thing I’ll take from the game tonight is that we didn’t make 15, 18 threes, but we won the game.”
The Deacs were led by a 21-point performance from Tyree Appleby and a double-double from Bobi Klintman (10 points, 12 rebounds) in his first collegiate start. The home victory was sorely needed after dropping their last two games on the road to Miami and NC State and watching Damari Monsanto suffer a season-ending knee injury.
“I said three things to my team when we came out to start the game,” Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes said. “Play hard for 40 minutes. Have a next-play mentality, good or bad. And have fun. It’s been a little tough since the loss to NC State. Damari is really important, not only to the team. He’s their teammate, he’s their friend.”
“We miss him,” Appleby said of Monsanto. “He keeps us in good spirits. Knowing he’s watching the game, we can do it for him.”
With Monsanto out for the year, the rotation changed a bit. Klintman entered the starting lineup and stuffed the stat sheet, and Lucas Taylor saw his first action since Wake Forest faced Appalachian State on Dec. 14. Taylor made the most of his opportunity, finishing with 6 points, two rebounds and two assists including two made triples in 18 minutes. The contributions of that duo were key in securing the win.
“It was an amazing experience,” Klintman said of getting the start. “I’m just happy I can contribute to this team and help them get this dub. I got a little confidence boost because of the start for sure. I just have to keep doing the same things every night.”
“Going into the middle of the season, [Lucas Taylor] wasn’t playing,” Appleby added. “He kept coming to practice, kept playing hard, waited on his turn. He made the right plays tonight. I think he’s going to keep doing that down the stretch.”
With the regular season winding down and the ACC Tournament approaching, every win matters, especially for a Wake Forest team that needs a deep conference tourney run to maintain hopes of a March Madness bid. The team’s mentality heading into the final two matchups of the season will be the same as it’s been all season.
“What we’re trying to do is get the best seed we can to get in the ACC Tournament, and then we got to win it,” Forbes said. “I think you just take them one at a time, and you’ve got to have a short memory. Because if you get too high or too low, you get beat. I think we all have to be honest with ourselves that we have to win the tournament to go to the NCAA Tournament. And that is the ultimate prize.”
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