Takeaways from Wake Forest's 81-79 loss to Pitt
Wake Forest lost a heartbreaker on the road last night, falling to Pitt 81-79 after Tyree Appleby’s game-winning three-point attempt clanked off the rim. The Panthers broke their all-time record for most threes in a game, drilling 18 deep balls. Here’s what we learned from the Deacs’ fourth ACC loss of the season.
Three-point defense is a vulnerability
Over their last two games, Wake Forest’s opponents are shooting 33/71 (46.5%) from three-point land. During that span, the Deacs have given up 16.5 threes (49.5 points) per contest.
Going into last night’s game, Pitt was averaging just shy of 26 three-point attempts per game. They took 37 triples against Wake Forest. Similarly, Virginia attempted 34 threes against the Deacs, far surpassing their season average of 20. Right now, opposing teams are open enough to feel comfortable taking a barrage of threes against Wake Forest. And unfortunately for Steve Forbes and co., they’re knocking them down at a high clip.
Both UVA and Pitt also far surpasses their season assist averages against Wake Forest. Pitt was averaging just over 14 per contest and finished with 22 assists on 28 field goals. UVA’s assist average was around 16, and they had 19 against the Deacs. This is demonstrative of Wake’s struggles to play quality on-ball defense — opponents are having no trouble penetrating into the lane and finding the open man on the perimeter.
Granted, making 18 threes in a college basketball game is a remarkable feat no matter how open you are. Pitt — and specifically Blake Hinson, who had eight triples — were hot, there’s no doubt about that. But the fact is that they were indeed very open a lot of the time. In the first half, Pitt’s first six made field goals were all three-pointers, largely from open or lately contested looks. And once Pitt got hot, their confidence only grew, digging Wake Forest even deeper into the hole. Steve Forbes had an interesting comment on this topic following the Virginia game in which the Cavaliers drilled 15 threes in the Joel:
“Some of it to me was we just wanted them to miss instead of making it,” Forbes said. “They’re not going to do that. They’re too good for that.”
Forbes was right — Wake Forest can’t rely on teams missing quality looks as a defensive strategy. But it seems like that’s been the case in some meaningful moments the last two games, and Wake has paid the price both times.
Wake can’t afford to start slow
There were a lot of similarities between the Pitt and Virginia games, especially in the first half. In both instances, Wake fell behind big — trailing by 19 against UVA and 15 against Pitt — and went into halftime facing a 10-point deficit. In both cases, the Deacs clawed their way into the game, cutting the UVA deficit to one and even taking a one-point lead against Pitt late in the second half. However, Wake’s opponents just made a few more big plays down the stretch in both games and the Deacs came up short against two older and more experienced teams.
The problem with starting slow is that the margin for error becomes far thinner for the remainder of the game. Several facets of the game didn’t go according to plan against Pitt — Damari Monsanto was in foul trouble most of the way, Tyree Appleby had another inefficient shooting night (5/14 FG, 2/9 3PT) and Cam Hildreth went 0/3 from the foul line in the final two minutes of the game. These are discouraging stats to be sure, but it’s possible they could have been overcome if Wake didn’t get punched in the mouth early. Because even with all the mistakes and Pitt’s torrid shooting, Wake still only lost the game by two points. Forbes addressed his team’s recent early-game woes after the game:
“It’s frustrating, because we’ve got a good basketball team,” Forbes said. “It’s not the time of the year to be doing that. That’s something you do early in the year. To me it’s a lot of effort, and that’s on me. It’s on me to get that effort out. I don’t like playing from behind, I want to be ahead.”
Davion Bradford played his best minutes of the season
Steve Forbes took a different approach to the five position last night than we’ve seen in a while — he brought freshman big man Zach Keller in off the bench before Davion Bradford. Matchup wise this made sense, considering Pitt’s lack of a post scoring big. Keller had a few bright spots — in six first half minutes, he scored two points and grabbed an offensive rebound that led to an Andrew Carr triple. However, he struggled to keep track of Pitt’s big, experienced post players on defense and looked lost on the glass. Keller also missed a wide open three from the top of the arc — he’s shooting just 21.1% from three-point range this year. It’s possible Steve Forbes might be willing to give Keller more minutes if he showed he could knock down those shots consistently, but it appears Keller still needs more time and development before he can become a key piece of this rotation.
Keller didn’t see the floor the rest of the way, and Bradford assumed the role of backup center. He did all that was asked of him, converting on two strong, crafty finishes around the hoop — a skill he hasn’t displayed much this season. Bradford also grabbed two rebounds, including an offensive board that earned him a trip to the free throw line. Bradford also forced a jump ball late in the game that earned Wake an extra possession at a critical juncture. Bradford finished with a team-high +7, Keller was +0 and starter Matthew Marsh was a -7.
Bradford’s play is encouraging because outside of Marsh’s efficient scoring above the rim, the Wake big men have struggled to contribute much on the offensive end. The rim protection and rebounding haven’t been stellar either — but if Bradford can give the team a couple buckets and key rebounds per game they’ll be much better equipped in the post.
I think Keller has the potential to be a really good player, but he’s just not ready yet. With Bradford starting to come into his own and Marsh continuing to play rock solid, I believe Wake has their rotation locked down at the five heading into the stretch run.
Wake Forest returns to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET against NC State in the Joel.
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