Tech leads the ACC in three-point field goals made in conference games. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Prior to last week, Tech hadn’t held opponents below 38-percent shooting in back-to-back ACC games in more than three years.
The Yellow Jackets accomplished that against North Carolina and North Carolina State, albeit in a split of those games. They’ll now try to limit a Wake Forest team that can go on some audacious sprees of offense: The Demon Deacons are the only team in the ACC averaging better than 80 points per game in conference play, and they shot 66 percent from the field in a 99-70 rout of Syracuse on Saturday. It was Wake’s highest field goal percentage in an ACC game since 1971.
The Deacs are once again headlined by a Steve Forbes specialty: potent, high-scoring guards from the transfer portal. Six-foot-5 Hunter Sallis (18.2 ppg) is a sleek, three-level scorer from Gonzaga whom Stoudamire calls one of the better two-point shot makers in the country, while 6-0 Central Michigan transfer Kevin Miller (16.7 ppg) gives Wake another live wire point guard and juking, foot-faking specialist.
“When you think about the games we played against Carolina and Clemson, we had to be really physical. We had to start the confrontation. We’ve got to do that against Wake,” Stoudamire said on his radio show Monday.
Other keys against the Demon Deacons: consistently running out to Wake’s three-point shooters (something they did well against North Carolina) and not getting deterred if they make tough shots. They’ll also have to locate Wake Forest’s shooters in transition – Tech allowed a season-high 22 fast break points against the NC State, and the Demon Deacons almost always send two players to the corners on fast breaks. Wake ranks second in the ACC in rebounding margin, and 7-footer Efton Reid III – who started against Tech in December of 2021 while a member of LSU – excels at getting defenders on his back and carving out deep post-ups. Tech will need to gang rebound well like it did against North Carolina.
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For as explosive as Wake Forest can be offensively, keep this in mind. The Yellow Jackets are 3-2 this year against the top 5-ranked teams in offensive efficiency in ACC play:
Offensive Efficiency Rating (ACC only)
- Duke
- Wake Forest
- Clemson
- North Carolina
- Virginia Tech
- Georgia Tech
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Wake Forest leads the ACC in three-point shooting in conference play, knocking down 40.3 percent as a team. But there’s a pretty sharp drop-off in the Demon Deacons’ accuracy between wins and losses:
Wake Forest – 3pt.% vs. ACC opponents
To borrow Damon Stoudamire parlance, it could be a classic “threes beat you, twos don’t” game. Pay attention to 6-11 Andrew Carr (14.1 ppg, 41.4% 3pt.), who gives the Deacs a pick-and-pop and kickout threat if their guards collapse the defense.
