Baye Ndongo’s jump hook with less than a second remaining lifted Tech to victory at Wake Forest a year ago.
After a 7-1 start in conference play, Wake Forest’s hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid may now hinge on a deep run in the ACC Tournament, if not winning it altogether. They’ll undoubtedly look to Saturday as a chance to jumpstart some momentum for the postseason. Wake Forest has won 60 games at Joel Coliseum over the past four seasons, though the Deacs were 15-0 at home last year when Baye Ndongo’s floater stunned them with :00.4 left.
The Demon Deacons aren’t quite as potent as last year – they rank 139th in KenPom efficiency after finishing 25th last season – but they can still go on some swaggering sprees of offense. Senior guard Hunter Sallis (18.2 ppg) remains a sleek, three-level shot maker, while 6-4 Cameron Hildreth (14.9 ppg) is a heady, hard-nosed senior who’s arguably the best post-up guard in the ACC.
Hildreth went scoreless against Duke after topping 20 points in six of his last seven games. Sallis was held to nine points, snapping a streak of 18 straight games in double figures. Along with the added kindling of Senior Day, expect both to be fully engaged on Saturday. They’re complemented by 7-footer Efton Reid (8.9 ppg), who excels at getting defenders on his back, and Appalachian State transfer Tre’von Spillers (10.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg), a bouncy, forceful rebounder.
The Demon Deacons excel at getting teams in rotation and pressuring the rim. They only average 5.5 threes per game, a figure that ranks 342nd nationally, and their accuracy has fallen off sharply from last season.
| Wake Forest 3-point Shooting |
|
|
| Year |
3pt.% |
ACC Rank |
NCAA Rank |
| 2023-24 |
36.40% |
2nd |
46th |
| 2024-25 |
28.90% |
18th |
349th |
Among the keys for Saturday: Make catches at the elbow a chore and don’t get detached around Wake Forest’s screens.
From the “arbitrary yet impressive” files: Georgia Tech has scored 87 or more points in back-to-back ACC games.
The last time the Yellow Jackets did that? March of 1996. Tech beat Clemson 87-74 in their regular season finale, then knocked off NC State 88-73 in the ACC Tournament.
The groans have subsided significantly when Georgia Tech has toed the foul line lately.
The Yellow Jackets may still rank last in the ACC in free throw percentage, but they’ve quietly made 85% of their attempts during their three-game win streak (45-of- 53).
Why might that be important on Saturday? Wake Forest has allowed ACC opponents to score 21% of their points off free throws, the highest percentage in the league. The Demon Deacons also lead the ACC in free throw rate offensively, scoring 23% of their points from the foul line.
% of points from FTM (ACC)
- Wake Forest: 3% (Most ACC)
- Opponents: 0% (Most ACC)
