Wake Forest is set to take over No. 19 Clemson Tigers Joel’s in later tonight, with major ramifications for the acc at stake. Clemson is a league leader and is a perfect 7-0 in conference play – here are some keys to the game that can help Wake down the Tigers.
Read: How to watch: Wake Forest vs Clemson Men’s College Basketball
Three point battle
As Wake Forest discovered in their encounter with Clemson earlier this season, the Tigers can be dangerous from three points. Clemson has five different players who currently drop the ball deep at 40% or higher and shoot 38% as a team this year. Last out against the Tigers, Wake gave up nine triples and blew a seven-point halftime lead en route to a 77-57 road loss. There is a clear correlation between how well Wake defended all three and the results of their matches. In Clemson’s first game, the Tigers shot the three-ball at a 40% rate and Wake was on the wrong end of the blast. When Wake played Duke at home, the Blue Devils shot only 29.6% deep and Wake won by double figures.
Notably, Alex Hemenway, who coached four triples against Wake Forest on Dec. 2, will miss tonight with an injury. Also, the team’s second leading scorer, Chase Hunter, will be out tonight due to a foot injury he sustained against Duke a few days earlier.
Wake Forest has also hit the three ball at a remarkably effective rate since the start of ACC play. Over the last two games, the Deacs have been 24/52 (46%) from outside the arc and have had five different players go down three times in each contest. They scored a total of 175 points in that stretch and looked almost unstoppable on the offensive end.
This game could easily come down to which team has a better three-point shooting night. Recently, Deacs has excelled at creating the appearance of high-quality long-range penetration from guards within the attack flow. They will need to keep looking for these concerted attempts to eradicate the tigers.
Very thinly stretched
Clemson big men BJ Hall and Hunter Tyson are exactly the blueprint for the kind of player Wake Forest has struggled to defend this season – a four or five with the ability to shoot all three. They gave up 35 points (7/9 3PT) to LSU’s KJ Williams, for example. Last time out against Wake Forest, Hall had 21 points on 7/11 and 2/4 three-point shooting in just 22 minutes. Tyson added 15 points on just six shots, going 8/8 from the charity bar. In that game, Clemson didn’t produce a lot of offensive boards but scored a lot of easy buckets, tallying 24 points in the paint.
Hall and Tyson are threats from the three-point line as well, with both connecting the ball deep at an average of over 40%. Tyson drilled four triples against Louisville just last week and led the team in scoring with 15.7 ppg. He has four more than 20 points this season, including a 31-point clinic against NC State.
It should also be noted that Hall is probably more correct since the Deacons last faced off with demons. Hall had been dealing with a long-term injury to open the season and had been on the field for a while, but Brad Brownell was gradually extending the leash. However, Hull hasn’t played more than 30 minutes in a game this season – I’ll be looking to change that tonight if Hull finds a game he likes early on.
Matthew Marsh Defensive Services, Andrew Carr Davion Bradford will be in high demand this evening. Forbes has shown a tendency to play Carr at the fifth stretch in recent games – this would make sense against the Tigers, as Carr is fast enough to check Hall and Tyson on the perimeter and has the height to trouble them down. Marsh is big enough at 7-1 to influence the game at the post as well, and Bradford have been playing better lately and will need to kick in the precious minutes off the bench to take the hall guard duty. Hall and Tyson are sure to get their points, but Wake can’t let one or both of them go nuclear again if they want to come out on top.
Defended the home court
Wake Forest is a perfect 9-0 in Joel this season, winning conference home games against Duke, Virginia Tech and Florida State. The team has been inconsistent in true road games (2-3) and neutral site games (1-2), and their dominance at home has allowed them to remain relevant in the ACC. Steve Forbes Discuss the importance of defending the home court In a recent press conference:
“In order to have an elite program, you have to have the advantage of an elite court,” Forbes said. “You have to win your home games. When you win at home, it gives your fans a reason to come back and watch you play.”
The student crowd tonight must be raucous – Wake’s student body took nearly three divisions of seats in the Deacs’ win over Florida State last week. Guell is a relatively small arena, but the noise can be deafening with the good turnout.
Meanwhile, aside from faltering in their second game of the year against a poor South Carolina team, Clemson won three straight true road games against Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Pitt.
Something’s Gotta Give – One of those streaks will end tonight as the Cantaloupes take on the Tigers tonight at 9pm Joel’s.
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