Wake Forest Athletics
Men's Basketball Preps for Maryland
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
December 2, 1998
WAKE FOREST (6-1) at MARYLAND (7-0) December 3, 1998 -- 8:00 -- Cole Field House Wake Forest opens its 1998-99 ACC schedule here tonight in what is unquestionably the biggest challenge of the young season for the youthful Demon Deacons. Maryland, which is also playing its first league game of the year, is ranked #2 in the country and has defeated seven opponents by an average of 37 points per game.
The Deacons have enjoyed recent success here in Cole, however, winning on their last three visits, including an 83-79 upset of the 25th-ranked Terps last February.
This evening's game is being televised regionally on the ACC/Raycom network.
PROBABLE DEMON DEACON LINEUP
Career Starts No. Name Pos. Ht. Class Key Statistics (*leads team) (98-99)4 Robert O'Kelley G 6'1 So. 16.4 ppg*, 2.0 rpg, 16 asts*, 15* 3pters 26(7) 33 James Griffin G 6'2 So. 3.3 ppg, 0.9 rpg 6 (4) 41 Rafael Vidaurreta C 6'8 So. 5.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg 26(5) 44 Josh Shoemaker F 6'9 So. 4.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg* 20(3) 11 Joseph Amonett F 6'5 Sr. 3.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg 12(2)
TOP RESERVES 3 Broderick Hicks G 6'1 Fr. 7.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 14 asts, 57.1 FG%* 3(3) 10 Jim Fitzpatrick G 6'0 Jr. 1.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg 0 31 Ervin Murray F 6'5 Fr. 2.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg 0 25 Darius Songaila F/C 6'9 Fr. 10.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 8 blks*, 52.4 FG% 6(6) 34 Antwan Scott F/C 6'8 Fr. 6.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg 0 42 Craig Dawson F 6'5 Fr. 8.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 54.1 FG%, 52.2% on 3pters* 1(1)
HEAD COACH -
Dave Odom (10th year at Wake Forest) / Won 188, Lost 94
(13th year overall) / Won 226, Lost 136
THE LINEUP - Wake Forest entered the season with four starters returning from last season, all current sophomores-- ROBERT O'KELLEY, RAFAEL VIDAURRETA, NIKI ARINZE and JOSH SHOEMAKER. The sophomore class, which also includes JAMES GRIFFIN, are joined by a talented class of five freshmen and the program's only upperclassman, senior JOSEPH AMONETT.
The Demon Deacons have utilized six different starting lineups the past six games. Amonett, three sophomores (O'Kelley, Griffin & Vidaurreta) and freshman DARIUS SONGAILA opened the two games in New York. Head coach Dave Odom has juggledhis starting five since, and nine different Deacs now have started at least one contest already this year. O'Kelley is the only player who has started all seven games.
THE HEAD COACH - Now in his 10th season at Wake Forest, DAVE ODOM has built the Demon Deacon program into one of the best in the nation. The Deacs made seven consecutive NCAA appearances from 1991 through 1997, then extended their string of postseason tourneys to eight in a row by taking part in the NIT last March.
Odom is a three-time ACC Coach of the Year (1991, 1994, 1995). From 1993 through 1998, his Wake Forest teams won 20-or-more games each season. Since a losing record in his first year with the Deacs, his teams have won nearly 70% of their games, averaging 21 wins per season over the last eight years. Wake Forest won back-to-back ACC titles in 1995 and 1996, establishing a school record for wins (26-6) each year, and in 1997 spent 10 weeks as the nation's #2-ranked team.
ARINZE OUT FOR SEASON - Sophomore forward NIKI ARINZE, whose 28 career starts are the most of any current Demon Deacon, has been lost for the season due to a shoulder injury. Arinze dislocated his left shoulder on October 26th during preseason practice. After three weeks of rehabilitation (and two missed games in New York), he returned to action and has been a starter in four of five contests. The 6'5 Nashville product re-injured the shoulder this past Monday in the first half of Wake Forest's win at VMI. He will undergo arthroscopic surgery on the shoulder later this month following semester exams. Rehab from the surgery will be several months, according to team physician Dr. Walt Curl, but Arinze is expected to be fully recovered by next fall.
Having played in only five regular season contests, Arinze should qualify for a medical hardship ruling and not lose a year of eligibility. Wake Forest will make that appeal following the season.
Wake Forest vs Maryland
THE SERIES - Wake Forest holds a 49-47 edge in the overall series with Maryland, a competition that began in the semi-finals of the 1953 Southern Conference Tournament. Wake won on that occasion, 61-59, and went on to capture the league title the following night--a significant title since it would be the last southern Conference tourney before the formation of the ACC.
The Demon Deacons have won six of the last seven meetings between the two schools, including three in a row here in Cole Field House. Maryland's only win over Wake the past three years came in Winston-Salem in January of 1997 when Laron Profit sank a three-pointer as time expired to give his team a 54-51 decision.
LAST YEAR - Wake Forest freshmen scored 52 of 72 points and grabbed 36 of the team's 42 rebounds in a 72-60 Demon Deacon win last January 17th in Lawrence Joel Coliseum. Wake spurted to an early 10-0 lead and led the entire way. Maryland stayed close but was hampered by poor free throw shooting (11-24). ROBERT O'KELLEY led Wake Forest with 17 pts. NIKI ARINZE recorded his first career "double-double" with 16 pts and 10 rebs. In the rematch here in Cole last February 19th, the Deacons made 15 of 28 three-pointers on their way to an 83-79 victory. Wake led by 16 at halftime (44-28) and by as many as 19 in the second half before a frantic Ter-rapin rally cut the lead to three in the final seconds. O'Kelley scored a career-high 31 pts, hitting 11 of 20 shots, including 6 of 10 three-pointers. Backcourt mate Tony Rutland added 18 pts, going 6 of 9 from long distance.
THREE STRAIGHT IN COLE - Prior to last year's dramatic win here, Wake Forest had defeated the Terps on this court in both 1996 and 1997 behind two outstanding performances by All-American Tim Duncan. In '96, Duncan made 12 of 14 shots from the floor in tallying 33 pts in an 85-78 WFU triumph. Then as a senior in '97, he brought the Deacs back from a 12-point halftime deficit by scoring 25 points in the second half of a 74-69 Wake Forest win.
Individual Numbers vs the TerrapinsPlayer G-GS FG-A PCT. 3PT-A PCT. FT-A PCT. REB/AVG. A/BS PTS/AVG. HIGH/DATE AMONETT 5-0 0-3 0-2 2-2 100.0 2/0.4 2/0.4 2/'97 @MD ARINZE 2-2 5-10 50.0 14-18 77.8 14/7.0 24/12.0 16/'98 @WF GRIFFIN 2-0 2-6 33.3 1-2 50.0 0-0 0 5/2.5 3/'98 @MD O'KELLEY 2-2 16-35 45.7 9-17 52.9 7-12 58.3 10/5.0 8 asts 48/24.0 31/'98 @MD SHOEMAKER 2-2 4-10 40.0 2-4 50.0 21/10.5 10/5.0 7/'98 @WF VIDAURRETA 2-2 2-7 28.6 6-13 46.2 14/7.0 10/5.0 8/'98 @WF
BREAK FOR EXAMS - After tonight's game at Maryland, Wake Forest faces a nine-day layoff during the university's fall semester exam period before returning to action on December 12th at Virginia Tech. Remaining dates for the Demon Deacons this month include three home contests with Coastal Carolina (Dec.16), East Tennessee State (Dec.19) and Arkansas (Dec.23). Wake Forest visits Utah for a December 28th matchup with last year's NCAA runnerup, then turns its attentions solely to the ACC beginning with a home game on January 2nd against Virginia.
NOTING THE DEMON DEACONS
PLAYING FROM BEHIND - Wake Forest has trailed in the second half of five of its six wins, including this past Monday in Lexington, when the Deacons saw a six-point halftime lead disappear as VMI took a brief 50-49 lead midway in the second half. Three times (vs Mercer, William & Mary and Davidson), the Deacs were behind at halftime. Their largest deficit to date was 13 points (27-14) in the first half against Davidson. The youthful squad first displayed its comeback ability in the very first game this season when Wake trailed Illinois by five points (61-56) with 2:18 remaining in the game, and by six (70-64) with 2:32 left in overtime, before rallying for the win.
TIME SHARING - Ten players currently are averaging 13-or-more minutes played per game for Wake Forest, although that number is reduced to nine with the loss of the injured NIKI ARINZE. ROBERT O'KELLEY (32.3 mins per game) has seen the most court time, but no other Deacon is playing more than 25 minutes per game. RAFAEL VIDAURRETA is second on that list at 24.9 mpg.
BALANCED ATTACK - Six different Deacons have scored in double figures this season, but only one (ROBERT O'KELLEY) is averaging more than 10 points per contest. In this past Monday's 73-61 win at VMI, O'Kelley led the Wake Forest attack with 16 points. JOSH SHOEMAKER contributed 10 points in his first double-figure effort of the year, while four other individuals added eight points apiece.
O'Kelley, though, is the unquestioned offensive leader this season. He has reached double digits in six games (all but Mercer) and leads the team in overall point production at 16.4 ppg. O'Kelley has been the team's leading scorer in six of seven dates and now has scored in double figures in 30 of his last 32 games dating back to last season. Freshman post player DARIUS SONGAILA has been in double digits in four of the last five games and is averaging an even 10.0 ppg. Fellow-rookie BRODERICK HICKS is the only Deac other than O'Kelley to lead the team in scoring thus far with his 20-point performance (all in the 2nd half) in the win over Mercer.
Double Digit Deacons Scoring Rebounding Craig DAWSON 10 vs UNCG Broderick HICKS three times Robert O'KELLEY six times; 30 of last 32 overall Antwan SCOTT 13 vs Mercer Josh SHOEMAKER 10 at VMI Darius SONGAILA four times in last five games 10 vs Mercer; 11 at VMI Rafael VIDAURRETA 10 vs Illinois & Wm&Mary
SHOT TALK - Wake Forest has yet to shoot 50% from the floor in a game this season but has not been below 40% in any outing either. Wake's 40.0 field goal percentage in its season-opening win over Illinois is its lowest FG% mark of the year. A 49.1% effort in an 82-45 win over UNC Greensboro is its best.
The Demon Deacons are coming off their best performance of the season in both three-point accuracy and free throw shooting. Monday night at VMI, the Deacs made 9 of 16 three-point attempts (56.3%) and were 12 of 15 (80%) at the line. In three games prior to Monday, however, Wake Forest had made just 14 of 50 "3s" (28%) and was 47 of 82 at the charity stripe (57.3%).
THREE-POINT STREAK - Wake Forest has made at least one three-point field goal in 206 consecutive games. The last time that Wake did not make a three-pointer was in a 1992 homecourt victory over Tulane.
FOUR CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS - Wake Forest has faced four defending conference champions in its six games this season. The most recent, of course, was Davidson, which won the Southern Conference title in 1998 and advanced to the NCAAs where they lost in the opening round to Michigan. Other 1998 league winners that the Deacs have met already this year include Illinois (co-champs of Big Ten), Temple (Atlantic 10 East Division), and William & Mary (Colonial regular season co-champs).
EIGHT STRAIGHT POSTSEASON TRIPS - By playing in the 1998 NIT, Wake Forest appeared in postseason play for the eighth consecutive year. The Demon Deacons had been in the NCAA Tournament the previous seven years (1991-1997), at that time the seventh-longest streak in the nation. Wake Forest's current streak of eight straight postseason trips rank second among ACC schools.
Consecutive Postseason Appearances by ACC Schools
North Carolina 32 Duke 3 WAKE FOREST 8 Florida State 2 Clemson 6 N.C.State 2 Maryland 5 Georgia Tech 1
ACC WIN STREAK ENDS AT FIVE STRAIGHT YEARS - Wake Forest had enjoyed five straight winning seasons in ACC play before finishing 7-9 against league opponents in the 1997-98 season. The last time that the Demon Deacons did not have a winning record in the league was 1992 (also 7-9).
The Deacs still finished 4th in the conference regular season race (actually tied for 4th with Clemson) last year. They were only the second ACC team to be that high in the league standings and not be invited to the NCAA Tournament since the NCAA expanded its field to 64 teams in 1985 (Virginia was the other in 1992).
