Wake Forest Athletics
Men's Basketball Seeks Third Straight Win
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
November 23, 1998
WINSTON SALEM, N.C. - The Demon Deacons entertain last year's Colonial Athletic Association regular season co-champions Tuesday night in the third of a four-game homestand. Wake Forest downed both UNC Greensboro (82-45) and Mercer (81-66) here in Lawrence Joel Coliseum last week, and hosts Davidson Friday in another 7:30 contest.
PROBABLE DEMON DEACON LINEUP
Career (98-99)
No. Name Pos. Ht. Class Key Statistics (*leads team) Starts
4 Robert O'Kelley G 6'1 So. 15.3 ppg*, 1.5 rpg, 12 asts*, 73.7 FT%, 9*-25 on 3s 23 (4)
3 Broderick Hicks G 6'1 Fr. 8.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 6 asts, 68.4 FG%* 2 (2)
44 Josh Shoemaker F/C 6'9 So. 3.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg* 19 (2)
25 Darius Songaila F/C 6'9 Fr. 10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 6 blks* 4 (4)
20 Niki Arinze F 6'5 So. 3.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg 25 (1)
TOP RESERVES33 James Griffin G 6'2 So. 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg 4 (2) 10 Jim Fitzpatrick G 6'0 Jr. 1.0 ppg, 4 steals* 0 31 Ervin Murray G/F 6'5 Fr. 2.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg 0 41 Rafael Vidaurreta F/C 6'8 So. 6.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg 23 (2) 11 Joseph Amonett F 6'5 Sr. 4.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 75.0 FT%*, 4 steals* 12 (2) 34 Antwan Scott F 6'8 Fr. 8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 55.6 FG% 0 42 Craig Dawson F 6'5 Fr. 8.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 52.4 FG%, 50.0% on 3s* 1 (1)
HEAD COACH - Dave Odom (10th year at Wake Forest) / Won 185, Lost 94 (13th year overall) / Won 223, Lost 136
THE LINEUP - Wake Forest entered the season with four starters returning from last season. All four are 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 three different starting lineups in four 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 the past two outings, though, and nine different Deacs now have started at least one contest already this year. Only two players (O'Kelley & Songaila) have started all four 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.
THE SERIES WITH W&M - Wake Forest and William & Mary were former members of the old Southern Conference and met frequently (often times twice per year) until the formation of the ACC. Wake leads the series, 32-11, with just 14 of those meetings occurring since 1954. The last game between the two schools took place in 1991 in Williamsburg -- 25 points by a Demon Deacon freshman named Randolph Childress sparked the Deacs to a 93-74 win that night.
NOTING THE DEMON DEACONS
DEACS IN THE "O-DOME" - The Wake Forest record in Lawrence Joel Coliseum is an excellent 110-26 (81% winning pct) the past 10 seasons (including the current 98-99 campaign). That mark includes a 62-4 record against non-ACC foes.
Non-conference losses suffered by the Demon Deacons in Joel Coliseum came to Colorado in January of 1991, California in December of 1993, and Utah and Vanderbilt (in the NIT) last season.
TIME SHARING - Eleven players currently are averaging double-figures in minutes played for Wake Forest. ROBERT O'KELLEY (32.5 per game) has seen the most court time. No other Deacon is averaging more than 24 minutes per contest.
FOUR GAMES / FOUR TOP REBOUNDERS - In each game this year, Wake Forest has had a different player as its leading rebounder. That groups includes RAFAEL VIDAURRETA (10 rebs vs Illinois), ANTWAN SCOTT (5 vs Temple), JOSH SHOEMAKER (9 vs UNCG), and DARIUS SONGAILA (10 vs Mercer).
NEW LEADING SCORER - Sophomore ROBERT O'KELLEY was the Deacs' leading scorer in their first three contests -- and still is one of just two Deacons averaging in double figures in scoring at 15.3 ppg. However, this past Saturday here against Mercer, freshman guard BRODERICK HICKS stepped up to lead the squad with 20 points -- all in the second half.
O'Kelley experienced a rare "off" night offensively in that game, hitting just 2 of 11 shots to finish with 7 points. That was just the second time in the last 29 games that the 1998 ACC Rookie of the Year has not scored in double figures.
BALANCED ATTACK - Although ROBERT O'KELLEY leads the Demon Deacons in scoring at 15.3 ppg, four other individuals are averaging at least 8.0 ppg through four outings. And all four are freshmen -- DARIUS SONGAILA (10.0), ANTWAN SCOTT (8.5), BRODERICK HICKS and CRAIG DAWSON (both 8.3).
DEFENSIVE DEACS - Wake Forest has forced more than 20 opposition turnovers in three of four games this season. Illinois committed 26 errors in the 98-99 opener in Madison Square Garden; UNCG turned the ball over 23 times last Wednesday night; and Mercer lost possession 21 times without a shot.
Those 26 turnovers by the Illini were the most by a Demon Deacon opponent since Winthrop committed 32 turnovers (a Joel Coliseum record) in 1991. WFU foes made more than 20 turnovers only two times during the entire 1997-98 season. In the previous three seasons, no Deacon opponent made that many ball-handling errors. Last year, the opposition averaged 12.6 turnovers per game.
20 or More Turnovers by Demon Deacon Opponents
Year Opponent (Turnovers) 1998-99 Illinois (26); UNCG (23); Mercer (21) 1997-98 Radford (22); Missouri (22) 1996-97 none 1995-96 none 1994-95 none 1993-94 Florida State (20) 1992-93 Mt. St.Mary's (23); Winthrop (23)THREE-POINT STREAK TOPS 200 - Wake Forest has gone 203 consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal. The last time that Wake did not make a three-pointer in a game was in a 1992 victory here over Tulane.
