Wake Forest Athletics
Men's Basketball Notes Against FSU
1/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Jan. 8, 2001
Game #14
(4) Wake Forest (12-1/1-1)
vs.
Florida State (5-9/0-1)
Jan. 9, 2001 n 8:00 p.m.
Joel Coliseum (14,407)
Winston-Salem, NC
Tip Time: 8:05 p.m.
Television: Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot. Steve Martin (play-by-play) and Dan Bonner (color analysis) call the action. Rob Reichley produces.
Radio: The Deacon Radio Network. Stan Cotten (play-by-play) and Mark Freidinger (color analysis) call the action.
The Records: Wake Forest is 12-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC following a 70-69 loss at No. 13 North Carolina Saturday night. Florida State is 5-9 and 0-1 after beating visiting UNC Asheville, 76-68, Saturday in non-conference action.
The Rankings: The Deacons are ranked 4th in the Associated Press poll and 4th in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Florida State is not ranked.
WFU Coach Dave Odom: Odom (Guilford `65) is in his 12th season at Wake Forest with a record of 233-122. In 15 years overall, he is 271-164. Odom, a three-time ACC Coach of the Year, owns the second-most wins in WFU history and the eighth-most wins in ACC history.
Florida State Coach Steve Robinson: Robinson (Radford `81) is 48-57 in four seasons in Tallahassee, 94-75 in six seasons overall.
The Series History: Florida State leads, 11-10.
The Officials: Announced on game day.
Deacons Hope To Rebound From First Loss Vs. Florida State Tuesday
Wake Forest, which saw its 17-game winning streak come to an end Saturday night at 13th-ranked North Carolina, hosts Florida State Tuesday night at Lawrence Joel Coliseum (8:00/Raycom-Jefferson Pilot). The Demon Deacons, 12-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, lost a 70-69 heartbreaker at North Carolina Saturday. Craig Dawson's layup with 17 seconds remaining gave Wake Forest a 69-68 lead. Carolina's Brendan Haywood, however, sank a layup with three seconds left to give the Tar Heels the win. Senior Robert O'Kelley led four Deacons who scored in double figures with 18 points.
Florida State, 5-9 and 0-1, is coming off a 76-68 non-conference win over visiting UNC Asheville on Saturday. Monte Cummings came off the bench for 19 points to lead the Seminoles.
Florida State leads the all-time series, 11-10. The Seminoles swept the regular season series with Wake Forest last year. The Deacons finished last season with a 7-9 record in ACC play.
Demon Deacon Streaks & Notes
Wake Forest's 17-game winning streak, a modern day school record, came to an end Saturday at North Carolina.
The Deacons have held 22 consecutive opponents to less than 50 percent shooting. Wake has held 19 of 20 opponents to less than 40 percent shooting.
Wake has won 11 consecutive home games including a 9-0 record in Lawrence Joel Coliseum this season. Wake's last home loss came against then No. 22 Maryland, 73-67, on Feb. 19, 2000.
The Deacs have won 19 consecutive games against unranked opponents.
Wake ranks among the nation's leaders in field goal percentage (.506), field goal percentage defense (.362), scoring defense (58.2), scoring margin (+23.6) and winning percentage (.923).
Four different Deacons average 13 or more points per game.
Nine different players are averaging at least 12 minutes per game.
Wake Forest-Florida State Series History
Florida State leads the all-time series, 11-10.
Wake Forest holds a 7-3 series advantage in Winston-Salem.
The Seminoles swept the regular season series last year, beating Wake Forest 66-61 in Tallahassee and 66-64 in Winston-Salem.
Blowouts are rare in the WFU-FSU series. The last five meetings have been decided by a combined total of 16 points.
The two teams met twice before the Seminoles joined the ACC in the early 1990s. The first meeting was a 73-64 Wake Forest win in 1958-59.
Wake coach Dave Odom is 9-10 all-time against Florida State. Odom has at least a .500 record against every ACC team except for Florida State and North Carolina.
Florida State coach Steve Robinson is 4-2 all-time versus Wake Forest.
A Quick Look At The Last Wake Forest-FSU Meeting
Florida State held Wake Forest to 37.9 percent shooting and the Deacons made just 9-of-16 free throw attempts in a 66-61 FSU victory in Tallahassee on Feb. 5, 2000.
Damous Anderson scored 19 points and Ron Hale added 15 points to lead the Seminoles. Robert O'Kelley sank six three-point field goals en route to 21 points and Josh Howard added 18 points for the Deacons. Wake was whistled for 20 fouls and Darius Songaila and Howard both fouled out. Florida State won the rebounding battle, 38-33.
Deacon-Seminole Connections
Former Seminole standout Tony Dawson is the uncle of Deacon junior Craig Dawson. Craig has another basketball-playing uncle -- Jerry Stackhouse.
Two `Noles hail from North Carolina -- Michael Joiner (Fayetteville) and Ryan Lowery (Gastonia).
Florida State coach Steve Robinson is the second straight former Kansas assistant that Wake Forest will face. The Deacs played North Carolina (Matt Doherty) on Saturday. Wake Forest beat Kansas, 84-53, on Dec. 7.
WFU associate media relations director Joanna Sparkman is a Florida State graduate. She will not be wearing war paint Tuesday night, however.
Deacons, Seminoles Are Balanced
Wake Forest has four players averaging between 13.1 and 15.3 points per game. Florida State has four players scoring between 10.1 and 11.1 points per contest. Nine Deacons are averaging at least 12.8 minutes per game. Eight `Noles average at least 12.6 minutes.
Deacons Putting Up Impressive Numbers
Wake Forest ranks in the top 11 nationally in five different statistical categories:
Wake Forest ranks 11th nationally and second in the ACC in field goal percentage (.506) despite shooting a season-low 37.1 percent at North Carolina Saturday. No Wake team has shot 50 percent or better for the season since 1983-84 (50.1 percent).
Wake ranks eighth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.362). The Deacons have held 22 straight opponents to less than 50 percent shooting and 19 of 20 opponents to less than 40 percent shooting. Wake's field goal percentage defense is its best mark since the 1952-53 season (1952-53).
While it's very early in the season, Wake is averaging more points per game (81.8 ppg.) than any Deacon team since the 1977-78 season (83.2 ppg.).
Defensively, the Deacs rank sixth nationally in scoring defense (limiting opponents to just 58.2 points per game). Wake hasn't allowed fewer points since the 1981-82 season (58.2 ppg.).
WFU's scoring margin (+23.6) ranks 3rd nationally.
The Deacons have almost 100 more assists than turnovers (238 assists, 149 turnovers) and lead the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio. In each of the previous six seasons, Wake Forest has committed more turnovers than assists.
Individually, junior Ervin Murray leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (44 assists, 10 turnovers).
More From Saturday's 70-69 Loss At North Carolina
Wake Forest suffered its worst shooting night of the season -- 37.1 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from three-point range -- in Saturday's 70-69 loss at 13th-ranked North Carolina. More from that game:
Senior Robert O'Kelley scored 18 points -- the 11th time this season and the 90th time in his career that he has scored in double figures.
Wake Forest trailed at halftime (37-34) for just the second time this season.
Wake dished out a season-low 12 assists.
The Deacons held UNC to 39.7 percent shooting -- the 19th time in 20 games Wake has held its opponent to under 40 percent shooting.
The crowd of 21,750 was the largest to see a WFU game this season.
Deacons Have Held 22 Straight Under 50 Percent Shooting
One of the most remarkable streaks during Wake Forest's winning streak came to an end last Tuesday night. The Deacons held 18 consecutive opponents to less than 40 percent shooting until Virginia shot 40.7 percent in its 96-73 loss to Wake.
Another streak, although not quite as impressive, lives on. Wake has held 22 consecutive opponents to less than 50 percent shooting. The last time a team shot 50 percent or better versus Wake came on Feb. 22, 2000 when Duke shot 55.4 percent in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Technically, Wake has held 22 straight foes to less than 44 percent shooting (see box at right).
Wake Forest held North Carolina to 39.7 percent shooting Saturday night.
This season, the Deacons lead the ACC and rank eighth nationally in field goal percentage defense (36.2 percent).
Deacs Are 2-1 Vs. Ranked Teams, 2-0 Against Top 10 Teams With five ACC teams ranked in the top 20, Wake Forest will have more than its share of games against nationally-ranked opponents this season.
The Deacons are 2-1 this season versus ranked foes including an 84-53 win over then No. 3 Kansas, a 96-73 victory against then No. 8 Virginia and a 70-69 loss to No. 13 North Carolina.
Various notes about Wake Forest and ranked opponents:
Wake's next game against a ranked opponent will come Jan. 17 at No. 17 Maryland.
The Deacons have already won more games against ranked teams this season (2) than they did all of last season (1). Wake went 1-5 against ranked teams last year.
One could make the argument that Wake Forest is playing its toughest schedule in recent history. For just the second time in 20 years, Wake has played three ranked opponents by the first week of January. This year's schedule is comparable to that of 1994-95 when the Deacons played 13 ranked opponents.
Seven of Wake's 15 remaining games come against teams currently ranked in the top 20.
Then Jan. 2 game against 8th-ranked Virginia marked the first time Wake Forest played in a game involving two top 10-ranked teams since No. 8 Wake Forest lost to No. 5 North Carolina in the second round of the 1997 ACC Tournament.
WFU's win over Kansas (Dec. 7) marked the highest-ranking opponent that Wake has beaten since defeating No. 2 Clemson on the road on Jan. 23, 1997. It was also the highest-ranked opponent the Deacs have defeated in Lawrence Joel Coliseum since beating No. 2 Duke in 1994. n Wake Forest has defeated nine teams ranked in the top five over the last seven seasons.
Over the last seven seasons (including this season), Wake Forest has defeated 13 opponents ranked 10th or better.
In Dave Odom's 12 seasons at Wake Forest, his teams are 23-19 against nationally-ranked teams when his team is also ranked.
Deacons Remain In Top 10 For Fourth Consecutive Week
Wake Forest remained at No. 4 this week in both major national polls for the second straight week and the Deacons stay in the top 10 for the fourth consecutive week.
Last Saturday's opponent, North Carolina, is ranked 13th in the Associated Press poll and 14th in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
The latest polls demonstrate just how difficult the Wake Forest schedule is this season. Six different Deacon opponents are ranked in the Associated Press poll, including three opponents ranked in the top 10:
(3) Duke, (7) Kansas, (8) Virginia, (13) North Carolina, (17) Maryland and (25) Cincinnati.
Three other Deacon opponents received votes for one or both major polls this week -- Richmond, Georgia Tech and NC State.
More Poll Stuff
The Deacons are ranked No. 10 this week in The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
The Deacons are ranked No. 3 in the latest Sagarin computer poll.
Wake is ranked No. 6 in The Sporting News' Power Poll.
The Last Time The Deacons Were Ranked As High As...
No. 1 -- noneNo. 2 -- February 10, 1997 (2nd)No. 3 -- February 10, 1997 (2nd)No. 4 -- January 1, 2001 (4th)No. 5 -- January 1, 2001 (4th)Good Shooting A Team Thing
Wake Forest's field goal percentage (.506), the best percentage in the ACC and the 10th field goal percentage in college basketball, is truly a team effort. Consider:
Wake's top three scorers -- Craig Dawson (.521), Josh Howard (.570) and Darius Songaila (.548) -- are all shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
Four of five Deacon forwards and centers -- Howard, Songaila, Josh Shoemaker (.581) and Antwan Scott (.538) -- are all shooting better than 50 percent.
Howard ranks third in the ACC in field goal percentage, Songaila ranks fourth and Dawson ninth.
Over the last two games, Songaila has made 15-of-20 field goal attempts.
On the perimeter, Dawson is shooting 42.3 percent from three-point range, ranking 7th in the ACC.
Sharing The Wealth
In each of the last four games, a different player has led Wake Forest in scoring. Over the last three games, a different Deac has led the team in rebounds and in assists.
O'Kelley, Songaila Climb Wake's All-Time Scoring List
Senior Robert O'Kelley (1,678 career points) ranks 11th on Wake Forest's all-time career scoring chart. He is 22 points shy of his 1,700th career point and he is 43 points away from moving into the top 10 and passing Rodney Rogers (1,720 points from 1991-93).
Junior Darius Songaila, who recently scored his 1,000th career point, enters the Florida State game with 1,037 career points. He ranks 35th in Wake scoring history and will move up the chart quickly. He needs three points to pass Gil McGregor for 34th place and seven points to pass Anthony Tucker for 33rd place.
Howard Sparks Defense
If you listen to his head coach, Josh Howard would lead the nation in blocking shots on the perimeter -- if the NCAA tracked such a statistic. Dave Odom is only guessing, of course, but he does help illustrate the havoc that the 6-6 Howard causes away from the basket. Howard has 20 blocked shots this season (ranking second on the team behind Antwan Scott and seventh in the ACC) and almost all of those have come near or beyond the three-point line. He's a big reason opponents are shooting just 22.9 percent from behind the arc -- the best three-point field goal percentage defense in the ACC. Over the last seven games he has blocked 13 shots.
Howard leads Wake and ranks and ranks ninth in the ACC in steals (23).
Vidaurreta's Return Bolsters Lineup
Wake Forest senior center Rafael Vidaurreta, who underwent knee surgery in late September, returned to action Dec. 16 against Georgia and has eased back in the rotation
. Vidaurreta is averaging 12.8 minutes per game and his playing time is expected to go up steadily as the year unfolds. He played 20 minutes Saturday at North Carolina and pulled down six rebounds.
As Vidaurreta's health improves, Wake Forest nears full strength for the first time this year. Ervin Murray has recovered from mononucleosis, which kept him out of practice the entire preseason.
Wake's Bench A Key To Success
Not many teams have the luxury that Wake Forest possesses. Wake's leading scorer (Craig Dawson, 15.3 ppg.), leading shot blocker (Antwan Scott, 23 blocks) and last year's leading rebounder (Rafael Vidaurreta) all come off the bench.
The Wake bench is providing 38.2 percent of the Deacons' scoring. The bench, in fact, has outscored the opponent's bench in all 13 games this season.
Scott, Songaila Climb Blocked Shots List
Antwan Scott, a key junior reserve, ranks eighth on Wake Forest's all-time blocked shots list. Scott has 78 career blocks including a team-high 23 rejections this season.
Scott is 12 blocked shots shy of passing Kenny Green for seventh place on the Wake list.
Junior Darius Songaila (59 career blocks) is now ranked 10th in WFU history for career blocked shots.
Shoemaker Among ACC Board Leaders
When senior center Rafael Vidaurreta underwent surgery in late September, Wake Forest coach Dave Odom expected senior Josh Shoemaker to step up. Shoemaker has exceeded almost everyone's expectations. While Shoemaker's numbers may decline slightly with the return of Rafael Vidaurreta, he currently leads the ACC in rebounds (9.1 rpg.) and he has six double-figure rebound games this season. Shoemaker grabbed 10 rebounds last Tuesday night in the ACC opener versus Virginia. Darius Songaila ranks second on the team in rebounding (6.5 rpg.).
Winning Streak Longest In The Modern Era
Dave Odom has had many good teams and numerous talented players. But until now, he's never had a team that has won 17 games in a row.
Wake's 17-game winning streak, which ended with a loss at North Carolina Saturday, is a modern day Deacon record. You have to go back to 1926 and 1927 to find a longer winning streak in WFU history (20 games). Wake won its final five games of the 1925-26 season and began the 1926-27 season by winning 15 straight.
Wake's 12-0 start was the fourth-best start in school history and the best since the 1996-97 team started 13-0.
O'Kelley Tied For 8th In ACC History With 255 Career Treys
Robert O'Kelley, with 255 career three-point field goals, ranks second in Wake Forest history and tied for eighth in ACC history for three-pointers made.
O'Kelley may not be able to catch Wake's all-time leader Randolph Childress (329 career three-pointers), but he will move up the ACC's all-time list. He needs four more three-pointers to pass former Georgia Tech standout Travis Best (258 career treys) for seventh place and 10 more three-pointers to pass former Duke guard Bobby Hurley (264) for sixth place.
Shooting 36.1 percent from three-point range, O'Kelley has made at least one three-pointer in 12 of 13 games this season. O'Kelley also ranks second at Wake for career three-point field goal attempts (705).
Dawson Among WFU's Most Prolific Three-Point Shooters
Junior Craig Dawson, who has 14 three-point field goals over the last five games, enters the Florida State game with 130 career three-point field goals, ranking fifth in WFU history. Dawson sank two treys Saturday night at North Carolina. Dawson ranks fifth at Wake Forest for career three-point field goal attempts (339).
Vidaurreta, Shoemaker Moving Up Rebounds List
Senior Rafael Vidaurreta, with 667 career rebounds, ranks 14th in Wake Forest career rebounding history. He needs 16 boards to pass Dave Budd for 13th place. He is also 33 rebounds shy of becoming the 11th player in Wake Forest history to garner 700 career rebounds.
Senior Josh Shoemaker (564 career rebounds) is ranked 21st on Wake's all-time rebounds chart after passing Kenny Green last Tuesday night. Shoemaker is 10 rebounds away from passing Jim Johnstone for 20th place.
Junior Darius Songaila (441 career rebounds) is on track to become the 26th Wake Forest player to grab 500 career boards.
Senior Trio Has Combined For 319 Career Games Played
With much of his senior season remaining, only 10 players in Wake Forest history have played in more games than Robert O'Kelley (110 games played). O'Kelley ranks 11th in WFU history for games played. Josh Shoemaker is hot on O'Kelley's trail with 109 games played, ranking 12th in school history. Rafael Vidaurreta ranks 16th with 103 games played.
Wake Likely To Redshirt Schoetz
Wake Forest coach Dave Odom would like to redshirt 7-0 freshman Dshamal Schoetz. Schoetz has been impressive, but could benefit greatly from a redshirt year, Odom said. The German native did not begin playing basketball until the age of 15.
Point Guards Combine For 82 Assists, 20 Turnovers
Wake Forest's predominant point guards -- juniors Broderick Hicks and Ervin Murray -- have an assist-to-turnover ratio that any coach would love.
With a combined 80 assists and just 20 turnovers between them, the duo has dished out four assists to go with every turnover. Murray leads the ACC in assists-to-turnovers ratio (4.40) with 44 assists and just 10 turnovers.
Hicks (38 assists, 10 turnovers) would rank second in the ACC in assists-to-turnovers ratio, but he doesn't have the minimum 3.0 assists per game to qualify.
Over the last six games, Murray has 21 assists and four turnovers. Hicks has not had a turnover in 34 minutes in the month of January. Senior Robert O'Kelley, the starter at big guard, and freshman A.W. Hamilton, also see action periodically at point guard.
Miscellaneous Notes
Craig Dawson is the nephew of NBA standout Jerry Stackhouse. "Uncle Jerry" was in attendance at the Nov. 28 game against Michigan. Dawson spent part of his Christmas holiday attending Stackhouse's wedding in Michigan.
Frank Burlison of FoxSports.com recently gave his national midseason awards out. He named Wake's Dave Odom the coach of the year. Dick Vitale, on his website, made Odom and Stanford's Mike Montgomery co-winners of a similar award.
Deacon assistant coach Barry Sanderson is the son of legendary and former Alabama coach, Wimp Sanderson.
Dave Odom's sons -- Ryan (American) and Lane (Missouri) -- are both working as Division I assistant coaches.
Wake Forest has won 14 consecutive November games. The last time the Deacs lost in November was a 59-48 loss to Temple in 1998.
The Deacons also finished the month of December undefeated. The last time Wake went undefeated in both November and December came during the 1996-97 season.
The Deacons have won seven straight season openers and are now 11-1 in season openers under Dave Odom following a Nov. 16 win over Mount St. Mary's. Wake is 69-28 all-time in season openers.
Wake Forest 8th In Sears Cup Standings
With fall sports competition completed, Wake Forest ranks eighth nationally in the Sears Directors' Cup standings. The Sears Cup is awarded annually to the school with the top overall performance in all sports. Wake Forest earned 162 points in the fall based on advancing to the Final Four in field hockey and with the women's soccer team earning an NCAA Tournament berth.
Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Odom
Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom (Guilford `65) owns a career record of 233-122 in 12 seasons with the Deacons, 271-164 in 15 seasons overall. Odom was the head coach at East Carolina for three seasons before taking over the Deacon program in 1989-90. The three-time ACC Coach of the Year has led Wake to 10 consecutive postseason appearances. Odom has already reached a pair of milestones this season:
On Nov. 18, Odom won his 223rd game at Wake Forest, passing Carl Tacy as the second-winningest coach in WFU history and the eighth-winningest coach in ACC history.
Odom needs six more ACC victories this season to become just the ninth person to win 100 ACC conference games.
