Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Look To Stay Undefeated In ACC
1/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Wake Forest looks to remain undefeated in conference play as it travels to Virginia on Tuesday.
The Demon Deacons (13-3, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won five consecutive games to keep pace with fourth-ranked Maryland as the only undefeated teams in the conference.
Wake Forest got 46 points from its frontcourt Saturday to lead them to a 96-55 rout of Clemson, its seventh straight win over the Tigers.
Antwan Scott led Wake's frontcourt charge with 17 points, forward Josh Howard had 16, Darius Songaila 14, and reserve forward Vytas Danelius added 11 points and 13 rebounds - the most by any Wake player this season.
"It is very early in the ACC season so all it means is we can finish 3-13 in this league," Songaila said after the Deamon Deacons ran up their highest point total in a conference game since 1993. "I've seen too many things happen to a team to get excited about it."
Wake has earned its three victories with ease, beating conference opponents by an average of 28 points.
First-year coach Skip Prosser thinks his team is only getting better.
"I think we played better in this one," Prosser said. "We've been talking about not looking at the scoreboard, to just keep attacking and attacking, and we did that here."
The Demon Deacons will be facing a Virginia team that began the season with nine straight wins before losing two of its last three. The Cavaliers (10-2, 1-2) are 1-2 in conference play with their losses coming against North Carolina State and Clemson.
Roger Mason Jr. scored 18 points and sank four straight free throws in the final 41.1 seconds to seal a 71-67 victory for Virginia over the Tar Heels on Saturday. Mason was 4-for-13 from the field and was just 1-for-8 on 3-pointers prior to his winning free throws.
"I looked at it as another opportunity," said Mason, a 91 percent free-throw shooter who made 9-of-10 against the Tar Heels and is 57-for-63 this season.
Mason leads the Cavaliers with averages of 18.3 points and 5.2 assists. m
