Deacons Face Spiders Saturday, Then Hit Books
12/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2003
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Game #5 #18/16 Wake Forest Deacons (4-0) vs. Richmond Spiders (3-2)
Saturday, Dec. 6 / 4:00 p.m. / Lawrence Joel Coliseum (14,665) / Winston-Salem, NC / RSN-TV
Tip-Off: 4:00 p.m.
Television: Regional Sports Network. Mike Hogewood (play-by-play) and Bobby Cremins (color analysis) call the action. Ken Neal produces.
Radio: Deacon Radio Network (ISP). Stan Cotten (play-by-play) and Mark Freidinger (color analysis) call the action.
Records: Wake Forest is 4-0 after beating Indiana 100-67 Tuesday night in Winston-Salem as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Richmond is 3-2 with a home game Wednesday night against Virginia Commonwealth.
Rankings: Wake Forest is ranked 18th in the Associated Press poll and 16th in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Richmond is receiving votes in both polls.
Coaches: Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy '72) is 50-19 in three seasons with the Deacons, 215-97 in 11 seasons overall. Richmond coach Jerry Wainwright (Colorado College '68) is 19-15 in two seasons with the Spiders, 155-118 in 10 seasons overall.
SID Contacts: Wake Forest assistant athletic director/media relations Dean Buchan; Richmond basketball SID Simon Gray.
Websites: Wake Forest -- WakeForestSports.com; Richmond -- RichmondSpiders.com.
The Series: Wake Forest leads, 32-9.
Officials: Announced on game day.
On Deck: Wake Forest takes a break for final exams before playing at SMU Dec. 15. Richmond plays at South Florida next Saturday.
Deacons Face Spiders, Hit The Books
Wake Forest, coming off an impressive 33-point victory over Indiana Tuesday night, hosts Richmond Saturday afternoon before final exams begin on Monday (4:00 p.m./Regional Sports TV). The Demon Deacons, 4-0, got a career-high 25 points from sophomore Eric Williams and career-highs of 20 points, eight assists and five steals by freshman Chris Paul as Wake whipped visiting Indiana, 100-67, on Tuesday. Richmond, 3-2, will try to break a two-game losing streak Wednesday night against cross-city rival Virginia Commonwealth. The Spiders won their first three games of the season before falling to South Carolina and UAB. The Deacs will not play again until Dec. 15 at SMU.
Noteworthy
- Wake Forest puts its 19-game homecourt winning streak on the line Saturday. The Deacons haven't lost a game in Joel Coliseum since Feb. 21, 2002, vs. Duke.
- The Deacons are at less than full strength. Chris Ellis (foot) hasn't played this season. Vytas Danelius (sprained ankle) missed the Nov. 22 Elon game. Todd Hendley (stomach virus) did not play Nov. 29 versus Yale. Freshman Kyle Visser (twisted ankle) missed Tuesday's game against Indiana.
- Wake has won the last 11 meetings with Richmond, but the Spiders have enjoyed past success against the Deacons. UR won four of seven meetings during a stretch in the 1980s and three of the last four meetings have been decided by six points or less.
Big E, Little C Spark Deacon Victory
Sophomore center Eric Williams poured in a career-high 25 points and freshman guard Chris Paul had career highs of 20 points, eight assists and five steals as Wake Forest pounced on Indiana, 100-67, Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Joel Coliseum. Wake Forest shot 56.3 percent in the first half (50.7 percent for the game) and jumped out to a comfortable 51-29 halftime lead. In the second half, Wake led by as many as 38 points (85-47).
"He (Skip Prosser) could have made it 50 if he wanted to," Indiana coach Mike Davis said.
Paul had a remarkably efficient night. He made 7-of-9 field goal attempts, and added his eight assists and five steals in 28 minutes of action. Junior Vytas Danelius came off the bench for 13 points and junior Jamaal Levy pulled down a season-best 12 rebounds. Wake Forest out-rebounded the Hoosiers, 40-37. Ten of the Deacons' 13 steals came in the first half.
More From Tuesday's Win Over Indiana
- Wake Forest's 33-point win was the largest margin of victory in the five-year history of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
- The Deacons' also broke a Challenge record for most points in a game (100).
- Wake Forest improved to 5-0 all-time in ACC/Big Ten Challenge play.
- Wake Forest broke out gold uniforms for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
- The Deacons shot 50 percent (actually .507) for the third straight game.
- Wake collected a season-high 21 offensive rebounds.
- The Deacons turned in their best three-point shooting effort of the season (.467, 7-of-15).
Scoring Hasn't Been A Problem
With the ACC's leading scorer from a year ago -- Josh Howard -- now in the NBA, Wake Forest has managed to put plenty of points on the board:
- The Deacons lead the ACC and rank eighth in the nation in scoring offense (92.0 ppg.) even though no Wake Forest players rank among the top 10 in the ACC in scoring.
- Wake's lowest scoring total of the year was 85 points in the season opener against Memphis. Since then, the Deacons have averaged 94.3 points per game.
- While Wake's scoring average will certainly go down, the 92.0 points per game is 4.2 points higher than the school record of 87.8 set in 1976.
- When Wake Forest scored 100 points Dec. 2 against Indiana, it marked the 60th time in school history the Deacons have hit the century mark.
- The Deacons have scored 100 points or more in Lawrence Joel Coliseum just six times. Five of those have come under coach Skip Prosser.
- The 100 points against Indiana broke an ACC/Big Ten Challenge record for single-game points.
Injuries Have Hampered Deacons
Wake Forest has seen four key members of the roster miss games this year with a variety of injuries and illnesses. Freshman Kyle Visser twisted his left ankle in Sunday's practice and did not play against Indiana on Tuesday. He is expected to return to action this week. Freshman Chris Ellis broke a bone in his right foot during Wake's first practice of the season on Nov. 18. He has not played this season and is hopeful of returning in the next two weeks. Junior Vytas Danelius sprained his left ankle and foot Nov. 21 in practice and missed the next game against Elon. Freshman Todd Hendley missed the Nov. 29 Yale game because of a stomach virus.
Wake 18th, 16th In National Polls
Wake Forest remained at No. 18 in the Associated Press poll and moved up from No. 18 to No. 16 in the ESPN/USA Today poll this week. The Deacons have been ranked in the AP poll for 17 consecutive weeks dating back to last season. Wake has been ranked in the AP poll 31 times in 38 weeks under Skip Prosser. At this point last year, Wake Forest was not ranked. The Deacons debuted in the polls on Dec. 23 last year and stayed in the top 25 the rest of the season. Three Wake Forest opponents are ranked in the top 10 -- (6) Duke, (8) Texas and (10) North Carolina. Deacon opponents Georgia Tech (13th) and Cincinnati (19th) are also in the AP poll. Maryland is ranked 25th in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
Deacons Are A Balanced Bunch So Far
- Five different Deacons average scoring in double figures and eight players average at least six points per game. Eight different players have scored in double figures at least once and three different Deacs have scored 20 or more points in a game.
- Jamaal Levy (8.8 rpg.) leads the Deacons in rebounding, but six different players average at least three rebounds per game.
- Ten different Deacons have made at least one three-point field goal.
- Six players in the rotation are shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
Deacon-Spider Series History
- Wake Forest leads the all-time series, 32-9. - The Deacons have won the last 11 meetings. - Wake and Richmond will meet for the fourth straight year and for the 13th time since the 1989-90 season.
- Wake Forest is 6-0 against Richmond in Lawrence Joel Coliseum and 12-1 overall against the Spiders in Winston-Salem.
- Richmond's last win against the Deacons was a 51-49 decision at UR in 1989-90.
- The two teams first met back in 1920-21.
- Wake Forest is 75-59 all-time against teams currently in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Last season the Deacons beat two A-10 teams -- Richmond and Temple. Wake has played every current A-10 team except for Fordham.
- Deacon head coach Skip Prosser is 2-0 all-time against Richmond.
Wake Forest-Richmond Connections
- Jerry Wainwright, Richmond's head coach, was an assistant coach at Wake Forest for nine years. He coached under Bob Staak from 1986-89 and Dave Odom from 1989-94 before going on to serve as head coach at UNC-Wilmington.
- Wainwright, like Deacon head coach Skip Prosser, once served as an assistant coach at Xavier. Wainwright was a Xavier assistant coach in 1984-85 under coach Bob Staak.
- As head coach at UNCW for eight years, Wainwright coached against Wake Forest twice. He went 0-2 against the Deacons, losing both games by a combined five points. His Seahawk team lost to Prosser's first Wake Forest team, 79-78, in the opening game of the 2001-02 season in Winston-Salem as part of the Preseason NIT.
- Deacon junior Taron Downey attended prep school in Virginia at Fork Union Military Academy.
- Wake sophomore Trent Strickland also attended prep school in Virginia at Hargrave Military Academy.
- Wake Forest sophomores Justin Gray and Richard Joyce both played their finals seasons of high school basketball in Virginia at Oak Hill Academy.
- Deacon coach Skip Prosser made his college head coaching debut in the commonwealth of Virginia when his Loyola (MD) team won at William & Mary on Nov. 29, 1993.
- Wake Forest assistant athletic director/sports medicine Greg Collins earned his Masters at Richmond and worked as a trainer for the Spiders.
Football Across The Street
While Wake Forest hosts Richmond Saturday, across the street at Groves Stadium WFU will be hosting the state 4AA and 4A state championship football games.
Homecourt Streak At 19
Wake Forest has not lost a home game since Feb. 21, 2002 -- a streak of 19 consecutive wins. The Deacons went 16-0 at home last season and are 2-0 this year.
The 19-game streak is the fifth-longest current streak in Division I.
Gray Streaks
Guard Justin Gray may be a sophomore, but remember, he has played in just 27 career games. After missing 10 games last season with a broken jaw, Gray has made at least one three-point field goal in every game (16 consecutive games). Over his last five games dating back to last season, Gray has made 13 three-point field goals. Gray also ranks among the ACC leaders with 12 consecutive games scoring in double figures.
Downey Climbs In Record Books
Junior guard Taron Downey, at his current pace, will have his name in the Wake Forest record books:
Downey's career free throw percentage (83.8) is the fourth-highest in school history.
He is 15 three-point field goals away from becoming the 11th player in Wake Forest history to make 100 career three-pointers.
With 206 career assists, Downey will become just the eighth player in Wake history to record 300 career assists.
Paul Making Early Impact
Wake Forest guard Chris Paul is establishing himself as one of the top freshmen in the ACC and the college basketball world. Consider:
- He has started every game at point guard and leads the team in minutes played (29.0 mpg.).
- Dec. 2 against Indiana, Paul had career highs for points (20), assists (8), steals (5) and three-point field goals (2).
- Paul made the first 14 free throw attempts of his career and now ranks third in the ACC in free throw percentage (.895).
- He leads the team, leads all ACC freshmen and ranks fifth in the ACC overall in assists per game (5.25).
- Paul leads the team and is second in the ACC in steals per game (3.50).
- With 21 assists and just four turnovers in 116 minutes, Paul ranks second in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.25).
- The shortest player on the Deacon roster (6-0), Paul averages 3.5 rebounds per game and has two blocked shots.
- Paul's eight assists against Indiana Dec. 2 tied for the fourth-most ever by a Wake Forest freshman.
Statistically Speaking
- Wake Forest leads the ACC in six different statistical categories -- scoring (92.0), scoring margin (+27.2), three-point field goal percentage (.426), steals (12.5), turnover margin (+9.0), assist-turnover ratio (1.41) and offensive rebounds (17.0).
- Two of the top four players in the ACC in assist-turnover ratio are Chris Paul (2nd) and Taron Downey (4th).
- The Deacons lead the ACC and rank eighth nationally in scoring.
- Wake Forest leads the ACC and is fourth nationally in scoring margin (+27.2).
- Wake leads the ACC and ranks 20th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.426).
Life Without Josh
Without the 2003 unanimous ACC Player of the Year, Josh Howard, in the lineup, Wake Forest has a different look this season. This year's Deacons are holding their own in rebounding (+5.3 margin), but they haven't been the dominating team that led the nation in rebounding last season. However, this year's team seems to take better care of the basketball. Last year Wake ranked eighth in the ACC in turnover margin. This year's team ranks first. This year's team also ranks first in assist-turnover ratio.