Final Home Game Is Wednesday vs. Georgia Tech
2/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2005
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Game 29
#4/4 Wake Forest (24-4/11-3) vs. Georgia Tech (16-9/7-7)
March 2, 2005 / 7:00 pm / Winston-Salem, NC / Lawrence Joel Coliseum (14,665) / ESPN
Television: ESPN.
Radio: Wake Forest/ISP Radio Network. Stan Cotten (play-by-play) and Mark Freidinger (color analysis) call the action. Chris Ferris is the producer/engineer.
Radio: XM Satellite Radio (nationally).
Records: Wake Forest is 24-4 overall and 11-3 in the ACC after a 90-68 win over visiting Virginia Sunday afternoon. Georgia Tech is 16-9 and 7-7 following a 76-72 road win at Miami on Saturday.
Rankings: Wake Forest is ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press poll and No. 4 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. Georgia Tech is receiving votes for the AP poll.
Coaches: Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy `72) is 91-33 (.734) in his fourth season with the Demon Deacons, 256-111 (.698) in his 12th season overall. Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt (St. John Fisher `85) is 92-63 in five seasons with the Yellow Jackets, 158-90 in eight seasons overall.
Series: Wake Forest leads, 30-27.
Officials: Announced on game day.
Final Week Of Regular Season Here; Deacons Host Jackets Wednesday
Wake Forest, which lost a 102-101 overtime thriller to Georgia Tech Jan. 27 in Atlanta, gets a rematch with the Yellow Jackets Wednesday night at Lawrence Joel Coliseum (7 pm/ESPN).
The fourth-ranked Demon Deacons, 24-4 overall and 11-3 in the ACC, remain in the hunt for their second ACC regular season title over the last three years. To win the title and earn the ACC Tournament's No. 1 seed, Wake Forest must beat Georgia Tech Wednesday and NC State on Sunday, and hope for a North Carolina loss.
Wake Forest is coming off a 90-68 win over visiting Virginia Sunday afternoon. Junior Justin Gray scored 20 points and the Deacons shot 61.0 percent from the field.
Georgia Tech, 16-9 and 7-7, is coming off a 76-72 win at Miami on Saturday. Guard Jarrett Jack (15.5 ppg) scored 21 points in the win over the Hurricanes. B.J. Elder (12.7 ppg), who did not play in the first Wake-Tech meeting, is back from his injury.
Wake Forest leads the all-time series, 30-27.
Today's Tip-Off
- Wednesday's game will be the final home game for four Deacon seniors -- Vytas Danelius, Taron Downey, Jamaal Levy and walk-on Scott Feather. Wake Forest also has two senior managers -- Jackie Harris and Brian Geraty.
- Wake Forest, 15-0 at home this season, is attempting to go undefeated at home for just the third time in Joel Coliseum history. The Deacons went 16-0 at home in 2003 and 14-0 in 1996.
- Over the last three seasons combined, the Deacons have won 33 ACC regular season games. Only Duke, with 34 victories, has won more.
Deacons Tackle Virginia, 90-68
Sophomore Chris Paul got pushed around and shoved to the court, but still managed to score 17 points as the sixth-ranked Demon Deacons stayed in contention for the Atlantic Coast Conference title with a 90-68 victory over Virginia on Sunday.
Eric Williams added 17 points and Vytas Danelius was 5-for-5 from the field and scored 13 points for the Deacons, who improved to 15-0 at home this season.
They emptied their bench late in the game and were chastised by the officials for raucously cheering when junior John Buck dunked with just seconds to go.
Devin Smith scored 22 points for Virginia (13-12, 4-10), while J.R. Reynolds and T.J. Bannister each had 15.
Virginia came out firing in the second half and sliced Wake Forest's lead to 46-41.
Wake Forest pulled it together behind senior Taron Downey, who ran the court and helped the Deacons pull away.
More From Sunday's Win vs. Virginia
- Wake Forest's field goal percentage (.610) tied for the highest percentage by a Deacon team in the Skip Prosser era.
- The Deacons shot 72.0 percent (18-of-25) in the second half, marking Wake's highest single-half field goal percentage since Feb. 6, 2002.
- Wake scored 80 points or more for the 13th time in 14 ACC games.
- The Deacons used their fifth different starting lineup of the season as all three senior scholarship players started.
Deacs Continue To Reach Win Milestones
- Wake Forest's 24 wins ties for the fourth-most single-season victories in school history.
- The Deacons have double-digit ACC wins for just the second time in the last eight years. Wake's 11 conference wins ties for the sixth-most ACC wins in school history.
- Wake Forest's 22-3 start was its best through 25 games in nearly 80 years -- since the 1926-27 team finished the season at 22-3.
- The Deacons have won 20 games or more in each of the last four seasons.
- Wake Forest clinched a winning season for the 15th consecutive year.
- The Deacons have won 91 games over the last four seasons combined -- all under coach Skip Prosser -- to average 22.8 wins per season.
- WFU's 91 wins over the last four years is the fourth-most victories over a four-year span in school history.
- The Deacons own a 15-game home court win streak. Wake is trying to go unbeaten at home for the third time since Joel Coliseum opened in 1989-90.
Tech Has Spoiled A Wake Streak Before
When Wake Forest met Georgia Tech in Winston-Salem last season (Jan. 20, 2004), the Deacons had a chance to tie the school record of 25 consecutive home court victories. The Yellow Jackets, however, won the game 73-66 to end the streak. Wake currently has a 15-game home court win streak.
Wake Forest-Georgia Tech Series History
- Wake Forest leads the all-time series, 30-27.
- Georgia Tech won the previous meeting, 102-101 in overtime, Jan. 27 in Atlanta.
- The Demon Deacons have won four of the last six meetings and nine of the last 13 meetings.
- Wake Forest is 11-4 all-time against the Yellow Jackets in Joel Coliseum. Last season, Georgia Tech beat the Deacons, 73-66, snapping Wake's 24-game home court win streak.
- Each of the last six meetings have been decided by less than 10 points.
- Wake takes its highest national ranking (4th) ever into a home game with Georgia Tech.
- Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser is 5-3 all-time against Georgia Tech.
- Yellow Jacket coach Paul Hewitt is 4-6 all-time against Wake Forest.
Deacon-Yellow Jacket Connections
- Deacon junior Chris Ellis is from the Atlanta area (Marietta) and played previously at Marietta High School.
- Ellis and junior Trent Strickland were both born in Atlanta.
- Wake's Justin Gray and Tech's Anthony Morrow both hail from Charlotte (NC).
- Georgia Tech guard Jarrett Jack played his junior season of high school basketball in North Carolina at Mount Zion Academy in Durham.
- John Pendergast, the P.A. announcer at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, is a Wake Forest graduate (many years ago). John's son, Tripp, is a senior at WFU, where he works in the media relations office.
- Chris Capo, an assistant in the Tech media relations office, is engaged to Joanna Sparkman, who previously worked in the Wake media relations office.
On Track To Break Scoring Margin Mark
Wake Forest, which has won 17 games by 11 points or more, owns the highest scoring margin (+12.8) in school history. The Deacons own the 13th-highest scoring margin in the nation.
Deacons Hot From Behind Arc
Over the last three games, Wake Forest is 20-of-37 (54.1 percent) from three-point range. The Deacons are shooting 40.8 percent for the season, which ranks eighth nationally and second in the ACC.
Deacons At No. 4 In The Polls
Wake Forest jumped two spots, from No. 6 to No. 4 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls this week.
The Deacons have been in the AP top 25 for 49 consecutive weeks. Only five schools have a longer current streak. The school record for consecutive weeks ranked is 54, set from the start of the 1994-95 season through March 10, 1997.
The Deacons have been ranked in the top 10 for 16 consecutive weeks. The school record is 19 weeks, from March of 1996 to March of 1997.
Wake Forest was ranked No. 1 earlier this season for the first time in school history.
The Deacons have been ranked no lower than seventh all season.
Wake is ranked No. 4 in the CollegeRPI.com ratings, No. 4 in the Sagarin Ratings and No. 3 by CBS Sportsline.
Wake Forest 6-3 vs. Ranked Teams
- Wake Forest is 6-3 this season against nationally-ranked teams with wins over then No. 18 Arizona, No. 14 Texas, No. 25 Virginia, No. 3 North Carolina, No. 20 Cincinnati and No. 4 Duke, and losses on the road at No. 5 Illinois, No. 22 Georgia Tech and No. 7 Duke.
- Wake's wins against ranked teams have come at home (Texas, UNC and Duke), on the road (UVa and Cincinnati) and at a neutral site (Arizona).
- Wake Forest also defeated George Washington and Maryland, both of which have been in and out of the polls all season.
- The Deacs have their most wins against ranked teams since going 6-4 in 1996-97 -- the last season Wake posted a winning record against ranked clubs.
- The Deacons defeated two ranked teams before Christmas for the first time in school history.
Nation's Toughest Schedule?
Wake Forest's schedule is proving to be one of the strongest in the nation:
- Wake Forest, according to the Sagarin Ratings, has the nation's 11th-most difficult schedule.
- Five of the 25 teams in the Associated Press poll are Wake Forest opponents -- #1 Illinois, #2 North Carolina, #6 Duke, #12 Arizona and #22 Cincinnati.
- Five other Deacon opponents are receiving votes for one or both major polls.
- Wake Forest is the only ACC school to play four games against non-conference ranked opponents.
- The Deacons have already played nine teams that were ranked at tip-off -- Illinois, Arizona, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Duke (twice).
Prosser: Nine Straight 20-Win Seasons
Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser gained his 250th career victory Feb. 2 against Duke. Prosser is now 256-111 (.698) in 12 seasons as a head coach.
More on Prosser:
- Prosser's teams have won 20 games or more in nine consecutive seasons.
- His winning percentage since joining the ACC (.734) is the fifth-highest in the 52-year history of the league. Only Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Vic Bubas and Bill Guthridge produced higher winning percentages.
- Prosser's record in ACC play is 42-20 (.677).
- Prosser is the only coach in NCAA history to lead three schools to the NCAA Tournament in his first season at each school -- Loyola (MD), Xavier and Wake Forest.
Three Deacs Reach 1,000 This Season
Senior Taron Downey scored his 1,000th career point Feb. 10 against NC State, becoming the third Demon Deacon this season and the 44th player in Wake history to eclipse 1,000 career points.
Junior Eric Williams scored his 1,000th career point Feb. 2. Junior Justin Gray scored his 1,000th point Dec. 30 against North Carolina A&T in just his 66th career game.
Senior Vytas Danelius has scored 949 career points and sophomore Chris Paul has 880 points in just two seasons.
Only six schools have produced more 1,000-point scorers than Wake Forest.
Deacons 6-1 In The Close Ones
Wake has played its share of barn-burners this season:
- Wake Forest has played seven games decided by five points or less and the Deacons are 6-1 in those games.
- Wake Forest has won nail-biters at home (89-88 over No. 14 Texas and 92-89 over No. 4 Duke), on the road (67-64 at Temple, 74-70 at Cincinnati and 68-63 at Miami) and at neutral sites (63-60 vs. No. 18 Arizona in New York).
- In Skip Prosser's four years, the Deacs are 11-5 in games decided by three points or less, 22-10 in games decided by five points or less and 39-20 in games decided by 10 points or less.
- The Deacons have played two overtime games this season.
Keys To Wake Forest's Success
When Wake Forest is playing winning basketball, the Deacons are also on top of their game defensively:
- Opponents have shot 50 percent or better against Wake Forest five times this season, including all four losses.
- Four times this season Deacon opponents have scored 91 points or more. All four of those resulted in loses. In fact, Wake opponents average 96.5 points per game in the Deacons' four losses.
- The Deacs have been out-rebounded four times this season. Two of those games resulted in losses.
- Wake averages 4.4 more steals and 3.3 more blocked shots in victories than in Deacon losses.
Lighting Up The Scoreboard
- Wake Forest ranks third nationally in scoring (86.0 points per game) -- the Deacons' highest scoring average since 1976 and the third-highest scoring average in school history.
- In ACC games, the Deacons rank first in the league in scoring at 88.9 points per game.
- Wake scored more than 90 points in three straight games (from Jan. 27-Feb. 2) for the first time since 1993.
- The Deacons have scored 80 points or more in 18 out of the last 20 games and in 19 of the last 22 games.
- Wake Forest has scored at least 81 points in 13 of 14 ACC games.
- Wake has scored at least 100 points twice this season and eight times in the Skip Prosser era.
Wake Forest Undefeated When...
... (24-0) when holding opponents to less than 90 points.
... (23-0) when holding opponents below 50 percent shooting.
... (23-0) when leading with 5:00 remaining.
Deacs Own 15-Game Home Court Streak
Wake Forest has always enjoyed success within the friendly confines of Lawrence Joel Coliseum. The Demon Deacons are 201-42 (.827) all-time at The Joel.
That winning percentage is even higher recently. In Skip Prosser's four seasons with the Deacons, Wake is 56-6 (.903), including an 15-0 record so far this season. The Deacs' last home loss came on March 6, 2004 -- an 81-70 loss to NC State.
The Deacons have not lost a home non-conference game since Feb. 9, 2002 -- a 103-94 loss to sixth-ranked Cincinnati in Prosser's first season with the Deacons. Under Prosser, Wake is 30-1 at home against non-ACC competition.
Wake Forest won its 200th all-time game in Joel Coliseum Feb. 23 against Longwood.
Small Enrollment, Big Crowds
Wake Forest has an undergraduate enrollment of just 4,037 (6,444 including graduate students), so one might think there would be plenty of empty seats in the 14,665-seat Lawrence Joel Coliseum for home games.
However, near-capacity crowds are the norm at home games. Last year an average of 13,197 fans attended Deacon home games and that number should be even higher this year. Based on last year's numbers, Wake Forest's attendance was 204.8 percent of its total enrollment last year. No other ACC school had a percentage higher than 80.1 percent last year.
Out of the 4,037 undergraduate students, nearly 2,500 are members of the Screamin' Demons, Wake's student fan club.
"We hadn't faced a crowd like this all season. Some people don't think a crowd can affect anybody's game but when people are rowdy and jumping around it's hard to focus."
-- North Carolina's Rashad McCants
Paul In Line For Several Awards
- Chris Paul is a midseason finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy and the Bob Cousy Award.
- An Academic All-District selection, Paul is a solid contender for Academic All-America honors.
- Paul has been named ACC Player of the Week twice this season.
- He was the ESPN.com National Player of the Week and ESPN's Big Man On Campus Jan. 17.
- Dick Vitale named Paul his mid-season National Player of the Year.
- Paul was named the co-Male Athlete of the Year by USA Basketball, an award he shares with North Carolina's Sean May.
- He was the leading vote-getter for the Associated Press Preseason All-America team.
- Paul edged NC State's Julius Hodge for pre-season ACC Player of the Year honors by a 38-to-35 count.
Paul Named Academic All-District
Wake Forest sophomore Chris Paul has been selected to the 2005 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District III Men's Basketball University Division Team, announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
To be eligible for the team, student athletes must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher. Academic All-America selections will draw from the pool of All-District teams later this year.
Joining Paul on the All-District III team were Brian Bender of Gardner-Webb, Will Emerson of Mercer, Alex Loughton of Old Dominion and Shawan Robinson of Clemson.
Gray, Paul On Wooden Midseason List
Wake Forest guards Justin Gray and Chris Paul are two of 30 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, which goes annually to the nation's top player. Gray and Paul are two of eight ACC players on the list of 30.
Making `Em When It Counts
Wake Forest, which shoots 68.8 percent from the free throw line, has shot 74.0 percent (125-169) from the line in the final five minutes of games this season. Senior Taron Downey shoots 87 percent (20-of-23).
Deacons Set NCAA Free Throw Record
Wake Forest broke an NCAA record Jan. 18 at Florida State by making its 50th consecutive free throw without a miss. The Demon Deacons made an ACC record 32-of-32 free throws against North Carolina Jan. 15, then made their first 18 attempts at Florida State.
The previous record of 49 consecutive free throws made was held by Indiana State in 1991.
With their 32-of-32 performance Jan. 15, the Deacons set a school, ACC and Lawrence Joel Coliseum record. Wake came within two free throws of tying the NCAA single-game record.
Stanley Redshirting 2004-05
Cameron Stanley, the only freshman on the Demon Deacon roster, is recovering from a torn ACL suffered last December and will redshirt this season. Stanley has practiced with the team all season, but is still trying to get completely comfortable with the knee.
New Banners On Display
Wake Forest has new banners in Lawrence Joel Coliseum, recognizing all former Demon Deacons who have their jerseys retired. In addition, there are banners for NCAA Tournament participation, ACC championships and ACC regular season titles.
Paul Receives USA Basketball Honor
USA Basketball teammates Sean May of North Carolina and Wake Forest's Chris Paul, who helped lead the 2004 USA World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team to a gold medal, were selected USA Basketball co-Male Athletes of the Year by the USA Basketball Executive Committee. The announcement was made Dec. 28.
"I'm still trying to figure out how this happened," said a stunned Paul. "This is such an honor. Sean is so deserving of this, he had a great summer. He was huge for our team. But I know that neither Sean nor I could have done this without our teammates."
As the co-USA Basketball Male Athletes of the Year, May and Paul have been nominated to the U.S. Olympic Committee for consideration of its 2004 Male Athlete of the Year Award.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Wake Forest began ACC play 4-0 for the first time since 1996-97 -- Tim Duncan's senior season.
- Wake's 89-70 win at Virginia Jan. 2 marked the Deacons' largest margin of victory in Charlottesville since 1962.
- The Deacons' 103-68 win at Clemson Jan. 8 was their largest margin of victory ever in an ACC road game.
- Wake's 81-66 win over Maryland Jan. 11 was its largest margin of victory against the Terrapins in 11 years.
