Deacons Open ACC Play Against Virginia Tech on Sunday
12/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2007
| Game No. 11: Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech | |
| Records: | Demon Deacons (7-3) vs. Hokies (6-4) |
| Rankings: | Wake Forest and Virginia Tech are not ranked in either major national poll. |
| When: | Sunday, December 23 at 5:30 p.m. EST |
| Where: | Joel Coliseum, Winston-Salem, N.C. (14,665) |
| Broadcast: | FSN Sunday Night Hoops. Tim Brando (play-by-play), Mike Gminski (color) and Jenn Hildreth (sidelines) have the call. |
| Radio: | Wake Forest/ISP Network, XM Radio and on the internet. Stan Cotten (play-by-play) and Mark Freidinger (analysis) call the action. |
| Game Notes: | |
| Preview: | Wake Forest is set to open up ACC play on Sunday against Virginia Tech. The 5:30 p.m., pre-Christmas matchup between the Demon Deacons and Hokies will be broadcast on FSN's Sunday Night Hoops. This marks the second straight season Wake and Virginia Tech have played each other in a December ACC opener. Last season, the Hokies took down the Deacons, 63-60, on Dec. 17 in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech also bounced Wake Forest from the 2007 ACC Tournament, winning 71-52 in the quarterfinal round. The Deacs enter this season's showdown 7-3 overall. Wake is coming off a 74-61 defeat of South Florida on Wednesday. The Deacons never trailed and led by as many as 21 points in a victory that snapped the Bulls' seven-game winning streak. Jamie Skeen scored a career-high 17 points to lead Wake Forest. James Johnson turned in a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Ishmael Smith and Jeff Teague dished out five assists apiece. Virginia Tech comes to town at 6-4, following a 58-46 defeat of Liberty on Wednesday. The Hokies were led by Deron Washington's 17 points and seven rebounds. VT has won four of its past five games. On paper, tonight's contest does not look to be an offensive shootout but could prove to be a defensive battle. Virginia Tech and Wake Forest are ranked second and third respectively in the ACC in scoring defense. Offensively, the Deacons are 10th in the conference in scoring, while the Hokies are ranked 11th. |
| Next Up: | Wake Forest will take a week off for the holidays before hosting Air Force on Sunday, Dec. 30, at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports South. The Deacs will ring in the New Year with Presbyterian on Jan. 2 before hosting nationally-ranked BYU on Jan.8. |
