Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Take Momentum To Georgia Tech
2/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2007
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Wake Forest Takes A Little Momentum Into Wednesday's Game At Georgia Tech
Wake Forest, which has won two straight games and three of its last four games, faces a difficult road test Wednesday night in Atlanta against Georgia Tech (7:00 p.m./ESPNU).
The Demon Deacons, 13-13 overall and 4-9 in the ACC, won a pair of home league games last week. Wake Forest beat Clemson (67-65) on Wednesday and Miami (74-69) on Saturday to reach the .500 mark overall for the first time in nearly a month.
Senior center Kyle Visser, one of the nation's most improved players and a candidate for the All-ACC team, has led the Deacons all season. Visser (17.3 ppg and 7.2 rpg) ranks in the top 10 in the ACC in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots.
Georgia Tech, 17-9 and 5-7, is coming off a 71-62 loss at Duke Sunday afternoon. Anthony Morrow had 16 points and Javaris Crittenton added 10 before fouling out to lead the Yellow Jackets.
Tech is led by a pair of freshmen -- Javaris Crittenton (14.3 ppg) and Thaddeus Young (13.6 ppg).
Wake Forest leads the all-time series, 33-28, including an 85-75 win over the Yellow Jackets in Winston-Salem on Jan. 30. The Deacons are looking for their first win in Atlanta since 2004.
Out Of Basement, Deacons Look For More
After winning a pair of ACC games last week, Wake Forest is no longer in 12th place in the league standings and the Deacons are hungry to taste more success:
- Wake Forest, 4-9 in the ACC, would join a pack of three other teams with five league victories if the Deacons win at Georgia Tech.
- A win Wednesday would push Wake Forest over the .500 mark for the first time since it was 9-8 on Jan. 8.
- Wake Forest, with a win, would be more optimistic about earning its 17th consecutive postseason bid -- the longest current streak in the ACC.
- The Deacons are looking for their first ACC road win since Jan. 6 at Miami.
- Wake Forest is looking for its first season sweep of the series with Georgia Tech since 2003.
- The Deacons are looking to avoid their first losing season since 1990.
- The Deacons are trying to avoid finishing last in the ACC in consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
- Wake has already secured its second straight losing record in ACC play. The last time the Deacons had losing ACC records in back-to-back seasons came in 1999 and 2000.
- Wake Forest needs one win to avoid last year's mark of 17 losses, which was the sixth-most defeats in school history.
Wake Forest-Georgia Tech Series History
- Wake Forest leads the all-time series, 33-28.
- Wake won this season's previous meeting, 85-75, Jan. 30th in Winston-Salem.
- The Demon Deacons and Yellow Jackets have split a pair of regular season meetings in each of the three previous seasons.
- Wake Forest has won seven out of the last 10 meetings.
- Wake Forest is 14-4 against the Jackets in Joel Coliseum.
- Wake Forest has won the last three meetings and seven of the last nine meetings in Winston-Salem.
- Georgia Tech is 19-9 against the Deacons in games played in Atlanta.
- Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser is 8-4 all-time against Georgia Tech.
- Yellow Jacket coach Paul Hewitt is 5-9 all-time against the Demon Deacons.
- Wake Forest is 38-31 all-time against teams from the Peach State, including a home loss to Georgia on Dec. 2. The Deacons lost to Georgia in basketball the same day the Wake football team beat Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship.
Deacon-Yellow Jacket Connections
- Wake Forest has one player from Georgia on its roster -- sophomore Shamaine Dukes (Cuthbert, Ga.).
- Georgia Tech has one North Carolinian on its roster -- junior Anthony Morrow (Charlotte). Wake Forest freshman Jamie Skeen is also from Charlotte.
- Morrow was North Carolina's high school player of the year in 2004. Skeen won the award in 2005.
- In 2003, Wake Forest had the ACC Player of the Year (Josh Howard) and Tech had the ACC Rookie of the Year (Chris Bosh).
- Both schools' radio rights belong to Winston-Salem-based ISP.
