Basketball Gameday - Wake Forest vs. UNC Greensboro
12/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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| Wake Forest vs. UNC Greensboro Wednesday, Dec. 15 | Winston-Salem, N.C. | Lawrence Joel Coliseum |
Wake Forest Game Notes  | UNCG Game Notes | | Radio: Listen Live | TV: ESPNU | Tickets |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest will look to rebound from Sunday's loss, as the Demon Deacons welcome in Triad-rival UNC Greensboro on Wednesday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPNU and can also be heard on the Wake Forest Sports Network from IMG College.
The Demon Deacons (5-4) are coming off an 81-69 loss to UNC Wilmington on Sunday afternoon in Greensboro. The Seahawks went 14-for-27 from 3-point range to snap the Deacons' three-game winning streak.
Gary Clark continued to be a bright spot for Wake Forest, coming off the bench to score a game-high 20 points. Clark went 4-for-6 from 3-point range and currently leads the country in 3-point shooting at 70.4 percent.
As a team, the Deacons lead the ACC and rank fourth nationally in 3-point percentage with a mark of 44.7 percent.
Transfer Nikita Mescheriakov made his Deacon debut on Sunday, finishing with seven points and four rebounds off the bench.
UNC Greensboro (0-8, 0-2 SoCon) is coming off a week-long break. The Spartans last played on Wednesday, Dec. 8, when they fell at Maryland, 99-56. This will be UNCG's fourth of seven total games against the ACC this season. The Spartans will play at Clemson on Sunday.
Wake Forest has won all five of its previous meetings with UNCG. The Deacons earned a 75-60 win at the Greensboro Coliseum last season, which marked the team's first meeting since 1999.
The Deacons are in a stretch that sees them play three games in seven days, including a trip to Xavier on Saturday.
Wake Forest One of ACC's Best Shooting Teams
Through nine games, Wake Forest is one of the ACC's best shooting teams. The Deacons lead the ACC in 3-point percentage (44.7%) and free throw percentage (77.1%) and are fifth in overall field goal percentage (46.2%).
Next Up...
Wake Forest will travel to Cincinnati to face Xavier in the second annual Skip Prosser Classic on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 8 p.m. The Deacons' first true road game of the season will be televised on CBS College Sports. Wake will then host Presbyterian on Tuesday, Dec. 21, before breaking for the holidays.
| STATISTICAL COMPARISON | ||
| Wake | UNCG | |
| Overall Record | 5-4 | 0-8 |
| Conference Record | 0-0 | 0-2 |
| Scoring Offense | 75.0 | 68.2 |
| Scoring Defense | 73.9 | 90.6 |
| Scoring Margin | +1.1 | -22.4 |
| Rebounding Offense | 36.0 | 33.4 |
| Rebounding Defense | 36.7 | 38.0 |
| Rebound Margin | -0.7 | -4.6 |
| FG Percentage | .462 | .411 |
| 3-pt FG Percentage | .447 | .346 |
| FT Percentage | .771 | .675 |
| FG Percentage Defense | .428 | .521 |
| 3-Pointers Per Game | 7.4 | 5.5 |
| Assists Ger Game | 12.3 | 11.2 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 17.0 | 18.6 |
| Turnover Margin | -4.9 | -3.0 |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Steals Per Game | 5.0 | 6.5 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 7.0 | 2.2 |
Last Time Out
UNC Wilmington shot 51 percent from the field, including a 14-for-27 mark from 3-point range, to send Wake Forest to a 81-69 loss Sunday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Deacons saw their three-game winning streak come to an end, as the Seahawks posted their first win in 13 all-time games against Wake Forest.
Gary Clark came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points. Clark went 4-of-6 from 3-point range and pulled down five rebounds.
Ari Stewart and C.J. Harris also scored in double figures for the Deacons, with Stewart notching 15 points and eight rebounds and Harris recording 12 points and six assists.
Nikita Mescheriakov, who sat out the past year after transferring from Georgetown, saw his first action at Wake Forest. Mescheriakov finished with seven points and four rebounds.
UNC Wilmington jumped out to the early advantage in the first half, making four of its first five field goal attempts to take a 12-5 lead at the first media timeout.
The Seahawks took control of the game with a 19-6 run late in the first half that gave the home squad a 37-25 advantage. The Deacons were able to get as close as seven early in the second period.
Wake Forest shot 49 percent (24-of-49) from the field, including an 8-for-16 mark from 3-point range. The Deacons also out-rebounded the Seahawks, 32-26.
Mescheriakov Make Demon Deacon Debut
Redshirt junior transfer Nikita Mescheriakov made his Wake Forest debut on Sunday, Dec. 12, against UNC Wilmington.
The Minsk, Belarus, native finished with seven points, four rebounds and an assist in 18 minutes off the bench.
Mescheriakov transferred from Georgetown University prior to the spring semester last season.
The left-handed forward played in 30 games with eight starts at Georgetown. As a redshirt freshman in 2008-09, Mescheriakov averaged 2.7 points and started the final nine games of the year.
What's Up Next...
Following the UNCG game, Wake Forest will play its first true road game of the season when the Deacons take on Xavier on Saturday, Dec. 18, in the second annual Skip Prosser Classic at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
The Deacons won the inaugural event, 96-92 in double overtime, last season in Winston-Salem. Xavier is 6-2 on the season and will be coming off an eight-day break after beating Butler on Dec. 9.
Following the Xavier game, Wake Forest will return home to host Presbyterian on Tuesday, Dec. 21. The Deacons are 2-0 all-time against the Blue Hose, with the first win coming way back in 1927-28 and the second in 2007-08.
Presbyterian is 3-6 on the season entering Wednesday's home game against Jacksonville State. Wake Forest will have a seven-day holiday break following the Presby game.
From Hitting The Books To Hitting The Hardwood
The Deacons are enjoying a little bit lighter load these days after finishing up final exams last week. Wake was off for seven days to focus on the team's fall semester final exams before returning to action on Sunday against UNC Wilmington.
Spring semester classes begin at Wake Forest University on Wednesday, Jan. 12.
Second Annual Skip Prosser Classic
Wake Forest and Xavier will meet in the second annual Skip Prosser Classic on Saturday, Dec. 18, at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
The game, which will be televised by CBS College Sports, is the second in a 10-year series between the Demon Deacons and the Musketeers. Over the course of the series, five games will be played at Wake Forest and five at Xavier.
In last season's inaugural game, Wake Forest outlasted Xavier 96-92 in double overtime at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem. Ishmael Smith scored a career-high 28 points, including nine in the two overtime periods, to lead the Deacons to victory.
Prosser was the head coach at Xavier from 1994-2001 and at Wake Forest from 2001 until his death in 2007.
Deacon associate head coach Jeff Battle coached alongside Prosser at Xavier before coming with him to Wake Forest. Wake Forest Director of Basketball Operations Walt Corbean played at Xavier under Pete Gillen and Prosser from 1985-87.
Prosser will be inducted into the Xavier Hall of Fame on Saturday, along with former Musketeer David West. The inductees will be honored at halftime of the game.
Gary Clark Shining as a Senior
Senior guard Gary Clark has waited three years to get his chance at significant playing time. Now that it's here, he's wasting no time in taking advantage of the opportunity.
Clark leads the country in 3-point shooting, going 19-of-27 for 70.4 percent from beyond the arc. He ranks 10th in the ACC with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game.
Clark also ranks fourth on the team and 20th in the ACC with 12.1 points per game. Despite playing primarily off the bench, the Sarasota native has scored in double figures in five of his last six games, which includes a career-best 23-point performance against Winthrop.
The Winthrop game stands as Clark's best career performance to date. The 6-4 guard had career-highs in points (23), field goals (9), 3-point field goals (5), free throws (6) and minutes played (31).
For the night, he was 9-of-11 from the field, 5-of-7 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 at the foul line.
Deacons Featuring Balanced Scoring Attack
Wake Forest has had a balanced scoring attack this season, with an ACC-leading five players averaging double figures in scoring.
Travis McKie leads the Deacons with 13.3 points per game, while Ari Stewart is right behind at 13.2 ppg. J.T. Terrell (12.9), Gary Clark (12.1) and C.J. Harris (11.0) round out the Deacons' top five scorers.
Boston College and Duke are the only other ACC teams with at least four players scoring in double figures.
Wake Forest is the only team in the ACC with four players ranked among the league's top 20 scorers. Duke and Miami each have three players ranked among the leaders.
McKie and Terrell are two of the league's top three scoring freshmen, trailing only Duke's Kyrie Irving (17.4 ppg). The duo could become the first pair of rookies to rank 1-2 at Wake Forest in scoring since James Johnson (14.6 ppg) and Jeff Teague (13.9 ppg) in 2007-08.
McKie has led the team in scoring four times, while Terrell has led in scoring in three games, including a 32-point performance against Iowa on Nov. 30.
