Basketball Gameday - Wake Forest at Xavier
12/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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| Second Annual Skip Prosser Classic Wake Forest at Xavier Saturday, Dec. 18 | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cintas Center |
Wake Forest Game Notes  | Xavier Game Notes | | Radio: Listen Live | TicketsTV: CBS College Sports (TWC ch. 537/1537) |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest will face its first true road test of the season when the Demon Deacons travel to Cincinnati to take on the Xavier Musketeers in the second annual Skip Prosser Classic on Saturday at the Cintas Center.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. The game will be televised by CBS College Sports and can also be heard on the Wake Forest Sports Network from IMG College.
The Demon Deacons (6-4) are coming off a 69-67 win over Triad-rival UNC Greensboro on Wednesday in Winston-Salem. The win was Wake Forest's third in its past four games and its sixth in as many all-time meetings with UNCG.
Freshman Travis McKie continued his consistent play this season, leading the Deacons with 16 points and 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year. McKie went 7-for-9 from the field to push his overall field goal percentage to 55.3 percent (47-of-85).
Head coach Jeff Bzdelik shook up his starting five vs. UNCG, inserting Gary Clark, Carson Desrosiers and Nikita Mescheriakov into the lineup. Ari Stewart and J.T. Terrell came off the bench and responded by scoring 12 and 14 points respectively. Ty Walker had four blocks as a reserve.
Xavier (6-2) is coming off an eight-day break following its 51-49 win over Butler on Dec. 9. The Musketeers have won 28 straight games at the Cintas Center, which is the nation's second-longest active streak and tied for the Xavier school record.
The all-time series between Wake Forest and Xavier is tied at 1-1. The Musketeers, who were coached by Prosser at the time, took the first-ever meeting in the 1999 Postseason NIT in Cincinnati. The Deacons evened the series with a double-overtime victory in last season's game in Winston-Salem.
| STATISTICAL COMPARISON | ||
| Wake | Xavier | |
| Overall Record | 6-4 | 6-2 |
| Conference Record | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Scoring Offense | 74.4 | 69.2 |
| Scoring Defense | 73.2 | 67.1 |
| Scoring Margin | +1.2 | +2.1 |
| Rebounding Offense | 36.5 | 35.5 |
| Rebounding Defense | 35.8 | 33.9 |
| Rebound Margin | +0.7 | +1.6 |
| FG Percentage | .466 | .435 |
| 3-pt FG Percentage | .432 | .277 |
| FT Percentage | .753 | .745 |
| FG Percentage Defense | .426 | .401 |
| 3-Pointers Per Game | 7.0 | 4.5 |
| Assists Ger Game | 12.4 | 11.9 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 17.1 | 12.6 |
| Turnover Margin | -5.1 | -0.6 |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| Steals Per Game | 5.1 | 5.3 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 6.8 | 4.3 |
Next Up...
Wake Forest will return home to host Presbyterian on Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live online at WakeForestSports.com. The Deacons will then enjoy a seven-day holiday break before taking on A-10 foe Richmond on Dec. 29 at the Robbins Center in Richmond.
Last Time Out
Travis McKie recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead Wake Forest to a 69-67 over UNC Greensboro on Wednesday evening at the Joel Coliseum.
McKie grabbed seven rebounds in each half and was just one board away from tying his career-high. He also went an efficient 7-for-9 from the floor.
Head coach Jeff Bzdelik shook up his starting five, inserting Gary Clark, Carson Desrosiers and Nikita Mescheriakov into the lineup. Ari Stewart and J.T. Terrell came off the bench and responded by scoring 12 and 14 points respectively.
C.J. Harris scored eight points and dished out a team-high four assists, while Clark had nine points and two assists. Ty Walker had seven rebounds and four blocks off the bench.
The Deacons held a solid rebounding edge over the Spartans, 41-28. Wake Forest matched its season-high with 13 offensive rebounds.
The Deacons were pulling away late when the Spartans made it a one-possession game with 54 seconds left.
After a Wake turnover, UNCG had a chance to tie the game when Kyle Randall was fouled on a made layup. He could not get the free throw to fall, and Wake secured the rebound.
McKie was sent to the line with nine seconds on the clock and made one free throw, giving the Spartans one more chance to tie or win the game. A solid defensive stand by Wake Forest did not allow UNCG to get a shot off before time expired.
Second Annual Skip Prosser Classic
Wake Forest and Xavier will meet in the second annual Skip Prosser Classic on Saturday 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. Prosser compiled a 148-65 (.695) record in seven seasons at Xavier, leading the Musketeers to four NCAA Tournaments and two NIT Tournaments. He went 126-68 (.649) in six seasons at Wake Forest, leading the Deacons to four NCAA Tournaments and one NIT Tournament.
In 14 seasons as a college head coach, which includes one year at Loyola (Md.) in 1993-94, Prosser was 291-146 (.666).
Wake Forest 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.
What's Up Next...
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 4-6 on the season after posting a 74-70 overtime win over Jacksonville State on Wednesday. The Blue Hose will play at Auburn on Saturday.
Wake Forest will have a seven-day holiday break following the Presby game. The Deacons will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 29, at Richmond.
The Spiders are 8-2 on the season entering Saturday's game at Georgia Tech. Wake is 38-9 all-time vs. Richmond and has won 17 straight in the series.
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 ACC and ranks third in the country in 3-point shooting at 66.7 percent (20-30) from beyond the arc.
Clark ranks fourth on the team with 11.8 points per game. Despite playing primarily off the bench, the Sarasota native has scored in double figures in five of his last seven games, which includes a career-best 23-point performance vs. Winthrop and a 20-point outing vs. UNC Wilmington.
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 13.6 points per game, while Ari Stewart is right behind at 13.1 ppg. J.T. Terrell (13.0), Gary Clark (11.8) and C.J. Harris (10.7) 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, Duke and Miami are the only teams in the ACC with three players ranked among the league's top 20 scorers.
McKie and Terrell are two of the league's top three scoring freshmen, trailing only Duke's Kyrie Irving (17.4 ppg). Irving, McKie and Terrell are the only three rookies to rank among the ACC's top 20 scorers.
McKie and Terrell 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 five times, while Terrell has led in scoring in three games, including a 32-point performance against Iowa on Nov. 30.
Mescheriakov Makes 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.
Wake Hitting From Beyond the Arc
Wake Forest had struggled from 3-point range in recent years, not topping 32 percent in any of the three previous seasons. However, this year's Deacons can shoot the ball.
As a team, Wake Forest has gone 70-of-162 for 46.7 percent from 3-point range. That mark would be a school record, topping the previous best of 42.1 percent in 1995-96.
All-time, the Deacons have shot 40 percent or better from beyond the arc just four times previously.
The Deacons are second in the ACC and rank seventh nationally in 3-point percentage. Wake also ranks fifth in the ACC with 7.0 three-pointers made per game.
Wake Forest ranked 12th and 11th, respectively, in those two categories last season. The Deacs haven't been higher than 11th in 3-point percentage in the past four seasons.
Gary Clark leads the ACC with an astonishing 66.7 percent (20-30) mark from 3-point range. C.J. Harris is shooting 50 percent (8-16), and J.T. Terrell is shooting 40 percent (18-45) from beyond the arc.
Deacons Making Their Free Throws
After struggling at the free throw line in recent years, the Deacons have shot well on charity tosses this season.
Wake Forest has gone 186-of-247 at the line for 75.3 percent. That mark leads the ACC and ranks 27th nationally. The mark also threatens the school record of 77.1 percent set during the 1968-69 season.
The Deacons have not ranked higher than ninth in the ACC in free throw percentage each of the past four seasons.
Wake Forest has shot 69 percent or better from the line eight of its 10 games this season. The Deacons have shot 80 percent or better from the line four times.
Six of seven Deacons who have attempted at least 10 free throws on the year are shooting 70 percent or better. C.J. Harris leads the way at 81.8 percent (45-55). Harris ranks 10th in the ACC in free throw percentage.
McKie Off to Hot Start for Deacons
Travis McKie has gotten off to a hot start to begin his Wake Forest career. Here are a few notes on McKie's start:
• McKie scored in double figures in six straight games to open this season. He became the first Deacon freshman to begin his career scoring in double figures in at least four straight games since Rodney Rogers began his freshman season in 1990-91 with 11 straight double-digit performances.
• McKie has led the team in scoring five times, all of which have been wins.
• McKie pulled down 15 rebounds on Nov. 20 at Elon to become the first Deacon freshman to record 15+ rebounds since Niki Arinze had 15 boards against Missouri in 1997-98.
• McKie was named ACC Rookie of the Week on Nov. 22 following his performances against Hampton, VCU and Elon.
• McKie ranks in the top 15 in the ACC in three categories: defensive rebounds (5th; 6.3), rebounding (6th; 8.2) and scoring (14th; 13.6).
• McKie is the only freshman ranked in the top 15 in the ACC in both scoring and rebounding. McKie is the second-leading scorer among ACC freshmen, behind only Duke's Kyrie Irving.
• McKie leads all conference rookies in rebounding and double-doubles. Among all ACC players, McKie ranks fourth with four double-doubles on the season.
• McKie is shooting 55.3 percent (47-85) on the season. That would rank second in the ACC if he had enough field goals made per game to qualify.
• McKie leads the team with 11 steals on the year.
From Hitting The Books To Hitting The Hardwood
The Deacons are enjoying a little bit lighter load these days after finishing up final exams on Dec. 11. Wake Forest was off for seven days to focus on the team's fall semester final exams before returning to action on Dec. 12 at UNC Wilmington.
Spring semester classes begin at Wake Forest University on Wednesday, Jan. 12.
