Wake Forest Athletics
Basketball Gameday - Wake Forest vs. Florida State
2/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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| Wake Forest vs. Florida State Saturday, February 19, 1:00 p.m. Lawrence Joel Coliseum | Winston-Salem, N.C. |
Wake Forest Game Notes  | Florida State Game Notes | Radio: Listen Live | TV: ACC Network (affiliates) | Tickets |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest will look to gain a season series split with Florida State when the Demon Deacons host the Seminoles on Saturday afternoon at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.
Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Network and can also be heard on the Wake Forest Sports Network from IMG College and at WakeForestSports.com.
Florida State posted an 85-61 defeat of Wake Forest earlier this month in Tallahassee. The Seminoles' defense forced the Deacons into 24 turnovers and held Wake Forest to just 19 first-half points.
Freshman Tony Chennault was a bright spot in the loss for Wake Forest, as he finished with 10 points and three assists in 20 minutes off the bench. Senior Gary Clark led the Deacons on the night, scoring a game-high 16 points and going 4-for-6 from 3-point range.
Entering the rematch, the Deacons (8-18, 1-10) are coming off a 78-64 loss at in-state rival North Carolina on Tuesday in Chapel Hill. Wake Forest trailed throughout but managed to cut the deficit to just eight (63-55) with under seven minutes to go in the game.
Freshman J.T. Terrell led the Deacons, as he scored 18 points and went 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Clark added 13 points, while Ty Walker tallied eight points and four blocks off the bench.
Florida State (18-7, 8-3 ACC) comes in following a 63-56 win over Virginia last Saturday in Tallahassee. The Seminoles, who have been idle since the victory over UVa, have won two of three games since beating the Deacons on Feb. 1.
Wake Forest leads the all-time series with Florida State, 23-18. The Deacons have won seven of the past eight meetings in Winston-Salem since the 2000-01 season. Wake Forest posted an 86-63 win over FSU in the Seminoles' last visit to the Joel in 2008-09.
| STATISTICAL COMPARISON | ||
| Wake | FSU | |
| Overall Record | 8-18 | 18-7 |
| Conference Record | 1-10 | 8-3 |
| Scoring Offense | 68.7 | 69.8 |
| Scoring Defense | 77.0 | 61.6 |
| Scoring Margin | -8.3 | +8.2 |
| Rebounding Offense | 33.2 | 40.2 |
| Rebounding Defense | 38.0 | 34.2 |
| Rebound Margin | -4.8 | +6.0 |
| FG Percentage | .430 | .430 |
| 3-pt FG Percentage | .383 | .329 |
| FT Percentage | .756 | .661 |
| FG Percentage Defense | .447 | .359 |
| 3-Pointers Per Game | 6.2 | 6.5 |
| Assists Ger Game | 11.4 | 12.3 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 15.8 | 16.4 |
| Turnover Margin | -4.0 | -0.6 |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| Steals Per Game | 5.0 | 8.8 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 5.8 | 6.0 |
Next Up...
Wake Forest will host Virginia Tech in a rematch with the Hokies on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2. The Hokies posted a 94-65 win over the Deacons on Jan. 15 in Blacksburg. Wake Forest will wrap up the month of February by traveling to Clemson on Saturday, Feb. 26, at 4 p.m. It will be the Deacons' first meeting with the Tigers this season.
Last Time Out
J.T. Terrell scored 18 points, and Wake Forest rallied late but could not complete the comeback, falling 78-64 to No. 19-ranked North Carolina on Tuesday at the Smith Center.
Terrell's 18 points were helped by 4-of-8 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Gary Clark added 13 points for the Deacons, while Travis McKie grabbed nine rebounds and scored seven points.
Ty Walker came off the bench to chip in eight points, four rebounds and four blocks.
The Deacons went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, marking the first time that they went flawless from the charity stripe with at least 10 attempts since they made all 32 of their free throws against the Tar Heels in 2005.
The teams had similar shooting nights with Wake Forest going 38 percent (23-of-61) from the field, while North Carolina shot 37 percent (26-of-71).
The Tar Heels' big advantage came on the boards, as they outrebounded the Deacons, 50-35, including 20-8 on the offensive end.
North Carolina led throughout the game, including 41-28 at halftime. However, Wake Forest hung in and made it a game late in the contest.
With UNC leading 59-41, a crafty Tony Chennault layup sparked an 8-0 Wake Forest run that cut the Tar Heel margin to 10 points for the first time in the half.
The Deacs and Heels traded points on the next few possessions, but Wake's buckets came from behind the arc to get the lead to single digits at 63-55 with 6:50 remaining.
North Carolina rallied with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to once again get the lead back to double figures.
McKie Leading Deacons in Scoring & Rebounding
Freshman forward Travis McKie leads Wake Forest with both scoring and rebounding this season. McKie is averaging 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
McKie is trying to become the fifth freshman in school history to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding. The four others include Dickie Hemric in 1952, Chris King in 1989, Rodney Rogers in 1991 and James Johnson in 2008.
What's Up Next...
Following the FSU game, Wake Forest will host Virginia Tech on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The Hokies are 17-7 overall and 7-4 in the ACC entering Saturday's game at rival Virginia.
The Hokies will be looking for a season series sweep of the Deacons after earning a 94-65 win in Blacksburg on Jan. 15. The win gave Virginia Tech a 27-26 advantage in the all-time series with Wake Forest. The Hokies have won four straight over the Deacons.
Following the Virginia Tech game, the Deacons will wrap up the month of February by traveling to Clemson on Saturday, Feb. 26, at 4 p.m. The Tigers are 17-8 overall and 6-5 in the ACC entering Thursday's game at NC State. Clemson will also play at Miami on Sunday before hosting the Deacons.
Wake Forest leads the all-time series with Clemson, 98-52. The Deacons have won three straight and five of their past six meetings with the Tigers.
Deacons Lead ACC in Free Throw Percentage
After struggling at the free throw line in recent years, the Deacons have shot well on charity tosses this season.
Wake Forest has gone 422-of-558 at the line for 75.6 percent. That mark leads the ACC and ranks 17th nationally.
The Deacons have not ranked higher than ninth in the ACC in free throw percentage each of the past four seasons. The last time Wake Forest led the ACC in free throw percentage was 1994-95 when the Deacons shot 76.4 percent.
The Deacons are threatening the school record of 77.1 percent set during the 1968-69 season. Wake Forest has shot 75 percent or better from the line in just eight previous seasons and not since 2002-03.
Wake Forest has shot 70 percent or better from the line in 20 of its 26 games this season. The Deacons have shot 80 percent or better from the line 12 times and 90 percent or better four times, including a 10-for-10 performance at North Carolina on Feb. 15.
Seven Deacons are shooting 71 percent or better from the line. C.J. Harris' 83.6 percent (122-146) leads the team and ranks fifth in the ACC. Gary Clark (82.5) and Ari Stewart (82.2) are both above the 80 percent mark for the season.
Wake Forest Among Nation's Best in Blocked Shots
Wake Forest has been one of the nation's best shot-blocking teams this season. The Deacons currently rank second in the ACC and ninth nationally with 5.8 blocks per game.
As a team, Wake Forest has totaled 152 blocks on the season. That is the seventh-best total in school history. The Deacons are on pace to break the school record of 182 blocks set during Tim Duncan's senior season in 1996-97.
A trio of Deacons have registered the majority of blocks for the team this season: Ty Walker (73), Carson Desrosiers (42) and Travis McKie (27).
Walker ranks second in the ACC and 17th nationally with 2.8 blocks per game. Walker's 73 total blocks ranks sixth on the school's single-season list, and the 7-0 junior has already broken Tim Duncan's single-game blocks record.
Desrosiers is sixth in the ACC and 90th nationally with 1.7 blocks per game. The 7-0 center ranks second among ACC freshmen in blocks per game and is also third among all players in conference games only.
Desrosiers' 42 blocks this year ranks 21st on the school's single-season list.
