Wake Forest Athletics
Basketball Gameday - Wake Forest at Clemson
2/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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| Wake Forest at Clemson Saturday, February 26, 4:00 p.m. Littlejohn Coliseum |Clemson, S.C. |
Wake Forest Game Notes  | Clemson Game Notes | Radio: Listen Live | TV: Fox Sports Net (Regional) | Tickets |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest is set to wrap up the month of February with a road trip to take on the Clemson Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C.
Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by Fox Sports Net and can also be heard on the Wake Forest Sports Network from IMG College and at WakeForestSports.com.
The Deacons (8-20, 1-12) are coming off a 76-62 loss at home to Virginia Tech on Tuesday evening. Travis McKie scored a career-high 22 points, but it was not enough to stop a hot-shooting Hokie team.
Virginia Tech shot 60 percent from the floor, which is a season-high for a Deacon opponent. The Hokies also went 8-for-12 from 3-point range.
McKie went 9-for-15 from the field to post his fourth 20-point game of the season. The ACC Rookie of the Year candidate also pulled down nine rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
Gary Clark scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and C.J. Harris dished out four assists to lead the Deacons, who only committed 10 turnovers as a team.
Clemson (18-9, 7-6 ACC) comes in following a 63-59 win at Miami on Feb. 20. The Tigers have been idle since the Sunday afternoon game.
Wake Forest leads the all-time series with Clemson, 98-52. The Deacons have won three straight and five of the past six meetings with the Tigers. Wake has won seven of the last 10 games played at Littlejohn Coliseum, with the Deacons' only losses during the stretch coming in overtime.
Last season, the Deacons posted a 70-65 defeat of the Tigers on Wake Forest's Senior Day on March 7, 2010. Wake Forest's last loss to Clemson came in the teams' only meeting of the 2007-08 seaso when the Tigers picked up an 80-75 overtime defeat of the Deacons in Clemson.
| STATISTICAL COMPARISON | ||
| Wake | CU | |
| Overall Record | 8-20 | 18-9 |
| Conference Record | 1-12 | 7-6 |
| Scoring Offense | 68.3 | 68.0 |
| Scoring Defense | 77.2 | 60.4 |
| Scoring Margin | -8.9 | +7.6 |
| Rebounding Offense | 32.9 | 34.4 |
| Rebounding Defense | 38.0 | 32.4 |
| Rebound Margin | -5.1 | +2.0 |
| FG Percentage | .426 | .444 |
| 3-pt FG Percentage | .367 | .341 |
| FT Percentage | .756 | .691 |
| FG Percentage Defense | .451 | .404 |
| 3-Pointers Per Game | 6.0 | 6.3 |
| Assists Ger Game | 11.4 | 12.5 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 15.5 | 13.1 |
| Turnover Margin | -3.5 | +1.9 |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| Steals Per Game | 5.1 | 7.7 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 5.8 | 4.9 |
Next Up...
Wake Forest will return home to host Georgia Tech for Senior Night on Thursday, March 3, at 8 p.m. The Yellow Jackets already posted a 74-39 defeat of the Deacons on Jan. 19 in Atlanta. The game will be televised on the ACC Network. Wake Forest wraps up regular season play at Boston College on Sunday, March 6, at noon on the ACC Network. The 2011 ACC Tournament is slated to begin on Thursday, March 10, in Greensboro.
Last Time Out
Travis McKie tied a career-high with 22 points, but it was not enough to overcome hot-shooting Virginia Tech, as the Hokies downed Wake Forest 76-62 on Tuesday evening at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
Virginia Tech shot 60 percent (27-of-45) from the field in the game, the best shooting mark for a Wake Forest opponent this season. The Hokies also went 8-of-12 (67 percent) from behind the arc, including a 5-of-7 mark in the first half.
McKie pulled down nine rebounds, including six on the offensive end, to supplement the 22 points that tied a career high set earlier in the season against Elon. The freshman has posted back-to-back 20 point games and has hit double figures in five of the last six contests.
Gary Clark also reached double digits, scoring 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. C.J. Harris dished out four assists to lead the Deacons, who only committed 10 turnovers as a team.
Wake Forest shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the field but just 16.7 percent (3-for-18) from beyond the arc. The Deacons misfired on each of their first 11 attempts from 3-point range.
The Deacons were able to find offense inside, outscoring the Hokies 30-18 in the paint, but Virginia Tech dominated the backboards, outrebounding Wake Forest 35-23.
After Wake Forest cut the deficit to 20-18 following a pair of free throws from Nikita Mescheriakov, Virginia Tech followed with a 10-2 run over the next five minutes.
The Hokies scored the last four points of the period to take a 38-23 lead into the locker room at the half. Virginia Tech pushed its advantage to as many as 21 in the second half.
Deacons Approaching Individual Records
As the 2010-11 regular season winds down, a number of Demon Deacons are looking to cement their places in the school's single-season record books. For the complete listing, see page 3 of the game notes.
McKie Leading Deacons in Scoring & Rebounding
Freshman forward Travis McKie leads Wake Forest with both scoring and rebounding this season. McKie is averaging 12.9 points and 7.6 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.
McKie is also trying to become just the 10th freshman in ACC history to lead his team in both scoring and rebounding.
*See page 3 of the game notes for the complete listing of freshmen who led their team in both scoring and rebounding.
What's Up Next...
Following the Clemson game, Wake Forest will host Georgia Tech on Thursday, March 3, at 8 p.m. The Yellow Jackets are 11-16 overall and 3-10 in the ACC entering Sunday's game at NC State.
The Yellow Jackets posted a 74-39 win over the Deacons on Jan. 19 in Atlanta. Wake Forest leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech, 36-34. The Deacons have won each of the past two meetings in Winston-Salem.
Following the Georgia Tech game, the Deacons will wrap up regular season play at Boston College on Sunday, March 6, at noon. The Eagles are 16-11 overall and 6-7 in the ACC entering Saturday's game at Virginia. BC will also play at Virginia Tech on Tuesday before hosting the Deacons.
Boston College leads the all-time series with Wake Forest, 7-3. However, the Deacons have won each of the past three meetings since the 2008-09 season. Wake is 1-3 all-time in Chestnut Hill but won in its last trip there in 2009.
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 456-of-603 at the line for 75.6 percent. That mark leads the ACC and ranks 18th 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 22 of its 28 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.
Six Deacons are shooting 74 percent or better from the line. C.J. Harris' 83.4 percent (126-151) leads the team and ranks fourth in the ACC. Ari Stewart (83.0) and Gary Clark (81.7) 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 161 blocks on the season. That is the sixth-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 (76), Carson Desrosiers (46) and Travis McKie (29).
Walker ranks second in the ACC and 16th nationally with 2.8 blocks per game. Walker's 76 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 82nd nationally with 1.7 blocks per game. The 7-0 center ranks second among ACC freshmen in blocks per game and is also tied for second among all players in conference games only (2.1 bpg).
Desrosiers' 46 blocks this year ranks 17th on the school's single-season list.
*See page 4 of game notes for listing of school's single-season team blocks records.
