Wake Forest is closing in on a 20-win season, but the Demon Deacons are still flying under the radar.
They will have another chance to pad the credentials — and get noticed — when they take on struggling North Carolina State on the road Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C.
“The best way to fix it is to keep winning,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said.
Wake Forest (19-5, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) is just a half-game out of first place behind Duke and Notre Dame.
“We’re doing our part,” Forbes said. “We’re trying.”
To NC State coach Kevin Keatts, the Demon Deacons look like a team on a mission. ACC scoring leader Alondes Williams, averaging 19.8 points per game, is one of the reasons.
“They’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Keatts said. “Williams is as good as they come. He’s a really good player, but there’s so many good pieces around him. They’re playing with great confidence.”
NC State (10-14, 3-10) has lost four games in a row, with different snags surfacing for each game. The Wolfpack have slid into a share of last place in the ACC.
“When you get into February, some of the offensive plays that you’ve been running you may not go, you may not even shoot the ball as well because a lot of teams will have tired legs,” Keatts said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to rely on your defense to get you out of some games.”
Turnovers have frustrated Wake Forest in some of those games. The Demon Deacons had as many turnovers as made field goals (26 in each category) in Saturday’s road win at Florida State.
“We can’t continue to do that,” Forbes said. “We have a philosophy here of sharing the ball. Unfortunately, our guys shared the ball too much with the other team.”
NC State standout Dereon Seabron’s offensive production has waned recently, even though he’s averaging 18.0 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game. He has been below his scoring average in seven of the past eight games.
Keatts said that’s a matter of others needing to help fill the gaps.
“He’s had a great year for us,” Keatts said. “But teams are starting to game plan against him and making him become more of a passer. I want him to be able to create some more opportunities off of his defense. ”
This is the first of two meetings between Wake Forest and NC State, with the other coming in the final week of the regular season.
–Field Level Media
