Virginia at Wake Forest Basketball Preview
In the midst of a difficult stretch of their ACC schedule, the Virginia Cavaliers travel to Winston-Salem Wednesday night to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Game time is set for 9:00 PM Eastern, televised on ESPN U.
Wake Forest is 11-5 in ACC play, currently tied for fourth place. While the Cavs carry a 6-10 conference record.
About Wake Forest
The Deacs are led by head coach Steve Forbes, now in his fifth season at the helm. The theme of his tenure has been consistently good teams that weren’t quite able to get over the hump. He’s still searching for his first NCAA Tournament bid, despite this season making it four straight years with a .500 or better finish in conference play.
Wake enters with a 19-8 overall record, 11-5 in conference play. They’re very much on the tourney bubble right now, with most experts listing them among the last few teams in or first few out. The Deacs occupy the 63 spot in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Adjusted efficiency metrics show them to be quite a bit better on defense than offense.
Wake Forest’s Personnel
Forbes usually goes eight deep. He seems to have settled on the following starters.
G - Ty-Laur Johnson (6’0” Sophomore, Louisville transfer, 6.1 points and 2.9 assists per game)
G - Hunter Sallis (6’5” Senior, 18.3 points and 2.9 assists per game)
G - Cameron Hildreth (6’4” Senior, 14.7 points and 3.0 assists per game)
F - Tre’Von Spillers (6’7” Senior, App State transfer, 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game)
C - Efton Reid (7’0” Senior, 8.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game)
6’7” freshman guard Juke Harris (6.0 PPG) has emerged as a key player off the bench.
Bubble Life
For the second straight game, Virginia will face a team playing for their NCAA Tournament life. Wake Forest has already done recent damage to their resume by losing to Florida State and then NC State on Saturday. Three of their four remaining regular season games are at home against teams in the bottom half of the standings. They can’t afford any more of those bad losses.
Meanwhile, Virginia is coming off consecutive disappointing showings in losses to Duke and North Carolina. Any momentum they may have had, after winning four of the previous five, seems to have slipped away. This meeting with Wake is another opportunity, maybe a more realistic one, for them to show that there has been real progress and they can compete with teams near the top of the standings.
Up Next
The Wahoos will be back home at JPJ on Saturday to face Clemson. Noon start, with senior day ceremonies beforehand.
Be sure to tune in for the pregame show, starting 30 minutes ahead of tipoff. Available on the Locker Room Access Facebook page and YouTube channel.
(Featured Image Credit: Josie Drumheller/UVA Athletics)