Keys to the Game: Wake Forest Basketball vs Clemson
Wake Forest is set to take on the No. 19 Clemson Tigers in the Joel later tonight, with major ACC implications on the line. Clemson are the league leaders and a perfect 7-0 in conference play — here are a few keys to the game that can help Wake down the Tigers.
READ: How to Watch: Wake Forest vs Clemson Men's College Basketball
Three-point battle
As Wake Forest found out in their matchup with Clemson earlier this season, the Tigers can be a dangerous three-point shooting team. Clemson boasts five different players currently knocking down the deep ball at a rate of 40% or higher and are shooting 38% as a team this year. Last time out against the Tigers, Wake gave up nine triples and blew a seven-point lead at halftime en route to a 77-57 road loss. There’s a clear correlation between how well Wake defends the three and the outcome of their games. In the first Clemson game, the Tigers shot the three-ball at a rate of 40% and Wake was on the wrong end of a blowout. When Wake played Duke at home, though, the Blue Devils shot just 29.6% from deep and Wake won by double digits.
READ: Clemson guard Chase Hunter not expected to play against Wake Forest
It’s worth noting that Alex Hemenway, who drilled four threes against Wake Forest on Dec. 2, will be out tonight due to injury. Also, Chase Hunter, the team’s second-leading scorer, will be out tonight due to a foot injury he suffered against Duke a few days ago.
Wake Forest has also shot the three ball at a remarkably efficient rate since the beginning of ACC play. Over their last two games, the Deacs are 24/52 (46%) from beyond the arc and have had five different players knock down triples in each contest. They’ve scored a combined 175 points in that stretch and have looked virtually unstoppable on the offensive end.
This game could easily come down to which team has a better three-point shooting night. Recently, the Deacs have excelled at creating quality looks from long range off of penetration from the guards within the flow of the offense. They’ll need to keep looking for these in-rhythm attempts in order to take down the Tigers.
Stretched too thin
Clemson big men PJ Hall and Hunter Tyson are precisely the blueprint for the kind of player Wake Forest has struggled to defend this season — stretch fours or fives with the ability to shoot the three. They gave up 35 points (7/9 3PT) to LSU’s KJ Williams, for example. Last time out against Wake Forest, Hall went for 21 points on 7/11 shooting and 2/4 from three-point land in just 22 minutes. Tyson added 15 points on just six shots, going 8/8 from the charity stripe. In that matchup, Clemson didn’t generate a ton of offensive boards but did score a lot of easy buckets, notching 24 points in the paint.
Hall and Tyson are threats from the three-point line as well, as both connect on the deep ball at a rate of over 40%. Tyson drilled four triples against Louisville just last week and leads the team in scoring with 15.7 ppg. He has four 20-plus point outings this season, including a 31-point clinic against NC State.
It should also be noted that Hall has likely gotten healthier since he last faced the Demon Deacons. Hall was dealing with a lingering injury to open the season and played on a pitch count for a while, but Brad Brownell has been gradually extending the leash. Even so, Hall has still yet to play more than 30 minutes in a game this season — I’d look for that to change tonight if Hall finds a matchup he likes early on.
The defensive services of Matthew Marsh, Andrew Carr and Davion Bradford will be in high demand this evening. Forbes has shown a tendency to play Carr at the stretch five in recent games — this would make sense against the Tigers, as Carr is quick enough to check Hall and Tyson on the perimeter and has the height to bother them down low. Marsh is big enough at 7-1 to affect the game in the post as well, and Bradford has been playing better recently and will need to chip in valuable bench minutes to take a shift guarding Hall. Both Hall and Tyson will certainly get their points, but Wake can’t let one or both go nuclear again if they want to come out on top.
Defend home court
Wake Forest has gone a perfect 9-0 in the Joel this season, winning home conference games against Duke, Virginia Tech and Florida State. The team has been inconsistent in true road games (2-3) and neutral site games (1-2), and their dominance at home has allowed them to stay relevant in the ACC. Steve Forbes discussed the importance of defending home court in a recent press conference:
“To have an elite program, you have to have an elite home court advantage,” Forbes said. “You have to win your home games. When you win at home, it gives your fans a reason to come back and watch you play.”
The student crowd tonight should get rowdy — the Wake student body occupied nearly three sections of seats in the Deacs’ win over Florida State last week. The Joel is a relatively small arena, but the noise could get deafening with a good turnout.
Meanwhile, aside from a stumble in their second game of the year against a poor South Carolina team, Clemson has won three-straight true-road games against Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Pitt.
Something’s gotta give — one of these streaks will come to an end tonight as the Deacs take on the Tigers tonight at 9 p.m. in the Joel.
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Ben is a managing editor and lead contributing writer for Deacons Daily. Ben has a year of experience as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black, and a year of experience as the publication’s print managing editor. He has a journalistic profile of over 40 published news and sports pieces for the Dayton Daily News.