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Hot-shooting Deacons roll
WFU cruises 83-58 over Indiana, improves to 7-0
Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll
Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu (1) breaks downcourt, with James Johnson (23), L.D. Williams (42) and Chas McFarland (13) following.
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Published: December 4, 2008
Only 3:39 remained in Wake Forest's game against Indiana last night when the scoreboard went dead at Joel Coliseum.
"Leave it that way, leave it that way," Coach Tom Crean of the Hoosiers told the officials.
He could only wish.
Instead, the power flickered back on to reveal a 24-point lead for the 15th-ranked Deacons, who by then were well on their way to an 83-58 romp in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
James Johnson hit eight of 10 shots from the floor on the way to 21 points to lead Wake Forest to its eighth victory of the Challenge in nine tries. The Deacons, who also got 16 points in 13 minutes from L.D. Williams and 12 points and nine rebounds from freshman Al-Farouq Aminu, shot 60 percent from the floor and blocked 13 shots to improve to 7-0 going into Saturday's home game against Bucknell.
Indiana, which started four freshmen and a junior-college transfer, fell to 4-3.
"They are relentless with how they rebound and they are relentless with getting up the court," Crean said. "Three-point shooting, when you're not shooting great, is like free-throw shooting. Once one hits, everybody else does.
"That's what happened. They picked their game against us to bust out of their slump, so to speak, with the three. But they're an excellent program and they're very well-coached."
The Deacons, who were making only 28 percent of their 3-point attempts through Sunday's victory over Baylor in the championship of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, drilled five of 11 from behind the arc against the Hoosiers. They made four of six in the final seven minutes of the first half to break what had been a tight game wide open on the way to a 47-31 halftime lead.
And they were hot from outside even on a night when Jeff Teague, easily their best 3-point shooter over the first six games, missed his only 3-point attempt.
Indiana spent several possessions of the first half in a box-and-one that paid special attention to Teague, and as a result Teague attempted only one shot from the floor before halftime.
He made five of nine for the game for 14 points, to go with five assists and four steals, but was shaky enough with the ball to commit six turnovers.
"It was like, ‘Dang, are they really looking for me like that -- we've got so many good players and they're (playing) box-and-one on me?'" Teague said. "I told L.D. and James and Farouq, ‘It's your time to shine. I don't know why they're playing and box-and-one, but your job to kill them.'
"And they did what they're supposed to do."
Wake Forest's performance was far from flawless. The Deacons forced 26 turnovers, but committed 24. They also managed to outrebound the shorter Hoosiers only 34-30, and gave up 13 offensive rebounds.
Gaudio said that the team needs practice time after spending most of the last week in California or on the way back.
"I thought we played fast but we didn't play efficient with our turnovers," Gaudio said.
"We had so many squandered opportunities where we might have picked up a steal near midcourt and (rushed) instead of just gathering ourselves and throwing a pass where we would have had a dunk at the other end.
"We overpassed. We overpassed the ball. I'd maybe rather have that than the other. But we've got to do what the game tells us to do."
A sneaker dropped on the team yesterday when Coach Dino Gaudio said that Jamie Skeen will not return for the second semester. Skeen, who would have been a junior, was dismissed from school during the summer after violating an unspecified university academic policy.
To be readmitted, Skeen had to appeal. Gaudio said that Skeen had decided not to file for the appeal.
A 6-9 forward from North Mecklenburg High School, Skeen averaged 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds last year. He played in 29 games, and started six.
There was a serious question as to how Skeen would have gotten any significant playing time this season given the Deacons' depth along the front line.
"I wish Jamie had gone ahead an appealed his decision and come back," Gaudio said. "I wish he would have done that.
"As you all see we're pretty solid. When we were talking about him coming back we were going to redshirt him this year with all the guys that we have. So I think we're fine. We're solid."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
INDIANA -- Dumes 2-5 4-5 9, Moore 2-5 3-5 7, Pritchard 1-7 2-4 4, Williams 4-11 1-2 9, Story 4-12 1-2 10, Finkelmeier 0-0 0-0 0, Roth 4-5 0-0 12, Schultz 0-2 0-2 0, Jobe 0-0 0-0 0, Taber 3-6 1-2 7. Totals 20-53 12-22 58.
WAKE FOREST -- Teague 5-9 4-5 14, Aminu 4-9 4-6 12, Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Hale 3-5 0-0 7, Smith 1-2 0-0 2, McFarland 1-3 2-2 4, Lepore 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 8-10 2-2 21, McQuilkin 0-0 0-0 0, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 1-2 1, Weaver 1-1 0-0 2, Hoekstra 1-1 0-2 2, Woods 0-0 0-0 0, Bitove 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 1-2 0-0 2, Godwin 7-9 1-2 16. Totals 32-52 14-21 83.
Halftime--WFU 47-31. 3-Point Goals--Indiana 6-19 (Roth 4-5, Story 1-3, Dumes 1-4, Moore 0-1, Schultz 0-2, Williams 0-4), WFU 5-11 (Johnson 3-3, Godwin 1-2, Hale 1-2, Smith 0-1, Clark 0-1, Teague 0-1, Aminu 0-1). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Indiana 30 (Williams 10), WFU 34 (Aminu 9). Assists--Indiana 11 (Moore, Pritchard 3), WFU 16 (Teague 5). Total Fouls--Indiana 17, WFU 18. A--12,454.
ACC-Big Ten Challenge
Results
Monday
Wisconsin 74, Virginia Tech 72
Tuesday
Boston College 57, Iowa 55
Ohio State 73, Miami 68
Clemson 76, Illinois 74
Duke 76, Purdue 60
Minnesota 66, Virginia 56
Wednesday
Wake Forest 83, Indiana 58
Maryland 75, Michigan 70
Penn State 85, Georgia Tech 83
North Carolina 98, Michigan State 63
Northwestern 73, Florida State 59
Series records
ACC H A N W-L
Boston College 2-0 1-0 0-0 3-0
Clemson 4-0 4-2 0-0 8-2
Duke 3-0 3-0 4-0 10-0
Florida State 4-1 2-3 0-0 6-4
Georgia Tech 3-1 1-4 0-1 4-6
Maryland 5-0 1-1 1-2 7-3
Miami 0-1 0-2 0-0 0-3
North Carolina 1-3 3-2 1-0 5-5
N.C. State 4-0 1-4 0-0 5-4
Virginia 4-0 1-4 0-0 5-4
Virginia Tech 1-1 0-2 0-0 1-3
Wake Forest 5-0 3-1 0-0 8-1
BIG TEN H A N W-L
Illinois 2-2 1-2 0-3 3-7
Indiana 1-2 1-3 1-0 3-5
Iowa 2-0 0-3 0-2 2-5
Michigan 2-2 0-3 1-0 3-5
Michigan State 4-2 1-2 0-0 5-4
Minnesota 3-2 1-4 0-0 4-6
Northwestern 3-2 0-5 0-0 3-7
Ohio State 2-2 1-2 0-1 3-5
Penn State 2-3 1-3 0-0 3-6
Purdue 2-2 0-4 0-0 2-6
Wisconsin 2-1 1-5 1-0 4-6
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