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Wake Forest rolls past Mount Olive
Deacons use exhibition game against Division II Trojans to strut their stuff in front of home crowd
Journal Photo by Bruce Chapman
L.D. Williams of Wake Forest dunks over Craig Hayes of Mount Olive in the first half.
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Published: November 7, 2008
Junior L.D. Williams said Wake Forest was playing to more than the 6,106 who showed up for last night's 97-62 exhibition victory over Mount Olive College at Joel Coliseum.
"We wanted to make a statement, not only to show the Wake Forest family that we have a good team but to show the world." Williams said.
The walk-ons need work, but otherwise there was little fault to find with the victory, which the 21st-ranked Deacons clinched by scoring 24 straight points midway through the first half.
Playing without two regular starters, forward James Johnson and point guard Ish Smith, the Deacons dunked 16 times, shot 54 percent, held the Trojans to 31 percent and dominated the battle of the boards 59-34.
Williams had 22 points, sophomore Jeff Teague had 12 assists and the two freshman forwards from Georgia, Al-Farouq Aminu and Tony Woods, combined for 30 points and 20 rebounds. The Deacons built their lead to 89-39 with seven minutes left, and the Division II Trojans needed a 16-2 run against Wake Forest's walk-ons to pare the lead to 35.
Teague, a sophomore playing point guard until Smith returns from a broken foot, echoed Williams' sentiments.
"The biggest thing is that we want to show we're an elite team," Teague said. "The rankings and all that stuff prove we're kind of good. It was like a hope for the future. But this showed that we can be an elite team.
"You look at the scoreboard for Duke and whoever their exhibition game is against and they're probably winning 100-50 or something. We wanted to show we could do that, too."
And the Deacons did it without Johnson, their leading scorer and rebounder from last season. Coach Dino Gaudio said Johnson was suspended for an unspecified transgression committed during the summer.
He said there will be no lingering repercussions.
"I'm just going to be really, really tight with those young guys," Gaudio said. "He actually came up to me on Tuesday and said, ‘Coach this is the game I'm not playing, right?' I go, ‘Yeah, yeah, you're right.' I couldn't even remember.
"I'd rather be stricter with those guys than not. Believe you me, he might be playing at other places. But it's nothing grave."
Woods, a 6-11 center from Rome, actually looked more impressive overall than the more highly regarded Aminu, a 6-9 forward from Norcross.
Woods, showing power and aggressiveness under the basket, made six of nine shots from the floor for 15 points, and had five of his eight rebounds on the offensive boards. He also had two of the Deacons' 11 blocked shots.
"I think what you saw out of him is what we've been seeing all preseason," Gaudio said. "He's a low-post player that will go block to block. He'll rebound the ball and he tries to dunk everything.
"Some of those big kids come out and they try to shoot 12-foot jump shots, 15-foot jump shots, and they think they are 3-point shooters. They all want to be point guards. He knows who he is and that's encouraging."
Aminu, a first-team Parade All-America considered one of the top players in his class, hit seven of 16 from the floor for 15 points and had five of his 12 rebounds on the offensive boards.
"I don't think Farouq played well," Gaudio said. "And he had 15 (points) and 12 (rebounds) in 26 minutes."
The Trojans lost their best player, Kendrick Easley, late in the first half. Easley, a preseason Division II All-America, hit four of eight 3-point attempts and scored 15 points in 17 minutes, but was sidelined after he bruised his shoulder crashing into the Wake Forest bench.
Smith had the boot removed from his broken left foot on Tuesday and will find out on Monday if he will be cleared to begin his season. The Deacons open against N.C. Central four days later, on Nov. 14.
‘He hasn't done anything for 6½ weeks," Gaudio said. "He can run and run and run forever. He's one of those guys who just can go and go and it looks like he's never tired.
"If there's any chance I could, I'm going to throw him in there. I'm not going to start him, but if he's ready to go I'm going to throw him in there and get his feet wet."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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