WFU turns back UNCG

Wake Forest stuffed UNC Greensboro's upset bid with a school-record 16 blocks in last night's 75-60 victory at Greensboro Coliseum.

The surprise was not that the Deacons blocked that many shots against a team that started nobody taller than 6-8, but that they had to in order to pull away from the 2-9 Spartans. They were never in serious trouble, thanks to 23 points and 17 rebounds from sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu, but they did find themselves in a seven-point game (61-54) with 6½ minutes remaining.

Wake Forest held UNCG to one field goal and six points the rest of the way to improve to 9-2 going into Thursday's home game against Richmond.

Aminu was initially taken aback to learn of the school record, to which he contributed six blocks to go with three assists and a steal in 36 highly effective minutes.

Wake Forest's previous record was 14, set against Rhode Island in 1975 and Appalachian State in 1978.

"I was surprised, with shot-blockers like Tim Duncan and Rodney Rogers," Aminu said. "But I guess we've got the superior shot-blocking of Ishmael Smith."

Smith, the Deacons' 6-0 senior guard, blocked four, including the one against Kyle Randall that broke the record with 3:53 remaining. L.D. Williams and Tony Woods each had two and David Weaver and Chas McFarland had one apiece.

The Deacons' size was also a factor offensively, when they were able to shake off the holiday rust by scoring 11 of their 25 field goals on dunks. Williams made his physical presence felt throughout and finished with five field goals on seven attempts for 11 points to go with nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Freshman Ari Stewart also scored 11, hitting three of the Deacons' six 3-pointers, and classmate C.J. Harris contributed 10.

Ben Stywall, a bullish 6-5 forward, led the Spartans with 13 points and 14 rebounds. The shot a season-low 30.4 percent from the field.

"Coach really gets on us about contesting shots -- pressure defense and contest shots," Williams said. "He tells us to go get the ball. Fortunately tonight we were getting the ball."

The game began with a mild surprise when senior Weaver made his first start of the season (and fourth of his career) ahead of senior McFarland, who had started the first 10 games. McFarland didn't enter the game until almost eight minutes had elapsed, after sophomore Woods had already spelled Weaver.

"The bottom line is it was a basketball decision," Coach Dino Gaudio said of the new lineup. "I told (McFarland) he needed to start playing better. As we saw Dave played really well against N.C. State.

"I told those guys when we came back (from Christmas) on the 26th, ‘Hey we've won four straight games but I'm not a stand-pat guy. We want to try to keep getting better as a team and I want you guys to keep getting better individually.'

"Dave played really well and has been practicing hard and well, and that's the bottom line. I hope it motivated (McFarland) a little bit."

McFarland had with four points and four rebounds in 17 minutes. Weaver had two points and one rebound in 17 minutes.

"Coach just thought it was best for the team," McFarland said. "Whatever he thinks is the best. I'm going to do whatever that we need to do to win."

He was asked if he was bothered by the move.

"Absolutely not," McFarland said. "Weave has been playing great and I haven't been playing the best. So it was his opportunity to step up and he played well. So just whatever is best for the team to win.

"As soon as you get in the game you've just got to go as hard as you can go and try to give the team a lift off the bench."

dcollins@wsjournal.com.



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WFU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Aminu 36 8-16 6-10 6-17 3 1 23

Weaver 17 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 2

Smith 36 2-7 1-4 0-1 6 2 5

Harris 18 2-4 6-6 0-3 2 2 10

Williams 36 5-7 0-0 1-9 2 3 11

Clark 14 2-6 1-1 0-1 1 2 6

McFarland 17 0-2 4-6 1-4 0 1 4

Stewart 16 4-11 0-0 1-1 0 2 11

Woods 10 1-1 1-3 1-3 0 0 3

Totals 200 25-56 19-30 11-42 14 15 75

Percentages: FG .446, FT .633. 3-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Stewart 3-6, Williams 1-1, Clark 1-3, Aminu 1-3, Smith 0-1, Harris 0-2). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 16 (Aminu 6, Smith 4, Woods 2, Williams 2, Weaver, McFarland). Turnovers: 12 (Aminu 3, Smith 3, Weaver 2, Harris, Stewart, Williams, Clark). Steals: 6 (Smith 2, Williams 2, Clark, Aminu).

UNCG Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Bone 14 1-5 0-0 1-3 0 2 2

Stywall 35 6-12 1-2 5-14 1 3 13

VnDssen 29 3-12 2-2 0-1 3 2 10

Randall 32 1-10 0-0 4-7 2 2 2

Evans 28 3-9 4-5 2-8 0 1 10

Smith 5 1-1 2-2 2-4 2 0 4

Toney 20 3-10 2-2 0-2 1 3 10

Brown 13 1-3 0-2 1-1 0 3 2

Cole 24 2-7 2-2 1-1 0 4 7

Totals 200 21-69 13-17 19-44 9 20 60

Percentages: FG .304, FT .765. 3-Point Goals: 5-18, .278 (VanDussen 2-4, Toney 2-8, Cole 1-2, Bone 0-1, Randall 0-1, Evans 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 3 (Cole 2, Brown). Turnovers: 13 (VanDussen 4, Evans 3, Randall 2, Bone, Stywall, Toney, Brown). Steals: 6 (VanDussen 3, Randall, Toney, Stywall).

Wake Forest 31 44 -- 75


UNC Greensboro 24 36 -- 60

A--4,716.