On Track: Deacons end February with positive vibes

Credit: AP Photo

Al-Farouq Aminu was one of three Deacons to score 12 points against the Cavaliers.

By: By Dan Collins | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: March 02, 2009

February ended far better than it began for Wake Forest.

In the first game of the month, the Deacons attempted 20 3-pointers against Miami's packed zone, quit bucking down defensively and were thumped 79-52 for their third loss in four games.

In the final game of the month, played Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, Va., the Deacons attempted nine 3-pointers against Virginia's packed zone, kept defending and pulled out a 70-60 victory for their fourth win in five games.

H.G. Wells once wrote "adapt or perish." He wasn't talking about college basketball played in March, but he could have been.

"What we did against Miami was we kept shooting it," junior Ish Smith said. "We just kept shooting 3s, kept shooting 3s. And we didn't get the memo against Miami that our shots weren't falling. So we needed to go to the hole.

"That's what we did (Saturday). We were just relentless driving and getting to the cup."

Coaches are far more inclined than most to look at a game from the defensive side. So it wasn't lost on Coach Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest that Miami, once it throttled down Wake's offense, scored 50 points in the second half.

Virginia, a month later, scored 36 after halftime. That may have been more than the Deacons wanted to yield, but it wasn't enough to pull off the upset even on a day that the Deacons shot 43 percent from the floor and made just nine of their first 21 foul shots.

"If we can pull out those games like we did (Saturday), I think it says a lot for us," Gaudio said. "I really do. It shows our character, which I know we have. It shows our resiliency.

"A couple of weeks ago when we went into Miami and saw a lot of zone against them, when we didn't score the ball, it affected us on the other end of the floor. It did not happen (Saturday)."

So, as it turns out, the sky was not falling when the Deacons followed their 16-0 start with three losses in the next four games. It takes a pretty good team to win five of eight games in February, all against ACC competition with half of those games on the road.

A case could be made that the schedule softened after Valentine's Day as three of the Deacons' next four games were against Georgia Tech (home), N.C. State (home) and Virginia (away). Those three were a combined 9-32 in ACC play going into N.C. State's game last night against Maryland.

But the knock on Wake Forest a month ago was that it could get emotionally prepared to play the North Carolinas, Dukes and Clemsons but took the lower-rung teams for granted.

"I wouldn't say we underestimated them," sophomore James Johnson said of the likes of Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Virginia. "But we didn't come out with the same passion that we do with North Carolina and Duke."

For awhile Saturday it appeared that the tendency might reassert itself while the Deacons missed enough inside shots and free throws to give the Cavaliers hope. That was before Jeff Teague, in the throes of an 1-for-8 shooting performance from the floor, hit a clutch 3-pointer and the Deacons put the victory away by making their final nine free throws.

After their first road victory since a win at Clemson on Jan. 17 -- six weeks ago to the date -- the Deacons will play their final road game of the regular season at Maryland on Tuesday.

Wake Forest will close the regular season at home against Clemson next Sunday.

"It was a good win because we haven't won on the road in awhile," Smith said. "So now we head to Maryland, which is playing really well.

"We've got to win these next games. But Maryland's next and they're playing great."

■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.