In the heated center of a curious ACC race, Wake Forest keeps warming to the occasion.
The Deacons staved off a desperate Boston College rally last night, winning 92-85. They made some things look easy, shooting 57 percent and converting nearly every free throw down the stretch.
No road crowd ever accuses Wake Forest of being overrated -- a technical impossibility when you haven't been rated all season -- but a number of home folks stuffed the 17th victory in the bag long before Coach Dino Gaudio lowered his audio, heading for the exits with 3:37 left.
Coach Al Skinner hadn't even dipped into his last-gasp strategy sack, ordering fouls that would send point guard Ish Smith to the line. Hacking Ish had statistical credibility. He was converting 47 percent, making 4 of 11 in the previous three games, and two seasons ago he managed only 29 percent.
Trailing by nine with about 2 minutes to go, Skinner pushed the button. Smith converted the first shot and misfired the second, which barely grazed the bottom of the net. Fellow senior Chas McFarland, the 7-foot center with the 1-inch mustache, could see the next foul coming.
"Ish loves that," McFarland said. "He's the type of guy that if somebody tells him he can't do something, he's going to do it, just to prove them wrong. He loves that challenge. After he airballed that one, they sent him back to the line. I knew he was going to make both of them, and I don't think either one of them hit the rim."
Smith delivered, finishing with 11 assists and nine points in 38 minutes, sustaining a remarkable season that could end with All-ACC hardware and recognition as a late bloomer who mastered the most vital position. Al-Farouq Aminu moves the approval needle of lottery-attuned NBA scouts, while Smith gets solid respect from rival coaches.
"Smith's athleticism creates a lot of opportunities for them, so you have to really focus on that," Skinner said. "He's the fuel in the engine. He's clearly the difference. If he plays well, they have a chance to be very good. If he doesn't play well, then they're going to struggle."
The Deacons (17-5, 7-3 ACC) struggled something awful at Georgia Tech two weeks ago, getting hammered inside, shooting 33 percent and losing by 21 points. "They took it to us in Atlanta," Gaudio said.
Wake Forest will put retaliation on the menu for the rematch here Saturday night. At the moment, the Deacons trail Duke (7-2) and Maryland (6-2), with Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida State and Georgia Tech still swimming around in the murky gumbo. BC (12-12, 3-7 ACC) works the other end of the street.
Aminu has his eyes on the top rung, speculating that Wake Forest needs to win all the home games and swipe a couple on the road. The Deacons have three of each remaining. A victory over the Yellow Jackets would propel them toward a double-lane road week against Virginia Tech and N.C. State. Although Duke operates in the top 10 and remains the favorite, Wake Forest has a shot to finish first.
"Yeah, a lot of people have got a shot to do that," Skinner said, chuckling. "Except for us and a couple of other guys. There's still a lot of basketball to be played. There are still some spoilers out there. I like to think we're going to be in the mix to be a little bit of a spoiler here."
Wake Forest rates the role of potentially big spoiler, at least among the folks who rate them.
lrawlings@wsjournal.com
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