Ish's Late Game Heroics Lift Wake Forest Over Miami, 70-68

If a team’s going to make it a habit to play close games at home, they can at least make sure they win them. Thankfully Ishmael Smith and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have figured out how to make that happen. With 2.6 seconds left Ish Smith made a shot from just outside the right elbow, eerily similar to the one he hit to beat Virginia Tech , and the Deacs beat Miami 70-68. As Ish said, “Same spot, same move, same shot, same result.”

Had it not been for Ish’s late game heroics, Jeff Teague would have been the only name discussed after this win. Teague scored 27 points, including 5-6 shooting from 3-point range, and proved too much for Miami to handle all night long. Nonetheless, when asked after the game if he should have taken the game winning shot instead of Smith, Teague didn’t hesitate to say no. The whole team agreed that it was Ish’s shot to take all the way.

Wake started a little slow, showing some rust coming off of a week-long break and dealing with the injuries to Chas McFarland and LD Williams. Chas not only played, but started and acquitted himself quite well all night long, scoring 10 points and pulling down 6 rebounds. Although he seemed to have lost a step on the defensive end, there is little doubt that a win would have been much less likely without him on the floor.

Struggling shooter Harvey Hale showed some mild improvement on the offensive end shooting 2-6 from 3-point range, but Coach Dino Gaudio was quick to point out that “a tremendous amount of credit goes to Harvey Hale on the defensive end of the floor. He did a really nice job on Jack McClinton,” who only had two points in the second half.

James Johnson had a surprisingly quiet night, scoring only 9 points with 8 rebounds. For those who are curious, when asked about his second new haircut in as many games Johnson said “I had to clean it up to come play at home.”

I would guess that most Wake fans were disappointed with the strategy in the last five minutes of the game. For the second straight outing the team went into a sort of stall, utilizing a four corners offense and taking as much time off the clock as possible each possession. For the second straight outing this strategy led to several turnovers and allowed the evaporation of a significant lead.

When asked about this Dino did not believe it was the wrong strategy. In fact, he didn’t feel like the games were comparable at all. “I think it was two completely different scenarios, the Clemson game and then this one here. Clemson is pressuring and extending 94 feet and putting a lot of pressure on us, and these guys are predominantly half-court man,” said Gaudio.

While this may be the case, I don’t think it means the strategy was necessarily correct or effective in either scenario. Obviously, in both games, when Wake went four corners, a significant lead evaporated. I think that I and other Wake fans won’t be happy if this trend continues, unless it somehow starts working.

Nonetheless, this was a big win for the Deacs to get to 3-3. Assuming UNC beats Boston College on Thursday night Wake will once again be in what coach called “a 14 way tie for third” and right there in the thick of things. A road win at NC State would be a huge way to follow this great game.

A win is a win, and now it’s time to figure out how to do it on the road.