Wake Forest vs. Virginia: Live Game Thoughts
Final - The Deacs allowed a little run, but thankfully didn't let things get out of hand. If they'd made some freethrows this game would never have been in question. The fact that Wake's going to win by double digits is kind of surprising, but it will look a lot better on the schedule. Hopefully this will build some momentum.
Wake wins, 80-64. I'll have a full game analysis up in the next hour.
2:05 - Pettinella just tried to get out of shooting freethrows, and I can see why. These are the ugliest things I've ever seen. Wow. We should have been fouling him all afternoon long. 72-64 Wake leads.
4:10- Ugliest & Longest half of basketball ever. At this point I'm ready for this just to be over with a win. Please? 67-62 Wake.
5:33 - Leave it to Ish to make something happen. The ref's are having an embarrassingly bad game. Great 2-handed slam by James Johnson off of Weaver' offensive rebound. Wake leads 65-58.
7:18 - It isn't getting much better. Thankfully Naz-T's dancing, and Nessler and Dykes seem to be enjoying it. 60-56 Wake.
8:55- Ugly Ugly Ugly. Letting UVA right back in with some ugly play all around. Lead is only 57-51, and thankfully Dino calls a timeout.
9:48 - Letting them hang around with some poorer shooting. A run to make this lead 15 or so would be nice. As it stands, Wake leads 56-47.
11:55 - Good spurt there to get back to an 11 point lead. This is where I'm hoping to see the team do what they haven't been able to do in several games, or really all season, and that's close.
Not going to 4 corners would be nice, too.
54-43 Wake.
12:35 - 6th team foul, this one Chas's third, will put UVA in the bonus the rest of the way. Not a good idea. Some good shooting has expanded the lead a little bit, but Wake shows no sign of running away with it.
Harvey Hale's contact just fell out...oops. 51-43 Deacs.
15:57 - And...after UVA is very dumb and tries to run the baseline on a spot inbounds play Gary Clark promptly turns the ball back over. Nice.
Come on, guys.
16:17 - Very sloppy play so far and I'm not a fan. Wake seems to be making some really dumb decisions on offense. Shooting selection has been poor and there have been some pretty lazy passes. Wake also just ran that terrible inbound play where they just throw it way up top without really doing anything of substance to try to get a good look right away. Quite annoying.
UVA's gotten right back into this and hopefully the intensity will pick up after this timeout. For everyone who was complaining about Dino not calling them last game you can't fault him this time. I like the timeout a lot.
Wake still leads 41-36.
2nd Half: 17:25 - Another slow start for Wake while UVA has scored a few quick ones. The guys seem to be lacking a little bit of the intensity they had in the first half, but I expect to come back with the lead narrowing. Wake leads 40-32.
Halftime Football Ceremony - The team was just honored for their great football season. First a highlight video was shown and now the team is being honored for all of their accomplishments. The crowd roared when the PA said they had swept tobacco road for the 2nd straight year. Nice ceremony and a great reception from the crowd.
Halftime - Solid half from Wake, who leads 36-27. It certainly wasn't perfect, and UVA is obviously pretty bad, but the overall performance isn't one to complain about. The defense looked much better than it has the last couple games, and other than a couple of exceptions the guys did a much better job boxing out. The shooting still left plenty to be desired, but generally speaking I don't think there's too much to complain about, particularly considering the score.
Johnson has played a considerably better game than the last couple and Clark continues to see significant PT. Harvey has shot alright, 1-3 from 3-point range, and the team is a halfway decent 5-12. Since Virginia is only shooting 30% Wake's in pretty good shape. As long as they keep up the effort in the second half then we should finish the day with a comfortable victory.
As long as the Deacs avoid another collapse in the final 10 minutes there won't be much to worry about.
0:48 - Little burst from UVA. Wake's defense appeared to slack a little and give up some offensive rebounds while Clark picked up his 2nd foul. The fact that he's been in there long enough to have 2 fouls is somewhat impressive. Wake leads 36-27.
2:44 - Gary Clark just made what was probably the most impressive drive to the basket by someone not named Ishmael or James. I had no idea he could take the ball to the hole like that, and he probably got fouled, too. Thanks to some better shooting, taking the ball to the hole, and playing very stingy D Wake leads 33-21.
4:23 - When Chas isn't in the game we don't seem to have much of anything inside. Heck, Weaver just hit a 3 and he's the one supposedly playing center. Clark missed an open look for three, but he looks more comfortable out there today than he did Wednesday. Wake leads 28-21.
6:33 - Singletary has made a couple of pretty impressive plays, most notably the layup he made a minute ago between what looked like three or four Wake players. UVA's hit a few shots and closed the gap, but Wake has continued to score. Chas has been doing a good job getting himself good shots in the post. Wake's lead is 6, 25-19.
10:40 - Another 4 points from Wake and UVA calls a timeout. James looks to be having a better game already, with 3 rebounds and 7 points at this point. Only 1 turnover so far is also a great number. Wake leads 18-9.
11:54 - Other than a nice 2-handed dunk by Weaver the last couple minutes haven't been too eventful. I'm surprised Virginia isn't putting more pressure on Wake's inbounding plays under the basket considering the recent problems, but they've been content to clog the middle and allow an easy bounce pass to a post man at the 3-point line on the baseline. Less turnovers is always a good thing, so I won't complain.
Wake leads 14-9.
13:46 - Lots and lots of fouls on the Deacs (5 to be exact), and I don't agree with all of them. Gary Clark has already checked in and has 2 points on a fast break layup, a missed 3-pointer, and a foul. Wake leads 12-9.
15:35 - Those shooting problems turned around in a hurry, with 3's by Hale and Johnson. Not a bad start, and so far Singletary has been well guarded. Wake just needs to watch out for the dumb fouls, having already committed 3. Wake leads 8-4.
17:13 - I think there may have been a renewed emphasis on defense this week. Looks like a little half-court trap to start things off and some good tight D, although two quick fouls hurt. The shooting looks poor already, though. Still 0-0.
Tipoff: Great crowd in the Joel today, I think it will be a fun game and great for the football recruits who are here this weekend. In fact, they're sitting almost directly behind me, so I'll try to keep an eye on how they're enjoying themselves.
Believe it or not, Wake won the tip.
About 10 minutes until tipoff. Today is a game that Wake absolutely needs to win. Virginia has been struggling and a loss today would probably put Wake into an irreparable tailspin. If Wake can go grab a double digit win it could be a huge boost heading on the road later this week. Time to get it done!
