The date and setting for tonight's game between Wake Forest and N.C. State are to the Deacons' advantage.
Recent history, and pretty much everything else, favors the Wolfpack.
The 7 p.m. tipoff at Joel Coliseum will be just 47 hours after the end of N.C. State's 66-62 home victory against Clemson on Sunday night. Wake Forest hasn't played since Saturday, when it lost at Virginia Tech 66-65.
The 18th-ranked Wolfpack, 15-3 and 4-1 in ACC play in Mark Gottfried's second season as head coach, was the media's preseason pick to win the conference. It has some of the ACC's top talent in seniors Scott Wood and Richard Howell, juniors C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown and freshmen Rodney Purvis and T.J. Warren, but Gottfried is concerned about their stamina.
"I think for us, it's important to have a good quick turnaround,'' Gottfried said. "We have to play well in a short amount of time from a Sunday night game to a Tuesday night game.
"So I think that's going to be important for us, how we respond. We've got to get our legs back underneath us.''
Wake Forest, for its part, will have to shake off any ill effects from the trip to Virginia Tech, where potential winning shots by C.J. Harris and Tyler Cavanaugh in the final two seconds failed to drop. The Deacons, after winning five of six, have lost two in a row to fall to 10-9 overall and 2-3 in ACC play.
"I'll tell you what, we had a good practice (Sunday), and the guys responded well,'' Coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "No pity parties.
"That's part of maturing. Every time you wake up in the morning and look at the scores in college basketball, there are teams that suffer one- and two-point losses. It's how teams respond that ultimately determines their destiny.''
Bzdelik struggled in his first two seasons as the Deacons' coach, and no opponent was more responsible than N.C. State. Of the Wolfpack's four victories, the average margin was 23.3 points.
In 2010-11, N.C. State clobbered Wake Forest 90-69 in Raleigh and 80-55 in Joel Coliseum. Last season the Wolfpack steamrolled the Deacons 76-40 in Joel Coliseum and cruised to an 87-76 victory in Raleigh.
Forward Travis McKie, a junior, has experienced nothing but pain and frustration against N.C. State.
"It definitely adds a little bit more motivation to get the job done,'' McKie said Monday. "Every time I've played them since I was a freshman, they've embarrassed us. None of them have been close.
"We definitely want to change that.''
The Wolfpack might be the most balanced team in the ACC with Leslie, Brown, Howell, Warren and Wood all averaging between 15.4 and 12 points and Purvis averaging 9.5 points. Howell, a 6-8, 257-pound forward who ranks second in the ACC with 10.6 rebounds a game, will present a difficult challenge for the Deacons, who start 6-9 freshman Devin Thomas in the post.
Thomas has played well recently, averaging 10.6 rebounds over his last five games. He had 12 points and eight rebounds at Virginia Tech.
"Devin Thomas is a terrific young player,'' Bzdelik said. "He's probably a young Richard Howell, to be honest with you. So it's a great experience for Devin to learn from one of the best rebounders in the ACC, if not the three best rebounders in the ACC.
"It's part of the maturing process. Devin's strong and moves his body well. Obviously it's a great challenge for him against Richard.
"He's going to have to battle and fight ? and that's one thing I'm really proud of this team. They do battle, and they compete, and Devin will do that against Richard.''
Recent history, and pretty much everything else, favors the Wolfpack.
The 7 p.m. tipoff at Joel Coliseum will be just 47 hours after the end of N.C. State's 66-62 home victory against Clemson on Sunday night. Wake Forest hasn't played since Saturday, when it lost at Virginia Tech 66-65.
The 18th-ranked Wolfpack, 15-3 and 4-1 in ACC play in Mark Gottfried's second season as head coach, was the media's preseason pick to win the conference. It has some of the ACC's top talent in seniors Scott Wood and Richard Howell, juniors C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown and freshmen Rodney Purvis and T.J. Warren, but Gottfried is concerned about their stamina.
"I think for us, it's important to have a good quick turnaround,'' Gottfried said. "We have to play well in a short amount of time from a Sunday night game to a Tuesday night game.
"So I think that's going to be important for us, how we respond. We've got to get our legs back underneath us.''
Wake Forest, for its part, will have to shake off any ill effects from the trip to Virginia Tech, where potential winning shots by C.J. Harris and Tyler Cavanaugh in the final two seconds failed to drop. The Deacons, after winning five of six, have lost two in a row to fall to 10-9 overall and 2-3 in ACC play.
"I'll tell you what, we had a good practice (Sunday), and the guys responded well,'' Coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "No pity parties.
"That's part of maturing. Every time you wake up in the morning and look at the scores in college basketball, there are teams that suffer one- and two-point losses. It's how teams respond that ultimately determines their destiny.''
Bzdelik struggled in his first two seasons as the Deacons' coach, and no opponent was more responsible than N.C. State. Of the Wolfpack's four victories, the average margin was 23.3 points.
In 2010-11, N.C. State clobbered Wake Forest 90-69 in Raleigh and 80-55 in Joel Coliseum. Last season the Wolfpack steamrolled the Deacons 76-40 in Joel Coliseum and cruised to an 87-76 victory in Raleigh.
Forward Travis McKie, a junior, has experienced nothing but pain and frustration against N.C. State.
"It definitely adds a little bit more motivation to get the job done,'' McKie said Monday. "Every time I've played them since I was a freshman, they've embarrassed us. None of them have been close.
"We definitely want to change that.''
The Wolfpack might be the most balanced team in the ACC with Leslie, Brown, Howell, Warren and Wood all averaging between 15.4 and 12 points and Purvis averaging 9.5 points. Howell, a 6-8, 257-pound forward who ranks second in the ACC with 10.6 rebounds a game, will present a difficult challenge for the Deacons, who start 6-9 freshman Devin Thomas in the post.
Thomas has played well recently, averaging 10.6 rebounds over his last five games. He had 12 points and eight rebounds at Virginia Tech.
"Devin Thomas is a terrific young player,'' Bzdelik said. "He's probably a young Richard Howell, to be honest with you. So it's a great experience for Devin to learn from one of the best rebounders in the ACC, if not the three best rebounders in the ACC.
"It's part of the maturing process. Devin's strong and moves his body well. Obviously it's a great challenge for him against Richard.
"He's going to have to battle and fight ? and that's one thing I'm really proud of this team. They do battle, and they compete, and Devin will do that against Richard.''
