Now that it’s March, there are a lot of teams across America that need a win this weekend to boost their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Wake Forest is certainly among the most needy.
With losses to second-tier Atlantic Coast Conference teams Florida State, North Carolina State and Virginia staining their February resume — and a visit to No. 2 Duke scheduled for Monday — the Demon Deacons (19-9, 11-6 ACC) must handle Notre Dame (12-16, 6-11) Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C., if they have any March Madness intentions.
Considering Wake Forest sits in the 70s in the NCAA’s NET rankings as well as KenPom, it might already be too late.
“It’s not the way you want it to be,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “But, you know, here it is. Like anything in life, you have to face adversity and face it head-on and overcome it. That’s what we’re going to have to do. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us.”
Speaking of adversity, Forbes would like his defense to get back to more adversarial ways. Per KenPom, Wake Forest boasts the ACC’s fourth-best defense at 98.7 points allowed per 100 possessions.
But NC State (85) and Virginia (83) just scored the most points the Demon Deacons have allowed all year. The Wolfpack shot 50 percent from the field and the Cavs hit 55.8 percent, which negated more good offensive work by Hunter Sallis (18.6 ppg) and Cameron Hildreth (15.0 ppg).
Wake Forest isn’t the only team with incentive Saturday. The Fighting Irish are tied for 13th in the ACC standings with Syracuse and the top 15 teams get invites to Charlotte for the ACC tournament. A win over Wake Forest would all but clinch Notre Dame’s spot.
Alas, Notre Dame has been missing two starting guards: Braeden Shrewsberry (14.0 ppg, 72 3-pointers) is done for the year with a lower abdominal strain and Matt Allocco (9.0 ppg, 3.0 apg) has been out six of the last seven games with a shooting wrist injury.
Sophomore point guard Markus Burton (20.8 ppg) stepped up with 30 points Wednesday in a loss at Clemson — and the ACC’s leading scorer will likely need to do it again.
“Right now, (Markus) is driving the ball and there’s a dude on him and four other (defenders) standing around him,” Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “And he continues to keep scoring, keep going, keep playing. He’s doing his part, right? We just need more.”
–Field Level Media
