Wake Forest Unable to Help ACC in Big Ten Challenge
The ACC has gotten off to a rocky start in this year’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge, which is starting to look more like the Ryder Cup for the ACC, except that they used to dominate it in ways that the US team never dominated the Ryder Cup.
More from Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- Webb Simpson wins RBC Heritage Open on Father’s Day
- Four North Carolina players selected in first round of MLB Draft
- Battle 4 NC: Ranking the Top 5 Football Teams in NC after Week 11
- Wake Forest Football: How to watch College Football Playoff Rankings Show
- Surratt, Dimukeje, Acceus Named ACC Players of the Week
Let me just say that the ACC is currently down 6-2 in a series where first one to 8 wins. The winners have been the ranked ACC squads Miami and Louisville, while Wake Forest and NC State have been on the losing end of matchups.
Looking at this game, it is clear that one team is in the second year with its coach and the other is only in the first year. Minnesota appeared to have an identity and a proven way to score, Andre Hollins and his twenty-seven points.
Wake looked a lot more disjointed. I can’t help but look at the stat line of Devin Thomas for confirmation. Thomas is the best pre-Manning Wake player. In this game against the Gophers he played twenty minutes, scored four points, and still collected eight rebounds. His absence from the game was not some sort of weird coaching by Manning, it was foul trouble. This tells me that Wake still leans on Thomas to have big games.
Without him, scoring was fairly well divided, with sophomore Miles Overton leading the way with fourteen points.
Defense also needs work. Hollins got his 27 on 8 of 14 shooting. Giving up 27 to a player may not be a terrible thing if he needs 20 shots to do it. Hollins found open threes that should not have been there.
The good thing is that the Demon Deacons got to play against a Pitino before it counts in the conference record book. Rick Pitino’s Louisville squad will like nothing better than to pressure the young back court of Wake Forest.
Wake is currently 4-4 on the year with losses to Iona, Arkansas (83-53), Delaware State, and now Minnesota. Yes, it is going to be one of those years.