Wake Forest men’s basketball is playing for the postseason.
In what will likely go down as the biggest game for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons this season, the Deacs will take on a great Louisville team next Wednesday at 9 P.M.
Throughout the year, Wake Forest has played top teams such as North Carolina, Duke and UVA extremely close, but have not been able to grab a signature win. Louisville presents the final opportunity for the Deacs to gain such a win this season and the final opportunity to finally get off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament.
This team has certainly shown that they are capable of playing with any team in the country and they certainly pass the eye test, but in order to be taken seriously by the NCAA selection committee they need to beat Louisville on Wednesday.
This by know means will be easy as Louisville is a legitimate championship contender. They have a top 5 defense in the country and our absolutely suffocating on the defensive end. I would expect the Cardinals to press the Deacons at every opportunity, as the Deacons have not yet shown that they can break the press. Offensively the Deacs will have to rely on Bryant Crawford’s ability to penetrate and dish the ball inside to John Collins. If the Deacs are able to spread the ball around they should be able to get good looks for their shooters throughout the game.
While the Cardinals are great defensively they are only average on the offensive side of the court. The Deacons certainly have not played great defense throughout the year, but they should be able to at least contain the Cardinals. This game is absolutely vital for the Deacon’s tournament chances.
If the team can start out hot and feed off the energy of the crowd I believe Wake Forest will have a very good chance to finally get the signature win they so desperately need.
