The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are back on the court after taking an eleven day hiatus for finals week and for the first time this season the Deacons will have their best player Codi Miller-McIntyre, who has been dealing with a foot injury throughout the first few months of the season. Miller-McIntyre is a game changer, but it will be interesting to see if he can shake off the rust early on and make a difference in tonight’s matchup with the UNC Greensboro Spartans.
Wake Forest has not lost to UNC Greensboro or any of their local opponents, as they have a staggering 29-0 record against teams from the Piedmont Triad and are 8-0 against UNC Greensboro. Wake Forest also has not lost since getting beat by Vanderbilt in the semifinal of the Maui Invitational, a tournament in which the Deacons went 2-1 on their way to a third place finish.
Since then Wake has gone 3-0 with wins against UCLA in Maui, Rutgers in New Jersey, and Arkansas at home in Winston-Salem. All three wins were won by just three points or less. Wake has learned to win close games, but against UNC Greensboro, who is just 4-5 on the season, Wake will be heavily favored. They need to show to the NCAA Tournament committee that they are better than UNCG and should win by double digits if they play at their best.
It comes down to the play of Devin Thomas, who was the star for Wake Forest in the absence of Codi Miller-McIntyre. He is averaging a double-double with 18.6 PPG and 11.4 RPG. Thomas needs to get his rebounds tonight, but that realistically should not be a problem as UNCG in ranked 314th in the nation in rebounds per game. Compared to the Deacons, who are a great rebounding team, ranked 29th in the NCAA, UNCG is going to have a lot of trouble on the glass.
Wake Forest should win this game with ease, but in college basketball, things do not always go as planned. If UNCG is going to win this game and upset the Demon Deacons, they are going to need another big game from freshman guard Francis Alonso. Alonso’s ability to score from behind the three point line could keep the Spartans in the game and if it is close at the end, a couple big shots by UNCG may get them the upset.
Even if that happens, Wake will have to struggle a lot to lose this game to a team that has never beaten them before. The Demon Deacons, with their rebounding ability and more depth, have enough to beat UNCG as long as they defend the three point line and crash the boards.