Kayel Locke had a tremendous game for UNC Greensboro, but it still was not enough for his Spartans to get a road victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem. Locke ended his night with 25 points, five rebounds and three steals in a loss to Wake Forest, 81-71. The Deacons were led on the night by Konstantinos Mitoglou and Devin Thomas, who had 22 and 18 points respectively. Thomas also continued his run of double-doubles with 10 rebounds on the night.

It seemed at the half that Wake Forest was on upset alert as they were up just two points after the first 20 minutes of play. Then in the second half, the Deacons started to make more shots and ended up cruising to a ten point victory. A big reason for this was their success beyond the three-point line. Wake made eight of their 20 three-point attempts. Mitoglou made half of those eight, shooting an impressive 67 percent from the three. The other four were made by Bryant Crawford, Mitchell Wilbekin and Cornelius Hudson.

It seemed the big story of the game was going to be the return of Codi Miller-McIntyre to the Wake Forest lineup, but he ended up not being a huge factor for the Deacons. He was only able to contribute three points, two rebounds and two assists tonight.

Wake Forest did not have their best effort against UNC Greensboro, a team that many thought were inferior to the Deacons. The main reasons for this is that there was not much improvement in the problems that have plagued the Deacons throughout the beginning of the year: free throws and turnovers. Wake shot a meager 69.2 percent from the foul line and also committed 16 turnovers on the night. Luckily for the Deacons, UNC Greensboro had 17 turnovers to give them a +1 differential in the game. Had the Spartans taken better care of the ball, Wake may have had a closer game on their hands.

Wake Forest also forced the Spartans to foul 26 times, but the problem for the Deacons is that they didn't capitalize on those fouls at the line. As a team, Wake shot under 70 percent, which is extremely low for a team average. Their aggressiveness can be a detriment if they keep giving up points at the free throw line. Danny Manning needs to sure up this problem and their turnovers.

UNC Greensboro falls to 4-6 on the season and will travel to Elon on Saturday afternoon. Wake Forest improves to 7-2 and will host Coastal Carolina at the LJVM Coliseum on Friday night in their final game before they take on an undefeated top-10 opponent in the Xavier Musketeers at home. 

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About the author
Jordan Hansgen
Wake Forest Student Sports Writer for Vavel.com Analyst on 91.3 FM Buffalo Blitz show