In a trap game, how do the Deacs escape getting caught…
Yeah, Saturday was pretty much the best day ever. Wake Forest required a big victory, and the Deacs delivered, upsetting Duke 83-79 to keep their perfect 15-0 record in the Joel. By doing this, Wake Forest shot to prominence, emerging from the bubble’s periphery and projected as a single-digit seed by most bracketologists. For a day’s work, not bad.
The Deacs garnered the fifth-most votes among unranked teams in Monday’s AP poll, and they are ranked No. 19 in KenPom, No. 24 in Torvik, and No. 25 in NET. Torvik currently projects Wake Forest’s chances of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament to be 94%. Although a victory wouldn’t significantly increase that amount, it would spare the Deacs from a defeat that would
In South Bend, there is a trap game. The following two weeks are critical to maintain momentum and leave no doubt in the wake of Wake Forest’s accomplishments. Wake plays in competitions. They are a club that has the potential to upset things in March Madness, but they must first firmly establish their bid. The first step along that journey is this Tuesday.
Date: February 27, Tuesday
Time: 9.00 p.m. ET
Purcell Pavilion is located in South Bend, Indiana.
Transmission: ACC Network
Past Events
The COVID-19-shortened season of 2020–21 saw the Demon Deacons of Steve Forbes lose, but since then, they have gone 3-0 versus Notre Dame, defeating the Irish 81–64 at South Bend last year. Damari Monsanto, who made eight of his thirteen three-point attempts in a 28-point outburst, was a crucial component of that triumph.
Wake Forest is a Quad 1 opponent for Notre Dame; the Irish have a 0-7 record in these games this season.
The Measures
In nearly every metric, including overall KenPom (19 to 136) and NET (25 to 142), Wake Forest outperforms the Irish. At No. 33 in KP, Notre Dame is actually a pretty good defensive club. It ranks in the top 50 by limiting opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 47.8. The Irish also restrict opposing free-throw attempts and offensive rebounds. However, they don’t result in many turnovers.
On the other hand, the offence is not very good, ranking No. 267 with poor turnover rates and mediocre shooting stats. Blocks and steals happen frequently. The offence moves slowly, coming close to matching Virginia’s tempo. The Irish score a lot of their scores from behind the arc.
Notre Dame has one of the lowest D1 experience percentages in the nation and above average bench minutes.
The Games Q1: 0–7
Q2: 2–3
Q3: 4–5.
Q4: 2-2
Best Win: Dec. 30, Home, 76-54 victory over Virginia
Worst Loss: Dec. 19, home loss to The Citadel, 65-45
The Lineup: Notre Dame is a squad that likes to switch up who plays where on the court. Of their players, only two play an average of more than 26 minutes each game. Braeden and Markus Burton
Shrewsberry. The club does boast a few three-point shooters, but none of the players stand out for their total shooting statistics.
The Pioneers G Markus Burton
Under head coach Micah Shrewsberry, the 5’11” rookie has been outstanding in his first season, averaging over 33 minutes and 16.7 points per game, both club highs. While the 3PT% (29.6) and FG% (41.4) are respectable, Burton takes 15 shots per game, which is an extremely high volume of shots.
