Know Your Opponent: Wake Forest

By Bobby Hundley

Wake Forest (WakeForestSports.com)
Location: Winston-Salem, N.C.
Rankings: No. 177 KenPom, NR AP
NET/SOS: No. 197 NET, No. 61 SOS
Record: 9-14, 2-9 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 160-66 (UNC 73, WFU 69, Dec. 30, 2017, Smith Center)

All the momentum accrued in Wake Forest's 2017 run to the NCAA tournament - its first since 2010 - has all but disappeared for Danny Manning's program. Since the Demon Deacons closed that regular season with three straight ACC wins, Wake is 6-23 in league contests and its KenPom ranking has plummeted to No. 177, a level last seen in the early days of the Bzdelik era.

On offense, Wake ranks among the worst shooting teams in college basketball. The Deacs are 325th nationally in 3-point percentage and 329th in 2-point percentage, good for an effective FG% of 45.4 percent. The numbers get worse in ACC play, where Wake is last in all three categories and 14th (ahead of only Georgia Tech) in points per possession.

The story isn't much better on defense, where Manning's squad ranks last in the ACC in defensive efficiency and 13th in turnover rate. All 11 league foes have topped 1.00 PPP, as have non-conference opponents Tennessee, Richmond, Houston Baptist, St. Joseph's and North Carolina A&T.

Individually, junior Brandon Childress is Wake's top offensive threat and volume outside shooter. The son of WFU great and current associate head coach Randolph Childress scores a team-best 15.1 points per game and dishes out better than four assists per outing. Newcomer Jaylen Hoard, a 6-8 freshman from France via High Point, has been another bright spot, averaging 13.7 points and 8.3 boards a night. Another Frenchman, 7-0 sophomore Olivier Sarr, adds some needed heft up front and is an above-average shot blocker. Sophomore Chaundee Brown has shown flashes during his time in Winston-Salem and is the team's best free throw shooter.

The future of the Wake Forest program will depend a lot on its ability to retain players. Recent seasons have not been kind in terms of roster turnover, with talents like Doral Moore, John Collins and Bryant Crawford opting to depart early for professional opportunities, while several others have transferred out. For now, though, the priority will be navigating a brutal home stretch that includes trips to NC State and Duke as well as home games against UNC, Syracuse and Florida State.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

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