The Deacs dropped their first game of the season tonight to the Michigan Wolverine by a score of 84-85.
Wake started off the game pretty well, using an 8-0 run in the first few minutes to grab a lead. Ultimately,
the story of the half would be foul trouble, as the Deacs struggled to deal with the size of the Wolverines. Michigan was simply more physical and worked the ball inside to 7-3 center Aday Mara, and Wake just did not have anyone who could handle him without fouling. When Tre’Von Spillers was forced to go to the bench with his 3rd foul, Wake Forest trailed by just 3 points, 26-29. In the remaining 4:41 of the half, Wake was outscored 18-8 and trailed 34-47 at the half. While there were some questionable calls from the refs, Wake was also just committing a ton of fouls–at the end of the half, the Wolverines had shot 20 free throws to Wake’s 6.
The Deacs didn’t go away though. Juke Harris came alive at the start of the 2nd half and fueled a Wake Forest run with 6 quick points, a part of a 10-2 run in the first 5 minutes of the half. Harris scored 12 of his 19 points in the 2nd half on 4-6 shooting from the field. By the 8 minute mark, Wake Forest had tied the game at 64 all, and eventually took a lead on this fastbreak poster from Purdue transfer Myles Colvin.
A couple of free throws and a Mekhi Mason 3-pointer later, and the Deacs were up 77-70 with just 4 minutes remaining—that’s where things went south. Wake didn’t score another basket until Colvin hit a 3 to take a 2-point lead with 54 seconds remaining–the Deacs went over 3 minutes without a basket, allowing the Wolverines to not only catch up, but retake a lead. Over that 3 minutes, Wake Forest was 0-4 from the field and turned the ball over 3 times.
With the game tied at 80, Wake still had a chance to win on the final possession of the game. The Deacs dribbled out the clock and then turned the ball over before they even got a shot off. That was the cherry on top of a pretty terrible late game collapse from Wake Forest.
Overtime was a back and forth affair that ultimately came down to the final play of the game. WIth 6 seconds remaining in the game, the Deacs trailed 85-84 and had a chance to win the game with a basket. I don’t know what Wake drew up during the timeout, but what occurred in the game was probably not it. The Deacs did get a shot off this time, at least, but Calmese’s moon shot would not go, and Wake fell 85-84.
This one hurts. The Deacs showed a ton of fight coming back from down 13 but just shot themselves in the foot too many times down the stretch to pull off the upset. Between blowing a 7-point lead in under 3 minutes, not getting a shot off at the end of regulation, missing 2 free throws with a minute left in a tie game in OT, and then not getting off a decent shot at the end of the game, Wake just didn’t convert when it mattered. This is a game the Deacs should have won, and they simply choked it away. If this was a measuring stick game to see how good this team could be this season, I suppose we should be happy that Wake proved they can stand toe to toe with a top 10 team. I just can’t shake the feeling that we are going to be lamenting blowing this one on Selection Sunday.
On to the next.
Go Deacs.
