Wake Forest vs. NC State Preview

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-11, 2-6) will travel down I-40 and take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack (16-7,5-3) on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 in the RBC Center. The Deacs will look to rebound from their embarrassing loss to the Wolfpack in mid-January.

The Deacs opened up as 13 point underdogs and the line has since risen to 14.

The Game is on ESPN3 and ACC Network.

We'll be here tomorrow on the game thread. Stop on by, and enjoy the game with us. I'd also recommend reading our coffee table talk. I felt that it went in a great direction and we all gave very informed opinions.

Below the jump I'll provide some stats and analysis. As always, please feel free to leave comments and let's cheer on the Deacs!

Mark Gottfried has been impressive during his first year in Raleigh. In addition to signing a top-5 recruiting class in the nation, he has already eclipsed the Wolfpack's win total from last season. His team relies heavily on his forwards, as is evident by the percentage of points coming from 2 point field goals. This should make sense considering that Williams, Leslie , and Howell are all excellent players. Scott Wood is their only player who can make 3's at a respectable rate. In addition to their forwards being able to score efficiently they are also above average offensive and defensive rebounders.

State's man to man defense should cause the Deacs some serious problems given how athletic their team is. One of State's weaknesses is their depth as their bench provides only 25% of total minutes, which is 5% below the national average. Unfortunately for our Deacs, depth is one of our many weaknesses as well. Another one of State's weaknesses is their perimeter defense, which can certainly be one of our strength's. If CJ, Chase, Travis, and Nikkita can get knock down some perimeter shots, then we absolutely have a chance to be very competitive in this game.

NC State Projected Starting Lineup

Lorenzo Brown

Scott Wood

C.J. Williams

C.J.Leslie

Richard Howell

Wake Forest Projected Starting Lineup

Tony Chennault

CJ Harris

Travis McKie

Nikita Mescheriakov

Ty Walker

Final Thoughts

I really believe that we are going to play very well tomorrow. It will be a far cry from what we saw in the Joel on January 14th. I believe we will be able to take advantage of State's below average 3 point shooting and remain competitive down to the wire. If we are forced to foul in the final minute, I don't like our chances, because Scott Wood had literally not missed a free throw all season.

Ultimately I believe State will take us lightly and the Deacs will come out strong, but State's athleticism will be too much for our Deacs and we will lose by 10. It will mark our 4th loss in a row and we will likely lose at Virginia on the 8th. After that, though, the Deacs play Clemson and Georgia Tech in back-to-back home games, which are two winnable games.

CP3 Wake Jordans

Hopefully breaking out these kicks tomorrow gives our Deacs a boost.

Final Prediction

75-65 Wolfpack