Wake Forest vs. Samford GIF Recap

Devin Thomas was able to do pretty much whatever he wanted against Samford and led the Deacs with 19 points and 8 rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Here, Devin is able to get to his dominant left hand, go past the defender, use the rim as a shield and finish on the right for the easy goal in the 75th minute (get it together ESPN3).

Another great thing I saw from the Deacs against Samford was they way they attacked the zone. Rather than trying to drive right into the zone like they had been the last couple of games, the Deacs beat the zone with quick ball movement that resulted in open shots.

The perimeter passing forces the Bulldogs guards to shift back and forth. When Devin Thomas gets the ball, the zone collapses down on him and he quickly kicks it out to a wide open Codi Miller-McIntyre for 3. When CMM is making this shot, the Deacs should have no trouble with zone.

Another example of great passing here. Madison Jones quickly gets the ball underneath to Aaron Rountree. The zone has to collapse on him and he finds Greg McClinton cutting to the basket. The Deacs don't get the basket, but the good passing set up two free throws for McClinton.

Another great thing from Wake Forest against Samford was the way they handled the full court pressure. They did a much better job off getting the ball up the court and capitalizing on easy baskets after beating the press.

In the first clip, Madison Jones is able to get the ball to the middle of the court, and takes advantage of the fact that the Bulldogs defense isn't set. He makes a great no look pass to Rountree for the dunk. Again in the second clip, the Deacs easily beat the press. The Samford defense is out numbered and some great passing leads to an "and 1" for Dinos Mitoglou. This is a great improvement over the struggle Wake Forest has had in the past with full court pressure.

Defensively, the start of this game seemed liked it was going to be one of those where the other team couldn't miss from beyond the arc.

Early in the first half, Nnamdi Enechionyia comes a couple of off ball screens and drains a difficult 3 point shot. He would end the game with 15 points, while going 3-3 shooting from downtown.

Another guy that had a big game from the 3 point line for the bulldogs was Tyler Hood. Here he moves out to the corner while Devin stays anchored in the lane poised to play help defense. Unfortunately his a little slow getting back out to his man and Hood drills a 3.

Offensive rebounding for the bulldogs in the first half also led to some open 3s. The Bulldogs looked like they were going to have one of those games Wake Forest fans are all too familiar with this season, but they eventually cooled off and finished the game shooting just 8-22 from the 3 point line.

The Bulldogs were able to keep the game close for a while, but eventually they were outmatched by the superior talent, depth, and energy of the Deacs. Late in the first and into the second half, the Deacs were able to get into transition and get easy baskets to increase the lead on the Bulldogs.

Late in the first here, Rountree makes a great pass CMM down court who lobs it to Greg McClinton for the nice alley-oop. Its always good to see selfless basketball that ends in an easy slam.

On a steal early in the second half, Cornelius Hudson drops the ball off the Devin Thomas trailing on the play for the electrifying slam. It may look like a travel, but DT doesn't take 2 steps until he has complete possession of the ball.

Cornelius Hudson channels his inner Kevin Johnson, anticipates the pass, and is able to get the steal for the easy dunk. Wake Forest really amped up their defense in the second half. Turnovers and fast break dunks allowed them to pull ahead and stay ahead to eventually win the game by 18.