Wake Forest Defeats the CTG Knights 90-78: Impressions

Wake Forest found themselves up just 46-38 at halftime, and outscored the CTG Knights 44-40 in the second half to win 90-78. The Deacs had 5 players score in double-figures. Bryant Crawford led the way with 20, followed by 15 from John Collins, 14 from Keyshawn Woods, 13 from Austin Arians, and 10 from Mitchell Wilbekin. Below are my thoughts on Wake’s performance.

• Wake Forest went with an interesting starting lineup of Brandon Childress, Keyshawn Woods, Donovan Mitchell, Sam Japhet-Mathias, and Trent Van Horn.
• John Collins might be the most improved player on the roster, and one of the most improved players in the ACC. Not only did he play well down low, but he made plays in the open floor and was incredibly versatile.
• Keyshawn Woods had another very strong game. He showed off his outside shot, but also did a great job of using his athleticism to get to the rim. He and Bryant Crawford are going to form a very good backcourt for the Deacs.
• It doesn’t actually matter, but this might have been one of the worst officiated games I can recall. I’m not one to complain about refs, but this was lopsided and horrific officiating.
• CTG ran almost exclusively zone. Also, their last 4 performances have been awful. 87-86 loss to Missouri State, 81-74 loss to Wyoming, 126-77 loss to Akron, and a 106-85 loss to UNLV.
• Wake’s defense left a lot to be desired. Wake still seems to get beaten off the dribble far too often, and that will cost them during the season if the trend continues. Giving up 78 points to this team is really unacceptable. I know it was the team’s second in two days, but that was not an inspiring defensive effort.
• Dinos Mitoglou was out yet again.
• Austin Arians had a great stretch in the 3rd quarter where he hit back-to-back three’s. He tried to go for the three-peat but missed on the heat check. Fortunately John Collins was there for a big put back jam.
• Wake got the lead up to about 17 in the 3rd quarter, but then found themselves up just 6 points at the end of 3.
• Bryant Crawford stepped up in this one and played well. He didn’t have to score much against Toronto, but unfortunately he had to step up in this contest.
• Crawford, Collins, and Woods are going to be a strong trio for Wake this year, but they will need consistent help from Arians, and hopefully at least one additional player.
• Doral Moore had just 4 points in this contest, and I was hoping to see more (unintentional pun, I swear) out of him tonight.
• The ball movement wasn’t as crisp tonight as it was yesterday, but part of that was the lineup selection. I thought Manning attempted to see a lot of unique lineups, which is probably what he should be using this exhibition season for.

What did you all think of the team’s performance?

Wake Forest will complete their Bahamas tour on Thursday at 7 p.m. when they take on the Real Deal Shockers. The live video will be available on YouTube and will also be embedded on Blogger So Dear.