Wake Forest @ North Carolina State, 2/11/09

What is going on with the Deacons? They seem to play well when they are playing the big time teams in the ACC (3-0) but they have problems with everyone else (2-4) in the ACC. The Deacons came to the RBC Center and got embarrassed. At one point the Deacons were down 20 to the Wolfpack. The 'Duke Killer' James Johnson ended the game with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists, while Jeff Teague probably had one of his worst performances with 11 points and 7 assists, but he only attempted 3 shots.

Brandon Costner led the Wolfpack with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Talk about filling the stat sheet. He got help from Courtney Fells (12 points), Tracy Smith (12 points), and Farnold Degand (14 points). The Wolfpack needed this win to keep them in the running for the NCAA tournament. The Wolfpack won the game 82-76.

Duke @ Wake Forest, 1-28-09

It took a while for me to write this because I had to get all of my crying out first. Duke went into Lawrence Joel and they were facing an uphill battle against a good Wake Forest Deamon Deacon's team. The Deacons rode the crowd, Jeff Teague and Ishmael Smith to a win over the #1 ranked Blue Devils. Neither team shot well, but Wake held Duke to 28% fg shooting in the first half. Al-Farouq Aminu led the Deacons with 15 pts and Kyle Singler led the Blue Devils with 22 pts (but took 19 shots to get there).

All in all a good win for the Deacons. A not so bad loss for the Blue Devils except for how they lost the game. Duke was down 11 in the second half and started making a comeback. They ended up tying the score and Jeff Teague took the ball coast to coast but had his layup partially blocked by Gerald Henderson. Henderson was also able to collect the rebound, but when he landed he slipped and was called for a travel. From the subsequent inbound, James Johnson comes of a stagger and gets a WIDE OPEN layup with .8 seconds on the clock. Coach K was crying on the inside at this point.

So, Wake showed everyone that if you have size and athleticism, you can bother Duke. Duke showed that Jeff Teague is a baller. He can get to anywhere he wants on the floor and he can hit shots. It's early in conference play, so it's not time to worry about either of these teams. Congrats to Wake and I'm sure going to want to see them come to Durham.

Note: The highlight of the game was Gerald Henderson's Jerry Stackhouse-esque reverse dunk from the baseline on Chas McFarland. Gerald Henderson. Jerry Stackhouse.

Virginia Tech @ Wake Forest 1-21-09

Wow, this wasn't what anyone expected, right? Wake Forest, presently the #1 team in the nation was upset by a very aggressive Virginia Tech team. This was a very chippy game with both teams taking shots at each other. Al-Farouq Aminu took a nice shot (inadvertent) to the head and had his forehead swell up like Will Smith in Hitch.

Virginia Tech was able to play aggressively and get a few early calls at Wake. Malcolm Delaney led the Hokies with 21 pts and 7 rebs along with big games from both A.D. Vassallo (16 pts, 5 rebs, and 6 asts) and Jeff Allen (16pts and 7 rebs). They were able to get Johnson, Williams, and McFarland in foul trouble.

The Deamon Deacons showed us that they still have a ways to go to be a solid #1 team in the nation. They were at home and got whupped. Jeff Teague did his best with 23 pts, but foul trouble and missed opportunities down the stretch really killed the Deacons. They should learn from this loss, and make more noise as the season goes on. Congrats to the Hokies.