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ACC schedule quick take: Wake Forest

Conference: Home --- Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State, Virginia Tech; Road --- Boston College, Clemson, Duke, North Carolina

Nonconference: Home --- Gardner-Webb, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt; Road --- Syracuse

Bye: Week 4

Don’t play: Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia

Must-see: It's not every day that Notre Dame comes to the Dash. It's not like the Demon Deacons haven't had some interesting visitors in recent years (Nebraska and Stanford come to mind), but this is clearly the gem of the home schedule.

A favorable setup: There's only so much that can look good about the schedule a 3-9 team is about to face. Nonetheless, getting N.C. State early --- and at home --- while it is breaking in a new quarterback is probably as good an opener as the Deacons' could have hoped for.

And not so much: Florida State and Virginia Tech in consecutive weeks --- whether home, road or a galaxy far, far away --- does not bode well for the Demon Deacons. There could be some lumps absorbed in mid-October.

The full schedule:

Sept. 3: at Syracuse
Sept. 10: N.C. State
Sept. 17: Gardner-Webb

Oct. 1: at Boston College
Oct. 8: Florida State
Oct. 15: Virginia Tech
Oct. 22: at Duke
Oct. 29: at North Carolina

Nov. 5: Notre Dame
Nov. 12: at Clemson
Nov. 19: Maryland
Nov. 26: Vanderbilt

Maryland plus-minus: Wake Forest

Running down today's numbers, after the jump. ...

 

Flipping through history: Current Terps vs. Wake Forest

A look ahead to Maryland's game Saturday against Wake Forest ...

ADRIAN BOWIE: 21.3 mpg, 7.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.7 tpg, 1.3 spg, 0.2 bpg, 17/32 FG (.532), 4/8 3FG (.500), 8/15 FT (.533)

2008 (H): 32 minutes, 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 steals, 4/7 FG, 2/5 FT
2008 (A): 16 minutes, 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnovers, 1 steals, 1/3 FG, 1/2 3FG
2009 (H): 18 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 3/5 FG
2009 (N): 16 minutes, 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 steals, 2/4 FG, 1/2 FT
2010 (A): 19 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 turnovers, 3 steals, 1 blocks, 2/3 FG, 1/1 3FG, 5/6 FT
2011 (A): 27 minutes, 12 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 5/10 FG, 2/5 3FG, 0/2 FT

DINO GREGORY: 20.6 mpg, 3.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 0.6 tpg, 0.2 spg, 0.6 bpg, 8/16 FG (.500), 2/3 FT (.667)

2008 (H): 2 minutes
2009 (H): 21 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1/3 FG
2009 (N): 29 minutes, 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1 block, 3/5 FG
2010 (A): 15 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 0/2 FG, 2/2 FT
2011 (A): 36 minutes, 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1 block, 4/6 FG, 0/1 FT

CLIFF TUCKER: 14.8 mpg, 4.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.7 tpg, 0.7 spg, 0.2 bpg, 8/24 FG (.333), 2/8 3FG (.250), 4/6 FT (.667)

2008 (H): 19 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1/5 FG, 0/2 3FG
2008 (A): 10 minutes, 1 point, 5 rebounds, 0/1 FG, 1/2 FT
2009 (H): 12 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1/3 FG, 0/1 3FG
2009 (N): 12 minutes, 1 point, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 0/1 FG, 1/2 FT
2010 (A): 7 minutes, 2 points, 0/1 FG, 2/2 FT
2011 (A): 29 minutes, 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals, 6/13 FG, 2/5 3FG, 7/10 FT

SEAN MOSLEY: 26.5 mpg, 8.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.3 tpg, 0.8 spg, 12/25 FG (.480), 2/3 3FG (.667), 8/10 FT (.800)

2009 (H): 23 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2/6 FG, 2/2 FT
2009 (N): 24 minutes, 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 4/6 FG, 1/1 3FG, 3/4 FT
2010 (A): 36 minutes, 8 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 steal, 3/8 FG, 0/1 3FG, 2/2 FT
2011 (A): 23 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 3/5 FG, 1/1 3FG, 1/2 FT

JAMES PADGETT: 9.0 mpg, 2.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.0 spg, 0.5 bpg, 2/6 FG (.333), 0/4 FT (.000)

2010 (A): 7 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 0/2 FG
2011 (A): 11 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 2/4 FG, 0/4 FT

JORDAN WILLIAMS: 27.5 mpg, 12.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 0.5 spg, 1.5 bpg, 8/21 FG (.381), 9/16 FT (.563)

2010 (A): 27 minutes, 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 6/8 FG, 0/2 FT
2011 (A): 28 minutes, 13 points, 15 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2/13 FG, 9/14 FT

PE'SHON HOWARD

2011 (A): 23 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1/3 FG, 0/2 3FG

MYCHAL PARKER

2011 (A): 1 minute, 0 points

HAUK PALSSON

2011 (A): 20 minutes, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 2/5 FG, 0/1 3FG

TERRELL STOGLIN

2011 (A): 17 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, 1/9 FG, 0/4 3FG

BEREND WEIJS

2011 (A): 2 minutes, 0 points, 2 blocks

Maryland plus-minus: Wake Forest

Looking at Maryland's plus-minus data from Wednesday's 74-55 defeat of Wake Forest in KrispyKremeville ...

Player	@WF	Season	Per Min	ACC	Per Min
1-Bowie	+5	+138	0.34	-3	-0.04
10-Weijs	-3	+42	0.43	-8	-1.60
11-Parker	-3	+32	0.67	-3	-3.00
12-Stoglin	+12	+173	0.58	+19	0.28
13-Palsson	+6	+70	0.53	+6	0.15
14-Mosley	+19	+161	0.39	+4	0.06
15-Levent	DNP	-3	-0.33	---	---
20-Williams	+14	+205	0.42	+1	0.11
21-Howard	+7	+106	0.37	-1	-0.02
24-Tucker	+17	+180	0.44	+9	0.11
33-Gregory	+21	+180	0.42	+15	0.19
35-Padgett	0	+76	0.42	+1	0.05
42-Pankey	INJ	0	0.00	---	---

Not a whole lot surprising here, really, which is fitting considering how the game played out.

Another troubling night in the Dash for Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- Wake Forest's ACC home opener ended Wednesday just like so many of its other dates at Joel Coliseum --- with another setback.

Tempting though it might be from the outside, it's still a tad premature to suggest this is the worst ACC team in generations. There's another 14 games or so before that sort of verdict can be reached.

But here's the painful truth for a fanbase that just endured an abysmal football season: The basketball program doesn't appear to be poised to provide any solace this winter.

The Demon Deacons (7-10, 0-2 ACC) simply aren't very good, and the latest evidence was allowing a Maryland team that didn't really get its act together until the final 12 minutes to scoot out of the Dash with a 74-55 victory.

Consider: The Terrapins (11-5, 1-2) didn't play particularly well and still departed with a comfortable victory.

"There's positive growth," coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "Not as much or as quick as we would like, but we're slowly getting there. We played well for a portion of the game but there's a good portion of the game that we didn't. At this level, if you just have a few bad minutes of basketball, it's going to cost you. That's where we are right now."

Indeed, the statistical evidence is almost more frightening than some of the on-floor follies, namely ...

* Bzdelik's deposed predecessor, Dino Gaudio, lost five games in three seasons at home. Wake Forest already has six home losses this year.

* Gaudio never lost a home game by more than 10 points. Bzdelik has five double-digit home defeats already, and Duke's next in town.

* Wednesday represented Wake's second-worst margin of defeat against an unranked team at home since Joel Coliseum opened in time for the 1989-90 season. The worst, naturally, was earlier this season against Virginia Commonwealth.

Oh, and two of the eight worst home beatings in the building's history have come this season ... before January's midpoint ...

WAKE FOREST, LARGEST MARGIN OF DEFEAT AT JOEL COLISEUM

36: No. 2 Duke, 1998 (88-52)

29: No. 3 Duke, 2002 (90-61)
28: No. 8 Duke, 1990 (97-69)
28: No. 4 North Carolina, 2007 (88-60)
27: No. 3 Duke, 1993 (86-59)
22: No. 3 Maryland, 2002 (85-63)
21: Virginia Commonwealth, 2011 (90-69 --- November 2010 game)

19: Maryland, 2011 (74-55)
18: No. 1 Duke, 2006 (82-64)
17: Colorado, 1991 (89-72)

Some of this is a function of not having a true point guard. Some of it was Bzdelik inheriting a depleted talent base. Some of it stems from having a few pieces that egregiously don't fit into a system. And some of it is a snowball effect.

Things will get better eventually, in large part because they have to. But the manner in which Wednesday unfolded was just the latest sign Wake Forest finds itself in a very, very deep chasm as it delved deeper into its conference schedule.

Terps throttle Wake in road rout

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- Maryland's 74-55 rout on Wake Forest on Wednesday wasn't particularly remarkable or unexpected.

The Terrapins have defeated everybody they were supposed to beat this year. And Wake has lost to every superior team on its schedule, plus a few more.

So it comes as little shock Maryland (11-5, 1-2 ACC) wound up with its largest margin of victory in an ACC road game since a 96-63 demolition of Florida State in 2002.

The rundown of Maryland's double-digit ACC regular-season victories away from College Park over the last eight seasons.

19: at Wake Forest (74-55, 2011)

16: at Clemson (82-66, 2007)
16: at Boston College (73-57, 2010)

15: at North Carolina (81-66, 2003)
15: at N.C. State (85-70, 2007)

13: at Clemson (65-52, 2004)

12: at Georgia Tech (86-74, 2006)

11: at N.C. State (71-60, 2009)

Flipping through history: Current Terps vs. Wake Forest

Before the flight takes off for RDU, here's a look at current Maryland players' game-by-game performance against Wake Forest throughout their careers ...

ADRIAN BOWIE

20.2 mpg, 6.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 2.0 tpg, 1.6 spg, 0.2 bpg, 12/22 FG (.545), 2/3 3FG (.667), 8/13 FT (.615)

2008 (H): 32 minutes, 10 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 TO, 3 stl, 4/7 FG, 2/5 FT
2008 (A): 16 minutes, 3 pts, 2 reb, 2 asst, 1 TO, 1 stl, 1/3 FG, 1/2 3FG
2009 (H): 18 minutes, 6 pts, 3 reb, 2 TO, 3/5 FG
2009 (N): 16 minutes, 5 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 4 TO, 1 stl, 2/4 FG, 1/2 FT
2010 (A): 19 minutes, 10 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 TO, 3 stl, 1 blk, 2/3 FG, 1/1 3FG, 5/6 FT

DINO GREGORY

16.8 mpg, 2.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.5 tpg, 0.3 spg, 0.5 bpg, 4/10 FG (.400), 2/2 FT (1.000)

2008 (H): 2 minutes
2009 (H): 21 minutes, 2 pts, 3 reb, 1 blk, 1/3 FG
2009 (N): 29 minutes, 6 pts, 6 reb, 1 TO, 1 blk, 3/5 FG
2010 (A): 15 minutes, 2 pts, 4 reb, 1 TO, 1 stl, 0/2 FG, 2/2 FT

CLIFF TUCKER

12.0 mpg, 1.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.4 apg, 0.4 tpg, 0.4 spg, 0.2 bpg, 2/11 FG (.182), 0/3 3FG, 4/6 FT (.667)

2008 (H): 19 minutes, 2 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 TO, 1/5 FG, 0/2 3FG
2008 (A): 10 minutes, 1 pt, 5 reb, 0/1 FG, 1/2 FT
2009 (H): 12 minutes, 2 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 TO, 1 stl, 1/3 FG, 0/1 3FG
2009 (N): 12 minutes, 1 pt, 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk, 0/1 FG, 1/2 FT
2010 (A): 7 minutes, 2 pts, 0/1 FG, 2/2 FT

SEAN MOSLEY

27.7 mpg, 8.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.3 tpg, 0.3 spg, 9/20 FG (.450), 1/2 3FG, 7/8 FT (.875)

2009 (H): 23 minutes, 6 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2/6 FG, 2/2 FT
2009 (N): 24 minutes, 12 pts, 6 reb, 1 ast, 4/6 FG, 1/1 3FG, 3/4 FT
2010 (A): 36 minutes, 8 pts, 13 reb, 2 ast, 4 TO, 1 stl, 3/8 FG, 0/1 3FG, 2/2 FT

JAMES PADGETT 

7 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 0/2 FG

2010 (A): 7 minutes, 1 reb, 1 stl, 0/2 FG

JORDAN WILLIAMS 

27 minutes, 12 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 6/8 FG (.750), 0/2 FT

2010 (A): 27 minutes, 12 pts, 3 reb, 1 blk, 6/8 FG, 0/2 FT

Game day shootaround: Maryland at Wake Forest

After an expanded edition on Sunday, time to scale back the game day shootaround to three items to keep an eye on.

And let's face it: Maryland's trip to Wake Forest is slightly less compelling than its trip to Duke was.

A few things to keep an eye on as the Terrapins (10-5, 0-2 ACC) look to collect a road victory in the Dash ...

1. Board games

Ever-so-quietly beyond Jordan Williams, Maryland has outrebounded 11 of its 15 opponents --- and lost all three times it was beaten on the glass (the Terps had a 36-all split with College of Charleston). Meanwhile, Wake Forest ranks at the bottom of the conference in rebounding margin (-2.2) and offensive rebounding percentage (an abysmal 27.3 percent).

Granted, the Demon Deacons are poor at many, many things, but this is one facet that could create particular pain for Jeff Bzdelik's struggling bunch tonight.

Prediction: At the least, Williams comes close to his career-high in rebounds (17) and Maryland maintains a healthy margin of at least plus-10 on the glass.

2. Hauk flies high

More on this later in the day, but Hauk Palsson quietly had an impressive 14-minute outing against Duke on Saturday. The forward didn't score in the 71-64 loss, but demonstrated (much as he did early in the season) an ability to seamlessly fit into the offense. He took smart, open shots, and it's clear coach Gary Williams was happy to see such assertiveness even though the attempts rimmed out.

Palsson thrived against a big front line in Durham; Wake Forest generally doesn't play quite so large (it's not like a few years ago when James Johnson, Al-Farouq Aminu and Chas McFarland confounded the Terps at times). This could be a good chance for Palsson to take another step forward.

Prediction: Palsson plays 12 minutes and scores six points along the way.

3. Dissecting the D

One more thing Wake Forest isn't very good at: Defense. The Demon Deacons are yielding 74.8 points a game, and just absorbed the first 90-point conference outing by N.C. State in Sidney Lowe's five seasons and rank last in the conference in field goal percentage (.442).

Wake isn't technically on pace for the worst ACC defense is forever (Georgia Tech gave up 76 points a game just three seasons ago), but odds are good league games will make matters worse for some of these stats. Maryland, averaging 79.5 points a game, is as good a candidate as anyone other than Duke to exploit Wake's defensive deficiencies.

Prediction: Maryland tops 85 points and shoots at least its season average (48.9 percent) en route to a 15-point victory over an outfit that proves far peskier than it did in Saturday's blowout loss at N.C. State.

Maryland stats wrap: Wake Forest

From the "Better late than never" Dept.:

TOUCHES (RUNS + CATCHES)

Player	WF	Season
Da'Rel Scott	12	88
Davin Meggett	16	88
Torrey Smith	6	38
D.J. Adams	16	29
Adrian Cannon	2	23
Ronnie Tyler	---	12
Matt Furstenburg	1	10
Quintin McCree	2	9
Mike Salvatico	6	9
Kevin Dorsey	2	7
Kerry Boykins	---	5
Dave Stinebaugh	INJ	4
Haroon Brown	3	3
Taylor Watson	---	3
LaQuan Williams	1	3
Will Yeatman	---	3
Gary Douglas	INJ	2
Tony Logan	---	2
Danny O'Brien	---	1

Five game-day predictions: Maryland-Wake Forest

A little more than 26 hours before kickoff, here's five predictions to consider for Saturday's Maryland-Wake Forest game at Byrd Stadium.

1. Da'Rel Scott will reach the 2,000-yard plateau for his career in the first quarter. The senior has just 37 yards on 13 carries since the bye week, and junior Davin Meggett now has 10 more rushes than Scott on the season. But Scott needs only 11 more yards to become the 10th player in Maryland history to get to 2,000, and he should finally take care of that pretty quickly against Wake Forest.

2. It will be a good day for wideouts. Wake's numbers against the run are less than desirable, but it is vulnerable in other ways. Look for Torrey Smith to get into the end zone while getting covered by a freshman corner at least once, while Wake Forest's Chris Givens is able to piece together a strong day against the Terps for the second straight year.

3. Speaking of Smith, the ACC kickoff return yardage record will be his. Finally. Smith needs 10 yards to surpass Brandon Tate at long last for this record. That shouldn't be a problem for the junior, whose production as a return man has waned this season because of injury and struggles of blockers in front of him.

4. Danny O'Brien will thrive against his hometown team. O'Brien played his high school ball just outside of Winston-Salem, and Maryland was able to swoop in and snag him in recruiting a couple years ago. O'Brien's de facto homecoming game next year in the Dash should be fun, but for now, he should crack double digits in touchdown passes for the season. Wake could start five freshmen on defense, making the job a bit easier. A day in line with his season ratio (three TDs for every interception) or even better sounds right.

5. Maryland will become bowl eligible. This wouldn't be big news in most college football burgs, but in College Park there will be a sense of accomplishment --- and rightfully so. The Terrapins are simply a more developed team than Wake Forest at this stage, and should manage to handle a well-coached but young Demon Deacons team and get to 6-2.