January 19, 2010
The Tar Heels suffered through a tough stretch last week. After opening conference play with a solid win against Virginia Tech, the Tar Heels traveled to 19th ranked Clemson on the 13th for only their third true road game of the season (0-2 at Kentucky and College of Charleston).
Unfortunately, the result was no better as the Tigers’ full-court pressure forced a total of 26 turnovers and held the Tar Heels to a season-low 64 points. Dexter Strickland was the only UNC player to reach double-figure scoring.
The Tar Heels returned home on the 16th to host 18th ranked Georgia Tech. Once again, the Tar Heels found themselves in an early first-half deficit, through one stretch scoring only one point in over seven minutes of game time.
Georgia Tech’s lead grew to 20 during UNC’s cold stretch and led by 14 at the half. But UNC would rally to take the lead in the final minutes thanks to Will Graves’ career-high 24 points (22 in the second half) including five three-pointers.
However, UNC would come up short in the end and drop to #23 in the latest ESPN rankings.
The Tar Heels will face Wake Forest Wednesday night looking to end their two game slide and assert themselves in conference play while facing persisting injury problems. Marcus Ginyard continues to have ankle problems. Tyler Zeller is sidelined for up to 6 weeks with a stress fracture.
And both Larry Drew and Ed Davis suffered injuries in the loss against Georgia Tech keeping them out of practice on Monday. Drew will likely play while Davis’ status is questionable.
The Demon Deacons (12-4, 2-2) enter the Dean Dome following a 20 point loss at Duke. The physical nature of the game between Duke and Wake Forest portrayed another instance to support comments from ACC coaches who feel the game has become too physical.
Coach Roy Williams and Wake Forest Coach Dino Gaudio are two of such coaches. The manner in which the game is played Wednesday will be interesting to watch in the match-up of their teams.
Players to watch for Wake Forest:
Al-Farouq Aminu #1 – F
• Projected lottery pick in the NBA draft a year ago and has only improved
• Leading the ACC in rebounding
• Scored in double figures in 14 of 16 games
• 11 double-doubles this season
• 17.6 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 1.4 SPG
Ishmael Smith #10 – G
• Speedy senior point guard who has started most of his career
• Averaging a career-high 35.8 minutes per game
• 12.6 PPG, 5.9 APG, 1.9 SPG
If Ed Davis is unable to play, Freshman Travis Wear will likely get the start.
Upcoming Schedule for the Tar Heels:
@ NC State (12-6, 1-3) Tues. Jan. 26 9:00 pm
VS. Virginia (12-4, 3-0) Sun. Jan. 31 7:45 pm
@ Virginia Tech (14-3, 1-2) Thurs. Feb. 4 9:00 pm
