Demon Deacons drop in at Gonzaga
Zags expect to have hands full with ACC’s Wake Forest
Typically, the only thing tougher than Gonzaga’s non-conference basketball schedule in November is December.
The Bulldogs lost 25 games from 2007-09. Eleven of those defeats occurred in December. The last two seasons, Gonzaga has dropped seven December games and 14 overall. Meanwhile, the 17th-ranked Bulldogs have lost just three November games – counting Michigan State on Nov. 17 – dating back three seasons.
Gonzaga, which opened December with a win over rival Washington State on Wednesday, welcomes Wake Forest to the McCarthey Athletic Center today. The Demon Deacons (4-2) are probably in a foul mood after losing their last two games. One was understandable, a 69-58 road setback to No. 4 Purdue. The other, a 78-68 home loss to William & Mary that was Wake Forest’s first November loss at Joel Coliseum, not so much.
Still, Wake Forest possesses an impressive collection of talent, led by 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who made several preseason All-America teams.
“We have to get ready for big-time athletes who can really run,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We haven’t seen a team athletically like this ever come into the McCarthey Center. It’s high-level ACC talent and athleticism.”
Aminu is averaging a double-double (17.1 points, 11 rebounds). He’s joined in the starting lineup by point guard Ishmael Smith (12.2 points, 5 assists), 6-4 guard L.D. Williams (8 points), 6-11 Tony Woods (4.3 points) and 7-foot center Chas McFarland (6.3 points, 7 rebounds), who blocked six shots against Purdue. Guard C.J. Harris (12.2 points), forward Ari Stewart and 6-11 senior David Weaver have been the primary bench contributors.
“I played with Al-Farouq last summer and he’s a stud,” Bulldogs guard Matt Bouldin said. “We had two great players coming in here in (WSU’s) Klay (Thompson) and now Al-Farouq. We’re going to have to focus on him. I know they get it up and down. They’re definitely talented, fast-paced, athletic and well-coached. We’re going to have our hands full again.”
The Demon Deacons tied for second in the ACC last year while winning 24 games and advancing to the NCAA tournament, but standouts Jeff Teague (Atlanta) and James Johnson (Chicago) were first-round NBA draft picks. Wake Forest, picked sixth in the ACC preseason poll, was receiving votes in the Top 25 rankings before suffering back-to-back defeats.
A statistic that has the attention of Gonzaga’s coaching staff is Wake Forest’s 83-9 edge in fastbreak points through its first five games.
“They’re long and fast and in transition they are a sight to behold,” Few said. “We have to do a better job on the boards than we did against (WSU) and get back in transition.”