Tonight in Winston-Salem, Davidson (8-2) will be on the road against Wake Forest (5-3), who are looking to end their slump. Davidson will be coming off of a tough overtime loss to Temple only two days ago. And for Wake Forest, they come in after a dominant win over Charlotte 80-56. This game is sure to answer some questions on caliber of play and individual performances.
How Davidson Can Win
Smart possessions and play good defense. Davidson is coming off of a game where they lost the ball 18 times. This simply cannot happen again when playing a Wake Forest team that can score just as efficiently as Davidson. Also, the Wake Forest defense is only giving up 4 more points than Davidson in the defensive terms. And it is noted that a heighten emphasis on defense would benefit the Wildcats. This would force Wake Forest to take bad shots and cause more misses.
How Wake Forest Can Win
Rebound at a better rate and move the ball more. A common theme that we’ve seen this year with the Demon Deacons is there trouble to work together. This is happening at an astronomical rate when the team averages only 11.6 assists a game. This cannot be the case when Davidson comes to visit. Also, Wake Forest will need to focus on getting those boards at a higher rate than they already do. This will give them more opportunities to score and give them a better shot at winning.
Players to Watch
Davidson: G Kellan Grady has been an outstanding shooter for the Wildcats this season. He has shown a heightened ability to shoot the ball at a high percentage and move the ball around the court well. With averaging 19.4 points a game and 4.1 rebounds a game, it will be vital for Grady to be on his normal rhythm tonight. Look to Davidson to try to use Grady as much as they can against a lesser defensive team.
Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons best bet is F Jaylen Hoard. The rebounding needs to increase and this will need to be done through Hoard who is physical in the paint. Hoard averages around 8.3 rebounds a game and also scores around 15.5 points too. Watch for the Wake Forest Coaching Staff to stress how important Hoard’s performance will need to be for a win against a talented Davidson squad.
Score Prediction
It is clear that Davidson has been the better basketball team all year round. Also, Davidson has shown they can put up extreme amounts of points at times, which is something Wake Forest can’t do. Although Wake Forest can rebound better, the shooting percentage and tendency to turnover the ball won’t help them. Look for a clean Davidson win across the whole board. Davidson-79 Wake Forest-71
Photo Credits: https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/09/14/bob-mckillop-davidson-wildcats-international-players
