Wake Forest finally secured a late-season victory. The Demon Deacons don’t want to stop there.
After a critical week with a couple of important outcomes, Wake Forest travels to South Bend, Ind., to face Notre Dame in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup on Tuesday night.
Playing on its home court, Wake Forest (18-9, 10-6 ACC) avenged two defeats last week, blowing out Pittsburgh and then stunning No. 8 Duke 83-79 on Saturday.
“I got to give a lot of credit to my team,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “They stayed resilient for the whole game (vs. Duke). The second half was a knock-down, drag-out.”
The Demon Deacons probably have more work to do to feel comfortable about their positioning for postseason invitations, though they sit in fourth place in the ACC.
Notre Dame (10-17, 5-11) nearly wiped out a huge deficit Saturday, trimming a 29-point hole to three before losing 88-85 at Syracuse. The defeat ended the Fighting Irish’s three-game winning streak.
“We just didn’t compete with the same fight in the first half,” Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “Our competitive spirit wasn’t there. But when it did show up, that’s who we are and that’s who we have to be. We have to play like that for 40 minutes.”
Though the Irish couldn’t put a damper on Jim Boeheim Day in Syracuse, they will try to derail Wake Forest’s quest to stay on track among the top cluster of teams in the conference.
Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis racked up 29 points against Duke, shooting 11 for 13 from the floor.
“Hunter was at a high level the whole game,” Forbes said. “He’s a special player and played an unbelievable second half on both sides of the ball.”
It’s a different kind of challenge with the trip to Notre Dame. The Demon Deacons are 2-7 in true road games this season.
Notre Dame has won its past two home games to move to 3-5 in ACC outings in South Bend.
It’s the only scheduled meeting between the Demon Deacons and Irish this season.
–Field Level Media
