Post Christmas miracle denied.
It was right there. Wake Forest took a 4 point lead off of a pretty spectacular driving shot off the glass from Bryant Crawford with 2:26 remaining. What followed, unfortunately, was an exercise in “just that close”, with offensive rebounds, missed free throws, and ill-advised shots. Wake could have won the game with a three but it wasn’t to be as Keyshawn Woods took a frankly pretty terrible Curry-esque three with plenty of time left.
It wasn’t all bad. The Deacs forced 12 turnovers, shot over 50% in the second half, and were pretty darn good with first shot defense. The problem was that often the first shot defense wasn’t enough, as the Tar Heels absolutely feasted on the offensive glass. It also didn’t help that the Deacons were uncharacteristically poor from the foul line, going 50% from the stripe. I’m not one for moral victories but if anyone watches that game and thinks we’ll get blown out every ACC game like was feared early in the year, I’d urge caution.
The biggest wrinkle in the game plan is that it would appear Doral Moore is iffy as an end-of-game option in the clutch, as he was only 55% on the year from the line and went 0-3 today. I know “FEED DORAL” is to Wake as “RUN THE DANG BALL” is to Alabama, but if he’s well-defended and can’t finish from the floor, well...work needs to be done, let’s just say that.
I’m worn out. Stay tuned for continued coverage of this disappointing but exciting barnburner in the coming days from Blogger So Dear. On to the next. Go Deacs.
