Gameday Preview: Wake Forest vs Notre Dame – Sat March 1st 2025

Winston Salem, NC: The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (19-9, 11-6 ACC) take on their third straight opponent with a below .500 record as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-16, 6-11 ACC). The Deacons are 0-2 in their last two games against teams with losing records as they find themselves in an uphill battle to make the NCAA Tournament. 

Espn bracketologist, Joe Lunardi, had the Deacs fall from the last team in the post season to the first line on the next four out spot. The Deacons are in a precarious position as they need a lot to go right in their favor to go dancing. As conference tournaments begin next week and the week after, “bid stealers” will become the Deacons worst nightmare. Bid stealers are teams that are not on the bubble who do not have a chance at an “at large bid” who make a miracle run in their conference tournament to steal the automatic bid from the league favorite. Last year’s NC State Wolfpack are a prime example of this. The expected conference champs then get an at-large big and push the bubble teams further back. The Deacons are 6 spots out of the tournament at the moment.

Key Points:

Notre Dame

• Win the three point battle. The Deacons are woefully poor from behind the three point line this season. Against Virginia Wednesday, the Deacons made only two threes while giving up 10. Making the three can beat the Deacs
• Control the tempo. Wake has played extremely flat over the past week. For Notre Dame to win, they will need to make sure that stays the same. Make the game boring and make Wake play down to Notre Dame’s level
• Movement- Stay in constant movement on the floor. The Deacons get no contributions from their bench. Make the starters tired by playing chase on the offensive end for the entire 30 second shot clock. There won’t be enough points for the Deacs to score.

Wake

• Short memories. The NCAA Tournament is not completely out of reach, but it is slipping away quickly. The Deacs have to forget their last two weeks of bad losses and play like a new season begins today.
• Someone, and I mean anyone, needs to come off the bench and score for the Deacons. 2 bench points this late in the season is inexcusable. Parker Friedrichsen and Juke Harris need to channel their December form and bring some sort of production to this team. 
• Coach Forbes- show the team, the fans, and the administration that you want to be here and that you care. Forbes needs to be up and animated from the opening tip, giving his team the energy they desperately need. The loss at State was a terrible look for Forbes as he seemed disinterested and bewildered that his team was behind. Forbes needs to channel the old ACC coaching greats of Bones McKinney, Gary Williams, and Coach K by being present and animated on the sidelines, willing his team to victory.