Just like the JMU game where I tempered myself to not get too low. I caution the same with this game. Lets not get too high.
1) Wake is a bad ACC team. If anyone has watched any other ACC teams play so far - like UNC, Duke, or UVA - Wake looks like a freshman team (not even a JV team) compared to those teams. Yes - those are probably the three best teams in the ACC, but I don't see how Wake finishes out of the bottom 4 of the ACC this year.
2) We shot 51% from the field, and 48% from 3 with 11 threes. I like that we shot better - but if we are going to rely on that type of shooting all year and hope we can score 85+ a night - I don't like our chances. Its great we shot well, but we can't rely on that - but we can rely on our ----
3) DEFENSE - we let Wake shoot 57% and 46% from deep. BUT TRAP - we did force 20 turnovers. That is where we won the game (and rebounding - next point) but I wonder how many of those turnovers were really forced. In my mind - about 5 of them were travelling calls from Dinos, and others were just bad turnovers from a bad guard in Crawford. Point being - our defense still needs a lot of improvement.
4) Rebounding - we did a good job limiting their offensive rebounds.. Only 12. That is very good for us. Maybe some of it had to do with them shooting 57% and not having a lot of chances, but nonetheless - 12 or less offensive rebounds should be the goal for this team.
5) Back Door cuts - for the first time in a long time under Mooney, we finally got a good amount of back door cuts. Some of this is just Wake's bad defense, but some of it is also our ability to hit 3's and stretch the defense. Make 3's early, and it makes them guard you outside and opens up lanes for easy cuts or drives.
Good win, not great. I don't see this game showing up on our NCAA resume because Wake will probably end up in the basement of the ACC with a RPI of around 150. A game if we lose - maybe it shows up as a bad loss, but we took care of business and can now get ready for Cookman and then Vegas.