WINSTON-SALEM — Wake Forest’s perplexing scoring droughts have been crippling at times, especially at ends of games.
The Demon Deacons have the task Sunday night of facing one of the country’s stingiest defensive teams when second-ranked Virginia shows up.
“I thought we had opportunities to score,” Wake Forest coach Danny Manning said, referring to the final minutes of Thursday night’s loss at North Carolina State. “We just didn’t make shots. We got the ball to the rim a couple of times and didn’t finish when we needed to.”
The Demon Deacons have made at least nine 3-point baskets in each of their Atlantic Coast Conference games this season. Virginia’s 3-point defense ranks as the best in the ACC, allowing only 29.9 percent of the long-range shots to be successful.
Yet the key could come closer to the basket for the Demon Deacons, who’ve discussed the need for more touches by post players. Manning has used a combination with 7-foot-1 Doral Moore and 7-foot Olivier Sarr on the court at the same time.
“We just have to continue to get paint touches and not settle,” Manning said. “We settled a little bit for long jump shots as opposed to attacking the paint.”
That approach could help Wake Forest’s quest to snap a four-game losing streak. First-place Virginia arrives with a nine-game winning streak.
The Cavaliers have held eight opponents to less than 50 points, including Georgia Tech in a 64-48 victory Thursday night in Atlanta.
Wake Forest begins a stretch of six consecutive games against teams that are ranked or have been nationally ranked this season.