Which Wake Forest players need to have above average games for the Deacs to emerge victorious?
In any upset, a team either needs at least one player to play above his average. This will be true on Sunday night when the Wake Forest Demon Deacons host the #5 Louisville Cardinals, who will enter as 9-point favorites. I have identified 3 players who I believe will play in a pivotal role in determining if the Deacs can upset the Cardinals. Do you all agree with the three I chose and my reasoning?
Cornelius Hudson
Corenlius Hudson a.k.a. Crab has one of the best shooting strokes and quickest releases on the team. Unfortunately, that has only translated to a 31% 3-point shooter. However, his shooting has improved greatly over his first four games. During his first four games he made just 2 of 13 3-pointers (15%). Since then, he has made 14/39 (36%). He has also improved as a passer, and has only committed 5 turnovers over his past 5 games. Wake Forest will need him to hit a few 3's and utilize his length to help rebound.
Madison Jones
In my opinion, Madison Jones is the single biggest x-factor headed into Sunday night's contest against the Louisville Cardinals. Jones has struggled with turnovers his entire career, and if that trend continues against Louisville it could mean disaster for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He had 4 turnovers against Arkansas, 5 against Iona, 3 against Delaware State and 4 against Minnesota. Louisville is the 5th best team in the country at forcing turnovers, so if Jones has a bad day with turnovers, that means easy buckets for Louisville and a game that could get out of hand very quickly.
Mitchell Wilbekin
Mitchell Wilbekin has been a very welcomed signing for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. In hindsight, it's pretty incredible that Danny Manning got a player of this caliber to commit to play for him at Tulsa. He's now shooting 44% from 3-point range, and Wake will need him to knock down a few threes if the Deacs are going to win on Sunday. Wilbekin also has a low turnover rate, and that decision making will be very helpful against the Cardinals. His worst game of the season came against Arkansas and their press, let's hope that trend doesn't continue.
