No. 4 Wake Forest Has Too Much Firepower for Florida State

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The recent insertion of 7-foot-1 freshmen Loren Woods into the starting lineup alongside All-America Tim Duncan has given No. 4 Wake Forest quite a frontline.

It has also made Coach Dave Odom rethink his team’s offensive emphasis after an 11-day stretch of close games in which Wake Forest’s guards have been in a miserable three-point shooting slump.

“We’re not as smooth as we need to be right now, perhaps the substitution of Loren in has helped us in a lot of ways and in some ways maybe we’re not comfortable with it right now,” Odom said after a 61-58 victory over Florida State on Saturday.

“What it has done is it has given us another inside force or player . . . but we are a team that has always played in rhythm and with a great deal of chemistry and efficiency on offense and right now we’re not doing that.”

Wake Forest dug itself a first-half hole for the third consecutive home game, but Duncan was there again to rescue the Demon Deacons, scoring 22 points.

The Demon Deacons (15-1 overall, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), playing less than 48 hours after defeating No. 2 Clemson on the road, won despite starting the game one for 15 from three-point range and falling behind by 13 points in the first half.

“It seems like every time we’re at home teams always come out ready to play and we’ve backed off,” Wake Forest guard Tony Rutland said. “When we’re away we look more to attack. When we’re at home we settle back a little bit. We just have to reverse that attitude.”

Wake Forest’s last four ACC games have been decided by a total of 13 points. Missed free throws by Joseph Amonett and Ricky Peral in the final 10 seconds kept Florida State in the game.

“We are riding the crest of what we’ve done more than what we need to do,” Odom said. “Maybe this is part of the challenge to help this team grow. I’m not going to sit here and tell my team, ‘This is what’s wrong with us’ because I don’t know. Maybe there is nothing wrong, maybe this is who we are. That OK too, let’s just play through it.”

The Seminoles (11-5, 2-5) had two chances in the game’s final seconds to either tie the score or win the game.

“We’re still building,” said Florida State Coach Pat Kennedy, who complained after the game that 24 fouls were called on his team and only nine on Wake Forest. “This is another building block for us, and they’re all starting to become real positive.”

Duncan extended his double-double streak to 25 straight games with 10 rebounds, nine blocked shots and six assists. Woods added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Demon Deacons in his second consecutive start.

Florida State big men Corey Louis and Kirk Luchman each fouled out trying to guard the 6-foot-10 Duncan. Luchman led the Seminoles with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

A three-point basket by James Collins tied the score, 50-50, with 5:36 left after Wake Forest had led by as many as seven points midway through the second half. But Duncan made three free throws to give the Demon Deacons some breathing room and his assist to a wide open Woods for a dunk increased the lead to six points with 58 seconds remaining.

Three-point baskets down the stretch by Ron Hale and LaMarr Greer pulled the Seminoles to 59-58 with 11 seconds left.

A free throw by Amonett gave Wake Forest a two-point lead and the Demon Deacons had only four team fouls. So, after fouling the Seminoles on purpose, Greer missed a 10-foot baseline shot with 3.9 seconds left that would have tied it. After a free throw by Peral, Greer’s desperation 30-foot shot at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim.

The Demon Deacons trailed early in their third straight home game, falling behind, 21-8, as Rutland missed the first eight minutes because he was late for a Friday night meeting and was benched by Odom.

Wake Forest went almost eight minutes without a basket at one point and started the game two for 11 from the field before going on a 17-2 run to get back into the game.

Duncan led the charge, scoring eight points during the spurt and his no-look shovel pass in the lane to Woods for a layup tied the score, 23-23, and brought the crowd to its feet.