Boston College, Wake Forest seek consistency on offense

Field Level Media|published: Fri 6th December, 12:32 2024

NCAA Basketball: ESPN Events Invitational-Florida at Wake Forest

Nov 28, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Hunter Sallis (23) shoots the ball against the Florida Gators in the second half at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Boston College and Wake Forest hope to find rhythm on offense after they both bumbled through games earlier this week.

The teams meet in an Atlantic Coast Conference opener Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"There's some stuff we need to improve and some stuff we need to tighten up," Boston College coach Earl Grant said. "We've had ups and downs already this year. Really good ups and really bad downs."

Boston College dropped a 73-51 decision at home to South Carolina on Tuesday night.

On the same night, Wake Forest fell 57-44 at No. 22 Texas A&M, with Hunter Sallis providing a large portion of the Demon Deacons' points with 19. Efton Reid III pulled in a season-high 11 rebounds.

Boston College (6-3) shot 33.3 percent, including 2-for-16 on 3-pointers, against the Gamecocks.

"They pushed us out and used their length to force us into tough shots" Grant said. "Then defensively, we broke down. We weren't as connected as we needed to be, and we hang our hat on our defense."

Wake Forest (7-3) has failed to score more than 60 points in any of its three losses. The Demon Deacons' 28.3 percent shooting against the Aggies was troublesome.

"We also just missed too many shots at the rim when we got there," Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. "That's from physicality and athleticism."

The Demon Deacons are only shooting 25.8 percent on 3-pointers this season.

A season ago, Wake Forest won the only meeting with the Eagles, prevailing 84-78 on the road, with Sallis and Cameron Hildreth combining for 39 points. This season, Sallis is the team's leading scorer with 17 points per game.

Quinten Post, Devin McGlockton and Claudell Harris Jr. had 50 of Boston College's points that night, but none of those players is on this season's roster. On the current team, Donald Hand Jr. is averaging a team-best 13.7 points per game.

"We got a very capable group," Grant said. "We got work to do."

Wake Forest freshman guard Juke Harris didn't play in the Texas A&M game after averaging 16.4 minutes of court time in the team's first nine games.

--Field Level Media

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