Revisiting Wake Forest

What went right in the first meeting

• NC State won the rebounding battle: No, really! Hard to believe what with NC State's recent run of poor efforts in this regard, but the Wolfpack was dominant on the glass in Winston-Salem, limiting the Deacs to three offensive rebounds for the entire game.

• The offense scored efficiently against the man-to-man: The Wolfpack was excellent in the first half, scoring 43 points in all and leading by as many as nine. Everything went to hell in the second, though, when Wake Forest changed up its defensive looks. We can hope that State is more equipped to handle that sort of thing now, nearly a month later, but much will depend on what the point guards have learned about handling these sets.
  

What was broke as heck in the first meeting

• The defense in general: It was stark enough during the game's decisive possession, officiating aside. State ended up with a pair of guys well behind the ball, a breakdown that will in many cases result in just the disaster we endured. The Demon Deacons ended up with more free throw attempts than field goal attempts, and they made 65% of their two-point shots.
  

• Jump shootin': Wake's defensive switch in the second half worked as well as the Deacs could possibly have hoped. State attempted just four threes during the first half, but tried nine over the final 20 minutes, missing all of them. It looks a lot like the second half in Miami, but there was the added complication of T.J. Warren's foul trouble.
  

Do this thing here and we win, I promise, or your money back

• NC State needs to do a significantly better job of keeping Wake off the free throw line. State closed off one scoring avenue by shutting down the glass, but Wake got to the line so frequently that it got good value out of many of its initial possessions, making second-chance opportunities less important. With all of the Deacs' shortcomings elsewhere, there is a lot potentially at stake at the stripe.