FSU basketball: Noles take down Wake Forest on the road

No. 10 FSU basketball went on the road and took down a Wake Forest team they were supposed to beat as they were seven point favorites.

FSU basketball (14-2, 4-1 ACC) went on the road and didn’t play their best and still covered the spread against Wake Forest (8-6, 1-3) with a 78-68 win.

The Noles did it with defense as they held Wake Forest to 39 percent shooting overall and 33 percent from beyond the arc.

The bulk of Wake Forest’s damage seem to come at the free throw line as they made a living there going 24-32 for the game.

FSU struggled offensively, shooting just 43 percent from the floor and 26 percent from beyond the arc. The Noles made a decent living at the free throw line going 18-24, but a number of those came late in the game when the game was well in hand.

FSU was led by Devin Vassell’s 17 points with Trent Forest and M.J. Walker chipping in with 14 and 15 points respectively.

The Noles seemed to be in control of the game as they led 41-34 at halftime. However, Wake Forest wouldn’t go quietly into the night as they gained momentum early in the second half.

They led 45-41 with 17:03 remaining but a timeout by Leonard Hamilton seemed to halt that momentum with FSU slowly reeling them in before gradually pulling away.

Thoughts

FSU only had 10 turnovers in the game which is well below their season average. They forced Wake Forest to turn the ball over 17 times which was one of our keys to victory.

The rebounding game was about equal with the Noles holding a small advantage on the offensive glass. It’s a great sign the Noles could withstand a second half run from a team like Wake Forest.

This was a perfect letdown opportunity after coming off the big road win against Louisville. The Noles will be taking on No. 18 Virginia Wednesday, January 15th.