Kansas Jayhawks Vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons Preview
By Joel Wagler
Kansas Jayhawks guard Wayne Selden, Jr. (1)Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Thursday afternoon, Thanksgiving Day, the undefeated Kansas Jayhawks (4-0) will take on the undefeated Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-0) in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. This may be the best opening round match up for any of these tournaments that are being held in various venues this holiday season.
The Jayhawks enter the tournament with victories over Louisiana-Monroe, Duke, Iona, and Towson. They played well in parts of all four games but really only played well for one full game – Duke. This young Kansas squad has put together strong single halves but have had trouble playing well from the opening tip to the final whistle.
Kansas has struggled with defense but played much better on that end of the court last week against Towson in the first half. With their length and athleticism, the Jayhawks can wreak havoc with a little effort and dedication on defense.
Kansas is led in scoring by sophomore forward Perry Ellis, and freshman forward Andrew Wiggins, each averaging 16.8 per contest. Reserve freshman center Joel Embiid leads the team in rebounds with 8 an outing. Junior point guard Naadir Tharpe is tops on the team with 5 assists a game.
The Jayhawks are second in the nation in field goal percentage on offense. They led the country with a .568 shooting percentage from the field until Tuesday night when the Gonzaga Bulldogs went an amazing 46-66 from the field to raise their team shooting percentage to .570.
Kansas Jayhawks forward Tarik Black (25) Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are third in the nation in team rebounds per game, averaging 49.2 caroms a contest over their 5 games. While it is certain Wake Forest has not faced a front line as big and deep as the Jayhawks, it is a fact no team can average nearly 50 boards a game without being extremely tenacious on the glass.
Sophomore guard Codi Miller-McIntyre leads the team in scoring, netting 18.6 points an outing, and adding 4.8 assists, also a team high. Sophomore forward Devin Thomas pulls down an impressive 11.6 rebounds and knocks down 14.4 points per game. The Deacons have 4 players who average over 5 rebounds a game, so they will get after on the boards.
Wake Forest is also nearly as deep as Kansas. Nine players average more than 11 minutes a game, compared to the 10 players who average more than 10 minutes for the Jayhawks. Like Kansas, Wake Forest is young and talented. The Demon Deacons have just 2 seniors on the team and 10 sophomores.
Of course, Wake Forest hasn’t played near the schedule Kansas has either. The Jayhawks are ranked second in the ESPN RPI, behind only UMass, and the Jayhawks have the sixth hardest ranked schedule to this point. Wake Forest is ranked 88 in the RPI, despite the 5-0 record. due mainly to a schedule ranked 286th in the land.
Both teams love to go up and down the floor as both average over 85 points per game. This should be an exciting game to watch, and will be a nice test for the young Jayhawks team against another talented Atlantic Coast Conference school early this season.
The game is slated for a 2:30 p.m. CST start, and will be broadcast on AXS TV (???!!!). There does not appear a live stream option for this game.