Feb. 25, 2007

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Wake Forest Plays Final Road Game Wednesday At NC State
Wake Forest and NC State, two longtime rivals battling for final positioning in the ACC standings, meet late Wednesday night at the RBC Center in Raleigh (9 p.m./ESPNU).
Both teams are 4-10 in the ACC with two regular season games remaining before the ACC Tournament.
NC State, 14-13 overall, beat Wake Forest, 88-74, on Jan. 13th in Winston-Salem.
Wake Forest, 13-14 overall, will try to get back to .500 and earn a split in the season series with the Wolfpack. The Deacons are coming off a 75-61 loss at Georgia Tech last Wednesday night. Freshman Anthony Gurley came off the bench to score 24 points for Wake Forest.
Senior center Kyle Visser, one of the nation's most improved players and a candidate for the All-ACC team, has led the Deacons all season. Visser (17.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg) ranks in the top 10 in the ACC in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots.
The Wolfpack enters Wednesday's game following a 78-52 loss at Florida State on Saturday. Gavin Grant (15 points) and Brandon Costner (14 points) led State.
State is led by Costner (16.1 ppg and 7.7 rpg), a freshman forward, sophomore Ben McCauley (15.1 ppg and 6.5 rpg) and Grant (15.1 ppg).
NC State leads the all-time series, 128-96. The two teams have split the last 12 meetings.


What This Week Will Determine
While the pairings for the ACC Tournament will likely not be decided until Sunday, it is safe to say that the final week will determine a great deal for Wake Forest.
The Deacons could be seeded as low as 12th, or as high as high as seventh when the ACC Tournament begins in Tampa next month.
For Wake Forest to get the No. 7 seed, the Deacons would have to win out, beating NC State Wednesday and Virginia on Saturday. In addition, Georgia Tech would have to lose to both North Carolina (Thursday) and to Boston College (Sunday).
For the Deacons to repeat as the tournament's No. 12 seed, Wake would have to lose its two remaining games and Miami would have to win at least one of its remaining two games.
Wake Forest holds the tie-breaker with Miami.
If the Deacons beat NC State and lose to Virginia, they could be seeded anywhere from ninth to 12th.
If Wake Forest loses to NC State and beats Virginia, the Deacons could be seeded from 10th to 12th. They could not finish higher because NC State would own the tie-breaker in this scenario.

A Win Would Be A Boost For The Deacs
Last year at this time, Wake Forest put together a solid late-season run that ultimately led to a 16th consecutive postseason appearance. The youthful Deacons are looking for a similar run this year and a win at NC State Wednesday might light the spark:
- The winner of Wednesday's game will emerge from a group of three teams at the bottom of the ACC standings. Wake Forest, NC State and Miami all have four wins in league play heading down the homestretch.
- Wake Forest holds the tie-breaker with Miami (the Deacons swept the season series).
- Wake Forest, with a win, would be more optimistic about earning its 17th consecutive postseason bid -- the longest current streak in the ACC.
- The Deacons are looking for their first ACC road win since Jan. 6 at Miami.
- Wake Forest is looking to get back to .500 overall.
- The Deacons have not finished with a losing season since 1990.
- The Deacons are trying to avoid finishing last in the ACC in consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
- Wake Forest needs one win to avoid last year's mark of 17 losses, which was the sixth-most defeats in school history.

Wake Forest-NC State Series History
- NC State leads the all-time series, 128-96.
- The Wolfpack won the last meeting, 88-74, Jan. 13th in Winston-Salem.
- Wake Forest has won 12 of the last 18 meetings.
- The Deacons won two of three meetings with the Wolfpack last season including an upset win in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
- Wake Forest is 14-4 all-time against NC State in Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
- Wake has won four of the last six meetings in Raleigh. All-time, NC State is 50-23 against the Deacons in Raleigh.
- The Wake Forest-NC State series is the third-most frequently played series in the ACC (224 meetings).
- The two teams have met at least twice each season since 1930 and they first met on the hardwood in 1910-11.
- Seven out of the last eight meetings have been decided by at least 10 points.
- Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser is 8-6 all-time versus NC State.
- NC State coach Sidney Lowe is 1-0 against Wake.

Deacon-Wolfpack Connections
- Wake Forest sophomore Cameron Stanley is from Raleigh, home of NC State.
- NC State's Bryan Nieman played on the high school level at Wake Forest-Rolesville.
- As a player at NC State, Wolfpack head coach Sidney Lowe went 7-4 against Wake Forest. In State's NCAA championship year of 1983, the Wolfpack lost to the Deacons in the ACC Tournament, 71-70.
- NC State assistant coach Pete Strickland was head coach at Coastal Carolina in 1999 when the Chanticleers lost at Wake Forest, 73-46.
- Former Wake Forest All-American Chris Paul now dishes assists to former NC State big man Cedric Simmons with the New Orleans Hornets.