No. 17 FSU basketball vs. Wake Forest: How to watch, preview, spread, game thread

Florida State returns to the hardwood to defend its home court again this evening, hosting the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Seminoles (18-5, 6-4) have won five straight games, most recently topping the No. 16 Louisville Cardinals in overtime on Saturday. The Deacs (9-13, 2-8), meanwhile, will be playing on more than a week’s rest; their last action came in their own OT victory, vs. Pitt last Tuesday. Tonight’s contest will tipoff at 7 pm and can be viewed on RSN.

The ’Noles are favored by 18, which is a lot for an ACC game, but Wake just doesn’t do much of anything well. Actually, forget about doing things well, they struggle not being terrible at basketball in general, ranked 176th per KenPom and No. 196 in the NET Rankings. The Demon Deacons are shooting 40% from the floor on the season, the lowest field goal percentage in the conference. In the ACC, only Georgia Tech shoots the three less effectively than WF’s 29.8%. The Deacs also average the second fewest steals and blocks per game.

Wake is pretty solid on the offensive glass, but then again, all those misses create a bunch of opportunities. The Deacons are third in the ACC, with 13.1 offensive boards per contest. And they‘re also good at getting to the line, as only Pitt averages more free throws per game.

Leading the way for Wake is junior guard Brandon Childress (6’, 190), who averages 15.3 PPG and is easily the team’s best sniper, converting on 38.2% of his treys. Childress is also tops on his squad with 4.1 assists per game and 1.6 steals per game. French freshman Jaylen Hoard (6’8, 215) is the Deacs’ top rebounder, pulling down 8.4 boards per contest and also contributing 14 PPG. Only one other Wake Forest player, sophomore guard Chaundee Brown (6’5, 215), averages double-digit points per game (10.9).

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