Nationally-Ranked Deacons, Longhorns Meet Tuesday Night - WAKE FOREST OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

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More From Saturday's Win Vs. Clemson

Wake Forest forced 23 Clemson turnovers and overcame a poor three-point shooting effort to beat visiting Clemson, 78-63, Saturday afternoon. More on the win over the Tigers:

- The win gives the Deacons an 11-0 start -- tying for the fifth-best start in school history -- and a 24-game home court winning streak.

n Wake Forest had more offensive rebounds (19) than defensive (15). The 15 defensive boards were a season low.

- The Deacons had season lows for three-point field goals (2), three-point attempts (13) and three-point percentage (.154). Wake's three-point percentage was the lowest by the Deacs in three seasons under Skip Prosser.

- Wake won despite guards Taron Downey and Justin Gray combining to go 4-of-20 from the field and 1-of-10 from three-point range. Gray did manage to match a career high with six assists.

- Freshman Chris Paul scored a career-high 21 points and recorded four steals.

Injury List Down To One -- Danelius

Wake Forest head trainer, assistant athletic director Greg Collins, has been one of the most active people on the Deacon staff this season as Wake has suffered more than its share of injuries.

Four different Deacons have missed a combined 14 games. Junior Vytas Danelius (high ankle sprain) has not played since Dec. 15 and continues to be listed as questionable.

Sophomore Chris Ellis is back in the fold after breaking a bone in his foot on the first day of practice.

Two other Deacons missed games earlier this season. Freshman Kyle Visser (ankle) did not play against Indiana on Dec. 2. Freshman Todd Hendley (stomach virus) did not play in the Nov. 29 game at Yale.

Deacons Ranked In Top Five

Wake Forest is ranked in the top five of both national polls released last Monday and the Deacons received first-place votes in both polls.

Wake climbed to 5th in the Associated Press poll (up from 6th) and to 4th (up from 5th) in the ESPN/USA Today poll this week. More on Wake in the national polls:

- The Deacons have their highest AP ranking since being ranked 4th on Jan. 1, 2001.

- Wake Forest has been ranked as high as No. 2 (10 times), but has never been ranked No. 1.

- There are three ACC teams in the AP top 10 -- (2) Duke, (5) Wake Forest and (8) Georgia Tech. North Carolina is ranked 12th.

- Wake Forest has been ranked in the AP top ten 74 times in its history and 13 times since the Tim Duncan era ended in 1996-97.

- The Deacs have been ranked in the top five of the AP poll 27 times in their history.

- The Deacons have been ranked in the AP poll for 22 consecutive weeks dating back to last season. Duke is the only ACC team with a longer current streak.

- Wake has been ranked in the AP poll 36 times in 43 weeks under Skip Prosser.

- Wake is ranked 3rd in the Sagarin Ratings, 16th in CollegeRPI.com and 5th by CBS Sportsline.

Tough Stretch? That's An Understatement

It's not as if Wake Forest hasn't played a difficult schedule up to this point. There was a road win at then-4th-ranked North Carolina, a neutral site victory against Memphis and a home thrashing of Indiana. But the Deacons are embarking on perhaps the most difficult part of the schedule next week. Consider:

- Wake Forest will play three consecutive nationally-ranked teams beginning with No. 18 Texas (Tuesday), followed by a road game at No. 2 Duke (Saturday), then a home game with No. 8 Georgia Tech (Jan. 20).

- This will mark the fourth time in three seasons that Wake has played three straight ranked teams. - Prior to Skip Prosser's arrival at Wake Forest, the Deacons did not have to face three straight ranked foes from 1995 to 2001.

- Depending on the new poll on Monday, the stretch of games against ranked opponents could grow to four (if Florida State is ranked) or five (if FSU and Maryland are both ranked).

- The last time Wake Forest played four consecutive ranked teams came in the final four games of the 1972-73 season when the Deacons played No. 9 Maryland, No. 2 NC State, No. 8 North Carolina and No. 10 Maryland. The last game against Maryland was in the ACC Tournament. The last time the Deacs played four straight ranked foes, with all coming during the regular season, came in 1968-69.

- Wake Forest last played five straight ranked teams in 1955-56.

- Using last week's AP poll as a guide, Wake Forest's remaining regular season schedule is surely one of the nation's most difficult. Five Wake opponents -- (2) Duke, (8) Georgia Tech, (11) Cincinnati, (12) North Carolina and (18) Texas -- are ranked in the AP poll. Four other Deacon opponents -- Maryland, Memphis, Florida State and NC State -- are receiving votes for one or both national polls.

- Thirteen of the Deacons' final 16 regular season games come against teams either ranked or receiving votes for one or both polls.

Wake Forest Vs. Ranked Opponents

- Wake Forest is 1-0 against ranked teams this season -- a win at 4th-ranked North Carolina on Dec. 20.

- The Deacons are 4-3 in their last seven games against ranked teams.

Deacs One Of ACC's Youngest Teams

Wake Forest may have lost just one starter from last year's 25-6 team, but youth still rules the Deacons.

- There are no scholarship seniors on the Wake roster and the Deacs have just three juniors. Nine of 12 scholarship players are either freshmen or sophomores.

- Wake Forest is one of just six schools in Division I with no scholarship seniors.

- Wake is the only ACC team with no scholarship seniors on the roster.

- The oldest players on the team are 22-year olds Vytas Danelius and Taron Downey.

- Wake Forest will likely not start a senior this season. The last time the Deacons did not start a senior all season came in 1987-88.

Deacon-Longhorn Series History

- Wake Forest leads the all-time series, 2-0.

- The Deacons and Longhorns will meet for the first time since Wake beat Texas, 65-62, in the 1996 NCAA Midwest Regional in Milwaukee. That win sent Wake Forest to the Sweet 16.

- The first meeting between the two teams came on Dec. 18, 1954 in the Birmingham (AL) Classic. Wake Forest won that game, 95-71.

- Wake Forest is 8-4 all-time against Big 12 teams. The Deacons' last game against a Big 12 team was an 83-76 loss at Kansas on Dec. 4, 2001.

- The Deacons are playing their second game in a month in the Lone Star State. Wake Forest played at SMU Dec. 15. Prior to the SMU game, Wake's last trip to the state of Texas came on Dec. 28-29, 1984 as part of the Sun Bowl Classic.

- Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser has never coached against Texas.

- Texas' Rick Barnes is 3-7 all-time against Wake Forest with all 10 of those games coming while he coached at Clemson.

Wake Forest-Texas Connections

- Texas assistant coach Frank Haith was an assistant coach at Wake Forest from 1997-2000. Haith also worked as a graduate assistant at Wake Forest in 1989-90 under then first-year head coach Dave Odom.

- Haith is an Elon graduate and he also previously served as an assistant coach at UNC-Wilmington. Haith's wife, Pam, worked in Wake Forest's Deacon Club while Frank was a Deacon assistant coach.

- Texas coach Rick Barnes was born in Hickory (NC), attended Hickory High School, and graduated college from Lenoir-Rhyne.

- Barnes is very familiar with the ACC after serving as the head coach at Clemson from 1996-98.

- Longhorn freshman P.J. Tucker is from North Carolina (Raleigh/Enloe HS). Tucker joined Wake freshmen Todd Hendley, Jeremy Ingram and Chris Paul in the North Carolina East-West All-Star Game in Greensboro.

- Deacon walk-on Alan Williams was born in Dallas.

- Wake Forest's Trent Strickland and Texas' James Thomas both previously attended Hargrave Academy.

- Longhorn Brandon Mouton lived in North Carolina before moving to Louisiana in eighth grade.

- WFU's Vytas Danelius can speak four different languages. Texas' Sydmill speaks five languages.

- Josh Howard (Wake Forest) and T.J. Ford (Texas) were both 2003 NBA first-round draft picks.

- Texas and Wake Forest were two of the eight teams invited to play in the first NCAA Tournament in 1939.

Wake Among Eight Unbeaten Teams

Wake Forest's 11-0 start has been impressive. But not uncommon. - The Demon Deacons begin the season 11-0 for the second time in the past four seasons. - The 11-0 start ties for the fifth-best in Wake Forest history. The best start of 15-0 came in 1926-27. - The Deacs are one of eight remaining unbeaten Division I teams and are the only undefeated ACC team. - The 11-0 start is the best start by a Skip Prosser-coached team. His 1996-97 Xavier team and last year's Wake Forest team both started 10-0.

Deacons Second Nationally In Scoring ...

Despite scoring at a slower clip recently, Wake Forest remains one of the nation's highest-scoring teams at 88.3 points per game.

- The Deacons are second in the nation in scoring, just behind Texas (89.6 ppg.).

- Wake already has two 100-point games.

- Here's an indication of the offensive impact Skip Prosser has had on Wake Forest. In his three years with the Deacons, Wake has scored 100-plus points six times. Before his arrival, the Deacons reached the century mark just five times in the previous 13 seasons.

- With one more 100-point game this season, Wake Forest will have more 100-point games in a season than any Deacon team since the 1982-83 team reached the century mark three times.

- The Deacs are currently averaging 0.5 more points per game than the school record of 87.8 in 1975-76.

... And Rank Highly In Steals, Assists

- Wake Forest ranks third in the nation in steals per game (12.1) behind Georgetown (12.7) and Georgia Southern (12.5).

- The 12.1 steals per game would shatter the current school record of 10.5 steals per game set in 1977-78 -- the only other season Wake averaged double-figure steals per contest.

- The Deacons rank 16th nationally in assists per game (17.8).

- The 17.8 assists per game would break the school single-season record of 17.3 assists per game in 1987-88.

- The Deacons also rank sixth nationally in scoring margin (+20.8).

Homecourt Streak At 24

Wake Forest has not lost a home game since Feb. 21, 2002 -- a streak of 24 consecutive wins. The Deacons won their final home game in 2001-02, went 16-0 at home last season and are 7-0 in Lawrence Joel Coliseum this year.

The 24-game streak ties for the third-longest current streak in Division I.

The Wake Forest school record for consecutive home court wins is 25 from 1995-97. That 25-game streak by the Deacons ties for the eighth-longest in ACC history. Wake Forest will get a chance to tie the record Jan. 20 against 8th-ranked Georgia Tech.

Deacons Are Balanced Bunch

The Deacons are sharing the spotlight this season:

- Five different Deacons average at least 10.3 points per game and nine players are contributing at least 5.0 points per contest.

- Eight different players have scored in double figures at least twice and four different Deacs have scored 20 or more points in a game.

- Ten different Deacons have made at least one three-point field goal.

- Eleven different Wake Forest players are averaging at least nine minutes of action per game.

Thinner "Big E" Scoring, Not Hacking

Sophomore center Eric Williams weighs about the same as he did last year (275 pounds), but he has gotten stronger and lowered his body fat. The Wake Forest (NC) native has also re-shaped his game. Last season as a freshman, "Big E" battled more than just a weight problem. He was foul-prone and inconsistent. This year he is establishing himself as one of the premier players in the ACC. More:

- The 6-9, 275-pound Williams has doubled his scoring average from last season (from 8.7 ppg. to a team-high 17.2 ppg.).

- Williams ranks third in the ACC in scoring behind NC State's Julius Hodge. He is trying to follow Josh Howard as the ACC's leading scorer, which would give Wake Forest consecutive conference scoring leaders for the first time since Len Chappell led the ACC in both 1961 and 1962. - In two conference games, Williams has averaged 20.5 points per contest.

- He ranks second in the ACC in field goal percentage (.589).

- Williams ranks 14th in the ACC in rebounds per game (5.9).

- He ranks ninth in the ACC in offensive rebounds per game (2.91).

- The big guy even ranks 12th in the ACC in free throw percentage (.712).

- Williams has started all 42 games of his career.

- He was named ACC Player of the Week Dec. 22.

- He was instrumental in Wake's triple-overtime win at 4th-ranked North Carolina. He hit what proved to be the game-winner in the third overtime and scored 24 points against the Tar Heels.

- Last season foul trouble was a problem as Williams committed a team-high 96 personal fouls and fouled out five times. This season he is committing less than three fouls per game and has yet to foul out.

Williams' Statistics Last Season This Season Points Per Game 8.7 17.2 Rebounds Per Game 4.1 5.9 FG Percentage .547 .589 FT Percentage .621 .712 Steals Per Game 0.7 1.45 Fouls Per Game 3.09 2.73 Games Fouled Out 5 0

Gray's Streak Broken At 22 Games

Guard Justin Gray, a star on the rise in the ACC, is not experiencing a sophomore jinx:

- Gray made at least one three-point field goal in 22 consecutive games until that streak ended Jan. 10.

- Because of a broken jaw that caused him to miss a month of action last season, he has played in just 34 career games.

- With 26 three-point field goals in 11 games this season, Gray ranks second only to Florida State's Tim Pickett in the ACC for three-pointers per game.

- His six three-point field goals at SMU (Dec. 15) tie for the most by any ACC player this season.

- Gray ranks 14th in the ACC in scoring (13.3), second in three-point field goals per game (2.36), ninth in three-point percentage (.338), 11th in assists (3.5) and 11th in assist-turnover ratio.

- He is shooting 88.9 percent from the free throw line, but has gone to the line only 18 times.

Downey Climbs In Record Books

Junior guard Taron Downey, at his current pace, will have his name in the Wake Forest record books.

- Downey's career free throw percentage (.842) is the fourth-highest in Wake Forest history. He is shooting 85.7 percent from the stripe this season, which would rank second in the league if had enough attempts to qualify.

- He is four three-point field goals away from becoming the 11th player in school history to make 100 career three-pointers.

- With 231 career assists, Downey will become the eighth player at Wake to record 300 career assists.

- He is 21 points shy of his 600th career point.

- This season, he ranks second in the ACC in assist-turnover ratio, ninth in assists per game, 11th in three-point field goals and 13th in three-point percentage.

Clamping Down On Defense

- Wake Forest has held 13 straight opponents, dating back to last season, to less than 50 percent shooting.

- Seven of Wake's 11 opponents this season shot less than 40 percent.

- The Deacs shot a higher percentage than their opponent in every game this season.

1,300 In Sight

With 1,294 all-time victories, Wake Forest is seven wins shy of reaching the 1,300-win milestone. The Deacons are 1,294-990 all-time.

"Mayor" One Of The Nation's Top Rookies

Chris Paul has established himself as one of the nation's top freshmen and one of the top point guards in a conference loaded with talented players at that position. Consider:

- Paul leads the nation in steals per game (4.27).

- He leads all ACC freshmen and ranks fourth in the ACC in assists per game (5.64).

- He leads all ACC freshmen and ranks fourth in the ACC in assist-turnover ratio (2.68).

- Paul has 62 assists and just 23 turnovers in a team-high 355 minutes of action. That equates to just one turnover every 15.4 minutes.

- Paul has been named ACC Rookie of the Week three times (Dec. 8, Dec. 22 and Jan. 5).

- His six steals at SMU Dec. 15 tied a Wake Forest freshman record held by Rodney Rogers and tied for the ninth-most every by a Deacon, regardless of class.

- Paul is seven steals away from breaking the Wake Forest freshman record of 53 held by Rodney Rogers.

- His free throw percentage (.839) is the highest ever by a Deacon freshman.

- With seven more assists, he will rank fifth in Wake Forest freshman history.

- His nine assists at SMU were one short of tying a Wake Forest freshman single-game record. - Paul has at least two steals in every game.

- He is shooting 83.9 percent from the free throw line, which ranks second in the ACC, and he goes to the free-throw line more often than any Deacon.

- Paul has made his last 14 free throw attempts.

- He has started every game and leads the team in minutes played (32.3 mpg.).

- The shortest player on the roster, Paul (6-0) has seven blocked shots.

- Paul (13.2 points per game) ranks second among ACC freshmen in scoring.

- He is attempting to be the first freshman to lead the ACC in steals since NC State's Chris Corchiani in 1988.

- He is attempting to become the first Deacon player, regardless of class, to lead the ACC in steals since Tyrone Bogues did it three straight years from 1985-87.

Levy Defies His Lanky Frame At 6-9 and just 180 pounds, Jamaal Levy is a good example of one of Skip Prosser's favorite sayings: "It's now how big you are, it's how big you play."

Levy uses his thin frame and quickness to his advantage to become one of the ACC's best rebounders:

- Levy leads the team and ranks third in the ACC in rebounding (8.5 rpg.).

- He ranks third in the ACC in offensive rebounds per game (3.36).

- Levy currently averages more total rebounds per game than any Deacon since Tim Duncan in 1997.

- ESPN's Jay Bilas recently labeled Levy the ACC's most underrated player.

Strickland Leads Deep Bench

Sophomore Trent Strickland is leading the largest and most talented group of reserves that Wake Forest has had in years.

The Deacon bench has outscored the opponent's non-starters in nine of 11 games this season.

Strickland (7.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game) is playing his best basketball. He has scored in double figures in four of his last five games, including a career-best 15 points at North Carolina.

Freshman Kyle Visser (5.4 ppg., 3.2 rpg.) has been a huge surprise. He had career highs of 13 points and eight rebounds in the win at UNC.

Freshman Todd Hendley has played in every game in which he's been healthy. Sophomore Richard Joyce and freshman Jeremy Ingram have also seen significant action. The bench recently got deeper with the addition of sophomore Chris Ellis, who missed the first seven games with a broken foot.

Better With Time

Wake Forest has improved its winning percentage every decade since the 1960s. In the 60s, the Deacons won just 50.7 percent of their games. That percentage increased to .535 in the 1970s, .537 in the 1980s, up to .666 in the 1990s and is at .717 this decade.

In the 1980s Wake won just 34.3 percent of its ACC games, compared to 56.9 percent in the 1990s and 64.0 percent this decade.

Three Midgets Quite A Trio

Wake Forest uses a three-guard lineup of 6-0 freshman Chris Paul, 6-2 sophomore Justin Gray and 6-2 junior Taron Downey. While the Deacon lineup may be short, it is extremely quick.

What makes Wake's three-guard lineup somewhat unique is that all three players can play point guard. Paul is the player at the point when he's in the lineup, but Downey played point guard his first two seasons and Gray also handles the ball well enough to play the position.

All three players rank among the top 11 in the ACC in assist-turnover ratio.

Combined Statistics Of Paul, Gray and Downey Points Per Game 36.8 Three-Pointers Per Game 5.0 Assists Per Game 12.6 Turnovers Per Game 5.7 Steals Per Game 7.0 Rebounds Per Game 9.8 Minutes Per Game 89.6

Props To Skip

Did you know this about Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser?

- His winning percentage in ACC league games (.706/24-10) is the highest ever by a coach in his first three seasons in the conference. Vic Bubas (Duke) and Bill Guthridge (UNC) are second at .667.

- Prosser's overall winning percentage at Wake Forest (.750/57-19) gives him the fourth-highest percentage in the 51-year history of the ACC. Only Dean Smith (.776), Mike Krzyzewski (.771) and Bubas (.761) have/had higher winning percentages than Prosser.

- Wake Forest's three-year record under Prosser (57-19) is the best three-year record at the school since 1995-97 (Tim Duncan's final three seasons).

- The Deacons have won 15 of their last 17 ACC games.

Not Used To Trailing

Wake Forest has trailed in the second half just twice this season -- Dec. 20 at 4th-ranked North Carolina and Jan. 3 against New Mexico. In wins over Elon, Yale, Indiana and Brown, the Deacons led wire-to-wire. The Deacons trailed briefly in the first half of wins against Memphis, Richmond, SMU, North Carolina A&T and Clemson. Wake's largest deficit of the season was 11 points (8-19) early in the first half of the North Carolina game.

This Year Vs. Last Year

Wake Forest went 25-6 last year and captured the ACC regular season title. Along the way, senior Josh Howard was the unanimous ACC Player of the Year.

So, how does this year's team -- minus Howard -- compare to last year?

Last year's team led the nation in rebounding while this year's team owns just a +3.0 rebound margin. Last year's team was also one of the ACC's best free-throw shooting teams (75.2%).

This year's team, however, takes better care of the basketball. The Deacons lead the ACC in turnover margin, while last year's club ranked eighth in the ACC. This year's team is also scoring at a higher rate, ranking second in the nation in scoring offense.

Category Last Season This Season W-L Thru 11 Games 10-1 11-0 Scoring 77.8 88.3 Scoring Margin +10.0 +20.8 Rebound Margin +9.7 +3.0 FG Percentage 45.3 48.9 3PT Percentage 34.1 34.3 FT Percentage 75.2 71.0 Turnover Margin - 1.1 +7.1 FG% Defense 39.7 39.7

Atlanta Will Carry Deac Radio Broadcasts

The Zone (790 AM) in Atlanta will be airing the following schedule of Wake Forest basketball games: Jan. 13 -- Wake Forest at Texas Jan. 25 -- Wake Forest at Florida State Jan. 29 -- Wake Forest vs. Maryland Feb. 4 -- Wake Forest at NC State Feb. 12 -- Wake Forest at Clemson Feb. 15 -- Wake Forest vs. Cincinnati Feb. 18 -- Wake Forest vs. Duke March 2 -- Wake Forest at Virginia

January Streak

Wake Forest has won 11 out of its last 13 games played in the month of January.

Sold Out

Tickets for the North Carolina (Feb. 7), Cincinnati (Feb. 15) and Duke (Feb. 18) games are sold out.

Howard's Jersey Retiring

Wake Forest will retire the jersey of former consensus All-American Josh Howard during a ceremony at the Jan. 29 game against Maryland.

Howard, currently a rookie with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, has confirmed that he will attend the ceremony at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

In 2003, Howard enjoyed a remarkable season. He was the first unanimous selection for ACC Player of the Year since NC State's David Thompson in 1975. Howard, a consensus first team All-American last season, is one of five players in the history of the ACC to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 200 steals and 100 blocked shots. He led Wake Forest to a 25-6 record in 2003 and the Deacons won the ACC regular season title for the first time in more than 40 years.

"I am thrilled for Josh and his family," Prosser said. "This is a wonderful tribute and especially noteworthy as Josh is from Winston-Salem. For Josh to accomplish all of the terrific things he did on the basketball court as well as to earn his diploma is an honor not only for Josh but for Wake Forest University. His leadership and example of courage in his senior season, as he led his teammates to the ACC regular season championship, should always be remembered by those who love Deacon basketball."

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