Conference tournaments are officially in full swing. The ACC tournament gets started as Wake Forest and Notre Dame face off in the first round. Both teams need to make a serious run in the tournament if they have any sort of hope of making it to the big dance. The loser of the matchup will likely be headed elsewhere for postseason play.
Notre Dame enters the game with nine days of rest after a long regular season. The team needed time to recharge as injuries were taking their toll on the roster. Senior center Garrick Sherman was recovering from a finger injury. Pat Connaughton suffered an ankle sprain while Tom Knight also needed time to heal an ailing ankle. Now healthy, the team heads to North Carolina in hopes of making a run against a team they fell short against in the regular season.
Wake Forest topped Notre Dame in their recent matchup. The Fighting Irish led for most of the game, shooting 56 percent overall in the second half. However, a few key mistakes let Wake Forest back in for the late win. If Notre Dame has any hope of winning this time around, they must bring it for 40 minutes. The team certainly does not have momentum in their favor after two straight losses to finish out the regular season, one being to ranked Notre Dame. Wake Forest on the other hand comes in having shocked Duke with a win before losing to Miami in their final game of the year.
Connaughton's health will be important. He totaled 36 points in his final two games while ranking fourth in the league in 3-point attempts made. On the other side, Wake Forest leading scorer Codi Miller McIntyre needs a better effort after he only managed two points in his final game.
