“The next day in practice, we mixed the team up,” Gaudio said. “I had (senior point guard) Ish (Smith) as the point guard on one team and (freshman starter) C.J. (Harris) as the point guard on the other. I had (senior forward) L.D. (Williams) over here and (freshman forward) Ari Stewart over there. Those guys competed. They got after each other.”
The description Harris gave wasn’t in quite so antiseptic terms.
“That next practice, it’s ridiculous how hard we went all out,” Harris said. “We’re diving on the floor, talking junk to each other. It goes back to summer school and preseason, how hard we go.”
Smith said Gaudio questioned the Deacs’ toughness. Senior center Chas McFarland explained the hard workout was similar to those after each of Wake’s five losses this season.
“As a team, we know what we can accomplish and what we need to accomplish,” McFarland said. “We just went back to the basics and started all over and worked on the things that we didn’t do very well at Georgia Tech. It was just a real competitive practice.”
Wake responded well enough Tuesday night at Joel Coliseum to edge Miami 62-53 on the strength of its defense and avoid back-to-back losses for the first time since losing at home against William & Mary and then at Purdue.
The latest rebound lifted the Deacons to 15-5 overall and a 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference mark that put them no worse than a half-game out of first place pending Duke’s game against Georgia Tech tonight.
Wake fashioned its conference mark with home wins against N.C. State, Maryland and Virginia as well as Miami plus a road victory at UNC, and losses at Miami and Duke as well as Georgia Tech.
“I wish we were 6-2, and if we box out at Miami and grab that last rebound (off a Smith miss) maybe we are,” Gaudio said. “Heck, I wish we were 8-0. I like where we are at. I like the chemistry the kids have. They are really together.
“The game reveals character and it reveals it at the most adverse time – when you lose. We have our best practices after we lose. ... We have a lot of toughness and character and a lot of heart. They’ve bounced back in a lot of tough venues against tough teams. I’m proud of him.”
They barely prevailed against a Miami team that shot 30 percent from the field as it fell to 16-6, 2-6. Wake held a 25-8 lead with 6:42 to play in the first half, then failed to put the game away when it made just three field goals and committed four turnovers on 10 fastbreak opportunities.
Wake prevailed even though it shot 32 percent in the second half and had just one field goal in the last nine minutes. It prevailed by shutting down the Hurricanes on their last seven possessions after they pulled within 55-52 with 5:38 to go. The Deacs won despite a 4-for-12 shooting night by Smith and getting just six points from Al-Farouq Aminu.
“I give us a solid B, possibly a B-minus because I’m a tough grader,” Smith said. “We need to get better in every aspect, rebounding to shooting to free throw. Everything can get better.”
The Deacons have two more days to improve before going to Virginia on Saturday.
gsmith@hpe.com | 888-3519
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