Wake struggles in loss to Georgia Tech

Atlanta -- Just to make sure his Wake Forest basketball team understood how much trouble the Deacons have had in Georgia Tech's Alexander Coliseum in recent years, coach Dino Gaudio took a moment before the game to remind his players.

Not since Chris Paul was a freshman - back in the 2003-04 season - have the Deacons won on Georgia Tech's home court.

He can give them the same reminder next year.

Unable to generate any offensive consistency and struggling to contain Georgia Tech's powerful front line, the Deacons left Alexander Coliseum Thursday night with a 79-58 defeat, their sixth straight loss in the round building.

Pick a category - rebounding, 3-point shooting, free-throw shooting, blocked shots - and Georgia Tech owned it against the Deacons (14-5, 4-3).

"We just couldn't put it in the hole," Wake Forest guard Ish Smith said.

True.

The Deacons shot just 32.8 percent from the field and made just three of 18 3-point attempts.

But that was just part of the Deacons' problems.

What started well for Wake Forest - the Deacons hit six of their first seven shot attempts and led 17-10 early - quickly came unraveled.

How so?

The remainder of the half, the Deacons made just six of 30 shots, falling into a 35-29 hole.

"It was hard from the jump," said Wake Forest center Chas McFarland, a senior who never won at Georgia Tech.

Trying to contain the Yellow Jackets' powerful inside game at one end and incapable of developing offensive consistency at the other, the Deacons gradually melted away.

With a chance to stay among the leaders in the ACC's churning regular-season race, Wake Forest instead lost for the third time in four league road games.

The Deacons' challenge was clear - find a way to contain Gani Lawal, Derrick Favors and Zachery Peacock inside and win the backcourt battle.

Neither area went well for Wake Forest.

Favors, the 6-foot, 10-inch freshman, blocked four shots in the first half and it seemed to unsettle the Deacons.

"They altered and changed a lot of our shots inside," Gaudio said.

Even free throw shooting was a problem. The Deacons spent extra time before the game, shooting 50 free throws apiece in a practice gym adjacent to the arena. They made just 13 of 25 with many of the misses kicking away chances to cut into Georgia Tech's second-half lead.

The game finally got away from the Deacons early in the second half when the Yellow Jackets went on a 14-2 run. It started with a pair of baskets by Iman Shumpert that seemed to temporarily sap the life out of the Deacons.

Along the way, L.D. Williams picked up his fourth foul out of frustration and, soon after, teammate Al-Farouq Aminu (15 points, eight rebounds) picked up his fourth on a charging call.