Fresh off huge win, Hurricanes men’s basketball team braces for big test at Wake Forest

The University of Miami men’s basketball team got one star guard back in their most recent game.

And Nijel Pack’s presence proved huge in the Hurricanes’ 95-82 win over No. 16 Clemson on Wednesday night.

But will they have their other injured guard, Wooga Poplar, back in time for UM’s next big challenge?

“It’s anybody’s guess,” Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said after the game against Clemson.

Poplar is still nursing an ankle injury he suffered on Dec. 29 against North Florida although Larrañaga said he appeared to be doing better the day before the Clemson game before testing the ankle and still experiencing pain on game day.

The Hurricanes (11-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) would definitely benefit if he can return Saturday when they face a red-hot Wake Forest squad at 2:15 p.m. (CW Network) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Demon Deacons (10-3, 2-0 ACC) and Miami are among a group of four teams along with NC State and No. 8 North Carolina which enter the weekend tied at the top of the conference.

Wake Forest is on an eight-game winning streak - the longest active streak in the ACC.

The Hurricanes lead the all-time series 16-13, and are 2-10 all-time against the Deacons at Winston-Salem, but won in their most recent visit to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 12, 2022. Miami also beat Wake Forest 74-72 in the teams’ most recent meeting March 9 in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament last season.

The Demon Deacons mirror the Hurricanes in a couple of different aspects.

Both teams feature some of the more balanced scoring lineups in the country.

Miami and Wake Forest are the only two teams in the ACC to have four players average 13 or more points per game.

That balance reached new heights for Miami in the win over Clemson when three players - Pack, Matthew Cleveland and Norchad Omier - each scored 23 or more points, which was a first for the Hurricanes under Larrañaga. Pack returned from a lower extremity injury that kept him out the previous two games and led the way with 25 points.

Wake Forest is led by guard Hunter Sallis (18.4 points per game), a Gonzaga transfer who led the team with 20 points and nine rebounds in a dominant win Dec. 30 against Virginia Tech. The Demon Deacons have also relied on guards Kevin Miller (16.9 points per game) and Cameron Hildreth (15.8 points per game) and forward Andrew Carr (14.5 points per game) for offense.

Sallis, Hildreth, Miller, a Central Michigan transfer, and Reed III, another Gonzaga transfer, gave Wake Forest its 12th game this season where four players scored in double figures.

“Wake Forest is a really, really good team,” Larrañaga said. “Now that they’re at full strength they are much better than they were in November. Now that they have (7-foot forward) Efton Reed III and a host of big guys and those guards that are now used to playing each other for 12 or 13 games, they are really good.”

Even before they began getting their players back, the Hurricanes have excelled from the offensive end for the most part this season thanks to their accuracy from beyond the 3-point line.

The Hurricanes entered Friday ranked third in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (41.5 percent). Wake ranks 28th in that category (37.9 percent) and 162nd in 3-point defense (32.3). But in its recent win over Virginia Tech, the Demon Deacons held the Hokies to 5 for 16 shooting from 3.

“Your transition defense has got to be really good [against Wake]. Ours was OK, not quite good enough,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young told the Roanoke Times after the game.

Should Poplar not be available, the Hurricanes could tap 6-8 freshman Kyshawn George to make his fourth consecutive start. George has scored in double figures in his past three games and is averaging 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals during that span.

In the first half against Clemson, George scored all 12 of his points on four made three-pointers, and did a solid job defending Clemson guard Joe Girard III, holding him without a made 3 for the first 15 minutes of the second half.

“Kyshawn stepped up really, really well for us,” Pack said. “He had some key big shots but also his defensive presence and his size and length especially toward the end of the game he was able to take some shots away from Joe Girard and we know how good of a shooter he is.”