21 Jan 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Louisville Cardinals Guard Reyne Smith (6) is hugged by guard Chucky Hepburn (24) after a three -point basket against SMU Mustangs during the second half at Moody Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III IIMAGN images Wake Forest had a difficult weekend assignment by taking on No. 2 Duke.
It may look just as challenging with Tuesday night’s visit to Louisville No. 25 for a matchup Atlantic Coast Conference.
“The games come to you in a quick fire here,” said Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes. “But it’s a great opportunity, right? It’s a great opportunity to get an incredible road win. And so that’s how we look at it.”
Louisville (15-5, 8-1) owns a winning line of nine games. The Cardinals did not play over the weekend, so they have been vacant since last Tuesday night’s rush at 98-73 at SMU.
“I love playing with this team,” said Louisville -guard Chucky Hepburn. “We come a long way. We still have a lot of room to grow.”
A six-match winning line for Wake Forest (15-5, 7-2) ended with Saturday’s 63-56 home loss to Duke.
Four of Louisville’s last six wins have come with double -digit numbers. Some of the backs of the season seem far earlier.
“One thing I love with this team is that we never gave up,” Hepburn said. “If we lost, it was the next day, we practiced and we just came to it.”
The Cardinals have done it with style points. In last Tuesday’s game, they had assists on all 14 first halves.
In Game’s End, Reyne Smith had made a school record 10 baskets from 3-point intervals.
Hepburn, a senior transfer, had a career pile and program record 16 assists, which marked most by any player in an ACC game in almost 14 years.
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey called Hepburn’s performance “A Magical Game.”
Forbes, in the meantime, said that the result against Duke should not translate to any loss of trust from his team.
“We have a good basketball team, and we could quite play with anyone,” he said. “I have never been discouraged by this group of guys because they are fighting and they play so hard and they have learned that no matter how the crime goes, the defense keeps us in the game.”
The Demondiacons are encouraged by the crime from the guard Juke Harris, a beginner who delivered 14 points from the bench Saturday.
“He plays without fear, good and bad sometimes,” Forbes said. “But I’d rather have to call someone down and call them. And he’s competitive and fearless.”
But overall, there are snags on crimes that Wake Forest will have to deal with.
“We just didn’t drive offensively when we needed to … and it cost us,” Forbes said.
So even coming back from a 13-point deficit was not enough for the Demondia cones. They were triggered by Duke’s unusual transition to a zone defense, so Wake Forest can brush up how to attack if it faces it again.
“I just don’t think we carried out the look we needed to do,” Forbes said. “It’s just that we were not really sharp what our executions should have been for the look we should have received.”
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