Wake Forest 83, Indiana 58.

I'll hopefully get a Gonzaga preview up before tomorrow's game, but first thing's first. Here's the box score from the latest of IU's blowout losses. I didn't see much of this one (operator error by my wife re: Tivo, although that 15 minute block of ESPNNews was fascinating). It sounds as if I missed the best part. The game was tied 20-20 after the first 10 minutes of the game, but Wake Forest outscored IU 27-11 for the rest of the half, and that was that. I was hoping that perhaps IU took good care of the ball during that stretch, but I count 8 turnovers in the first 10 minutes. Mostly, it seems that Wake was even sloppier, with nine TOs in that stretch. Indeed, Wake was nearly as sloppy, turning the ball over 24 times to IU's 26. Even the rebounding numbers weren't in Wake's favor: the teams had identical offensive rebounding percentages. The difference is that Wake scored at will, shooting 60 percent to IU's 37 percent on nearly identical shot totals. Quite simply, Matt Roth's 12 points on 4-5 from the field were IU's only offensive success story.

There's not much to be said about this one, except that IU still hasn't shown an ability to compete with even a lower tier Big Ten team. And it may not get better soon. IU plays Gonzaga, TCU, and at Kentucky in the next eight days.

The Wake Forest game.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Current record: 6-0

Current RPI: 61
Current Sagarin: 22
Current Pomeroy: 38
2007-08 record: 17-13
2007-08 RPI: 103
2007-08 Sagarin: 74
2007-08 Pomeroy: 68
Series: Wake Forest leads 1-0
Pomeroy gameplan
TV: 4 pm, BTN

Wake Forest is tall. IU is not. Of the 9 Demon Deacons who play 10 or more minutes a game, six are 6-9 or taller. Three are 6-11 or taller. IU, of course, has only three scholarship players taller than 6-6: Tijan Jobe, Tom Pritchard, and Kyle Taber. IU is so small that 6-5 guards Malik Story and Verdell Jones count as "size," but Jones seems unlikely to play after getting his bell rung against Cornell.

Unfortunately, I have little time for a true preview today, but it will be very difficult for IU to compete in this game. While IU's earlier opponents have tended to be offensive juggernauts, Wake is by far the best defensive team that the Hoosiers have faced. Wake is allowing only .78 points per possession (#7 nationally), and really limits opponents' opportunities in nearly every way imaginable: they force turnovers, play excellent field goal defense, rebound really well defensively, and block tons of shots.

IU's only previous meeting with Wake was under similar circumstances. In the 2003-04 Big Ten ACC Challenge, IU lost at Wake 100-67 on the way to IU's only losing record of the last 40 years. Oh, and IU's other trip to Winston-Salem? The 1997 NCAA Tournament, in which IU mailed in an 80-62 loss to Colorado. Lawrence Joel Coliseum has not been kind to the Hoosiers, and I don't expect that to change tonight.