ACC hoops come to HPU, Panthers ready to take on Deacons
By Nolan Stout
Tonight. 7 p.m. Millis Athletic Center. The ACC comes to High Point.
When the Wake Forest University basketball team comes to town, it will be the first time in school history that an Atlantic Coast Conference school will be playing a game in High Point.
This is not, however, the first meeting between HPU and Wake Forest University. It will be the first time they have played at the Millis Center; the last two matchups being played a mere 30-minute drive down the road in Winston-Salem. Both of those games were won by the Demon Deacons.
Not only does the team have playing experience against Wake Forest, 13 of the 14 players hail from a state that is home to one or more ACC schools, familiarizing them with this opponent. Five of those are from North Carolina; including freshmen guard Quincy Drye of Durham, home of Duke University, and forward Landon Harris of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest territory.
The coaches also know Wake all too well through their own ACC ties. Assistant coach Mike Balado was on the coaching staff at the University of Miami during the 2008-09 season and head coach Scott Cherry was part of the Tobacco Road rivalry when he played at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1989-1993.
The Panthers have not beaten the Demon Deacons since the 1934-35 season, a 19-13 win before the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference. That is the only win High Point has in the 10 meetings between the schools.
In their last two meetings, High Point only played with Wake Forest for half the game. In 2009, the Panthers trailed 42-39 at halftime, but were outscored 41-21 in the second half. During their most recent meeting in January of this year, HPU was down 38-26 at the half, but played closer in the second half, only being outscored 41-37.
Senior Nick Barbour is looking at this game just like any other.
“It’s just another game on the schedule, another game that you want to win,” said Barbour.
Coach Cherry is also hoping not to blow this game out of proportion.
“We’re going to practice the same way,” said Cherry, “We have to focus on the things that are going to help us win the game.”
Both Barbour and Cherry are using the Panthers stellar performance against a big time school in Purdue, a heartbreaking 67-65 loss, as a positive for the remainder of the season.
Barbour felt that the Panthers should have won and they outworked Purdue in every category. Cherry believes that the game served as a confidence booster for the team and a testament that they could play with anybody.
Cherry also is using this game as a mental preparation for the future.
“Hopefully this will prepare us if we make it to the championship game of our conference tournament.”
Fans need to support the Panthers tonight as well. The atmosphere will be a sharp contrast to that of Joel Coliseum which holds 14,665 people, most of which were on Wake Forest’s side.
Junior Nick DeVore of the Panthers Den is very excited for this game and hopes that the fans will be electric.
“Excited is an understatement for this game,” says DeVore. “I KNOW the atmosphere will be extremely hyped!”
Barbour says that the crowd will play a big difference in the energy of the game.
Coach Cherry admitted that this could very well be “the game of the century” for HPU basketball.
Doors will open to Panther’s Den members one hour before tip-off, 30 minutes for everyone else.