Wake Forest has lost seven of its last 10 games dating back to last season, and Thursday night’s 77-70 loss to Utah saw the Deacons lose their grip on what was a 10-point halftime lead.

After the third game of this season, coach Steve Forbes had some things to be frustrated about.

“Obviously, the biggest problem is that we gave up nine offensive rebounds in the second half. We did a really good job with that in the first half, we only gave up two,” Forbes said. “We had too many missed defensive assignments in the second half. …

“In the zone our guys sunk too low, they have to play it up the court. … We missed a lot of good looks because we held the ball or over-dribbled. Our players threw up tough shots in the lane.”

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Here’s what to know ahead of Friday night’s game:

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: TD Arena, Charleston, S.C.

TV: ESPNU.

Series; last meeting: Wake Forest leads 1-0; Wake Forest won 74-64 in the first round of the NIT in 2022.

Records: Towson 2-2; Wake Forest 1-2.

Stat to watch: 37.5%.

That’s Towson’s offensive rebound percentage, per KenPom. It’s 44th best in the country despite the Tigers only playing one player (Chase Paar, at 6-10) over 6-8 in their rotation.

Wake Forest gave up 11 offensive rebounds against Utah, nine of them in the second half.

Tiger to watch: Forward Tyler Tejada (No. 15).

Interesting splits on this one.

Tejada is a 6-8, 220-pound freshman who’s looked great in Towson’s wins over Coppin State and Robert Morris and has struggled in losses against Colorado and Houston.

In the wins, Tejada scored 30 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including a 5-for-7 clip on 3s. In the losses, he had 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting.

Deacon to watch: Forward Zach Keller (No. 25).

Wake’s second-year forward got the start at center against Utah and had a career-high 29 minutes, scoring 10 points and securing five rebounds.

Towson’s frontcourt isn’t as large as Utah’s and as long as Matthew Marsh is out, the Deacons need Keller to play big — both in stature and minutes.

What’s on deck: The winner of this game will play the winner of Friday’s earlier consolation bracket game, which is North Texas vs. LSU, in the fifth-place game. The losers of each game will play in the seventh-place game.

If Wake Forest plays LSU … well, there’s some history there between playing them in basketball in the last two seasons and the summer’s College World Series showdowns.

KenPom prediction: Wake Forest wins 70-65.

Deacons Illustrated prognosis: There’s a strange it’s-getting-late-early vibe to this team, which feels like panic.

It won’t feel that way with a third straight loss.

The Deacons need something positive coming out of this tournament. That only happens with a win against a Towson team that’s been blitzed to begin games against other power conference teams, Colorado and Houston.