Disappointment has to quickly morph into motivation for teams in the NIT.

That’s the boat Wake Forest is in, as the Deacons will face Towson on Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT.

“It was important to me when our team got back together on Friday for practice that they understood I wasn’t disappointed in them,” coach Steve Forbes said. “I was really disappointed for them, and our fans.

“I think maybe after the loss … they felt I was maybe a little disappointed in them, and I wasn’t. I was disappointed for them because I think our players have given us everything this year.”

The Deacons won’t get to pour out the rest in the NCAA tournament, obviously, but the NIT berth is still the second postseason tournament for this program in 12 years. The wins turnaround already stands at 17 total, 10 in the ACC.

Directionally, this program hasn’t looked better too often in the past decade-plus – even if what comes with that is the disappointment of missing out on the NCAA tournament.

**********

Here’s what to know ahead of Wednesday night’s first-round NIT game:

Time: 7 p.m.

TV: ESPN+ (streaming service)

Announcers: Derek Jones (play-by-play) and Bryndon Manzer (analyst).

Series; last meeting: First meeting.

Records: Towson 25-8; Wake Forest 23-9.

The winner plays …: VCU, which beat Princeton 90-79 on Tuesday night.

Stat to watch: Rebounding.

Towson’s average height is about 6-4½ feet, which is 229th in the country.

You know rebounding isn’t all about height though, right?

The Tigers are a top-10 offensive-rebounding team in the country, grabbing 36.1% of offensive rebounds, per KenPom. Their company in the top 10 of that category includes Baylor, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and the reigning champion for another three weeks, and Kentucky, which features Oscar Tshiebwe, one of the best rebounders in the recent history of college basketball.

So … there’s Towson, rebounding more than one-third of its misses. How?

There isn’t one dominant rebounder for the Tigers, but there is a bit of girth. Charles Thompson is 6-7, 240; Chase Paar is 6-10, 250. Cam Holden is a 6-5, 200-pound jack of all trades, averaging 13.7 points and a team-best 8.1 rebounds.

The Wake Forest side of things is the Deacons only give up offensive rebounds on 26.2% of opponents’ misses – giving up second-chance points hasn’t quite been a concern for Wake Forest this season.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Deacons’ size matches up against Towson’s … well, size.

Tiger to watch: Nicolas Timberlake, wing.

Picking the leading scorer as the player to watch isn’t as much of a cop out when he’s raised his scoring average almost one point in the last six games.

Timberlake is averaging 18.5 in that stretch for the Tigers, which saw them – as the regular-season Colonial Athletic Association champions – upset in the semifinal of their conference tournament. That included back-to-back 25-point games against James Madison and Northeastern, in which he was a combined 12-for-17 on 3s.

The 6-4, 200-pound junior shot 40.8% from long range this season, making 75 of 184 3s.

Timberlake isn’t even Towson’s best 3-point shooter, by percentages. Jason Gibson has hit 62 of 150 (41.3%) 3s this season, though he’s only made 8 of his last 31 in Towson’s last six games.

Deacon to watch: Jake LaRavia, forward.

If you’re at Joel Coliseum on Wednesday night, you get at least one more chance to see Alondes Williams play for Wake Forest.

That could be the same case for LaRavia, who has a skillset and footwork to be enticing to NBA teams.

LaRavia would be wise – and will be encouraged, it seems – to enter his name and gather feedback. From there, we’ll see if the smooth 6-8, 235-pound wing will have also played his final game as a Deacon.

KenPom prediction: Wake Forest wins 77-71.

Deacons Illustrated prognosis: Not to heap too much importance on a first-round NIT game but …

Litmus test, anyone?

The Deacons have had plenty of time to digest the bitterness of losing to (f’ing*) Boston College in the ACC tournament last week. The selection show on Sunday night – the team gathered to watch – brought some tears, even if it was an outside shot to get a bid at that point.

* thank you, Lucas Taylor

Now it’s a matter of how the Deacons respond. Does wallowing in sorrows continue with a lackluster effort in what amounts to this program’s second post-season game in the last 12 seasons?

Or do the Deacons find some rekindled fire and make a run in the consolation tournament?

We’re close to finding out.