For the last time in 2½ weeks, Wake Forest’s men’s basketball team will play a game in the friendly confines of Joel Coliseum.

The Deacons play host to Hampton on Saturday afternoon before hitting the road for three straight games against power-conference teams — at Wisconsin for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge (Tuesday), at Clemson for the ACC opener (next Friday), and then a neutral site game against LSU (in Atlanta on Dec. 10).

Coach Steve Forbes knows the importance of the Deacons getting right against Hampton.

“We’ve got one more game on Saturday, and then we head into a tough stretch where we’ve gotta be on the road,” Forbes said. “We’ve gotta take care of business on Saturday.”

Wake Forest had Thanksgiving off before practicing Friday, both in celebration of the holiday — players were served a hearty meal on campus — and because of a few medical situations.

Daivien Williamson was unable to play Wednesday night against South Carolina State because of a back injury that’s hobbled him for the past couple of weeks. Andrew Carr and Damari Monsanto, both of whom started against S.C. State, have been sick.

All of them are players worth watching in Saturday’s game against Hampton.

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Here’s what to know ahead of Saturday’s game:

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: Joel Coliseum.

TV: ACC Network.

Announcers: John Meterparel (play-by-play) and Malcolm Huckaby (analyst).

Series; last meeting: Wake Forest leads 1-0; WF won 63-56 in 2010.

Records: Hampton 1-4; Wake Forest 5-1.

Stat to watch: 34.1% | 40.4%.

Those are both Wake Forest 3-point percentages; the first is the Deacons’ 3-point shooting percentage and the second means 40.4% of the Deacons’ field-goal attempts are 3s.

Wake Forest has yet to make double-digit 3s in a game, but the Deacons were 9-for-17 against S.C. State before putting on the brakes for the outside shots in Wednesday night’s blowout. Last season, Wake Forest made double-digit 3s in 12 games and was 9-3 in such games.

Hampton has given up double-digit 3s twice this season, in a 106-58 loss to James Madison and an 82-73 loss to East Carolina.

Pirate to watch: Wing Jordan Nesbitt (No. 5).

Nesbitt is on his third school in as many years and is coming off of the first 20-point game of his career.

The 6-6, 210-pounder who was at Memphis for a season and Saint Louis last year had 25 points against North Alabama in a 75-74 loss on Tuesday. Nesbitt was 14-for-16 at the free-throw line and had 14 rebounds (also a career high) in that game.

The St. Louis native leads the Pirates in rebounds (6.4 per game), assists (21) and blocks (four) this season.

Deacon to watch: Guard Cameron Hildreth (No. 2).

Hildreth is becoming a consistent contributor for Forbes and the sophomore is coming off of a career-high 19 points against S.C. State.

The 6-4, 195-pounder also had eight rebounds against the Bulldogs, flirting with what would’ve been the first double-double of his career. It wouldn’t have been his first time in double-digit rebounds this season, though — he had 11 against Georgia.

Hildreth provides the Deacons with a toughness and physicality that Forbes wants. He’s started the last two games and has a combined 29 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals in those games.

KenPom prediction: Wake Forest wins 85-64.

Deacons Illustrated prognosis: This lines up as another game in which Wake Forest should win by at least 20.

It’s the ninth game in Forbes’ tenure against a team ranked lower than 250th in KenPom’s overall rankings. The Deacons are 8-0 in such games with an average margin of 27.3 points. Taking out the 111-51 outlier of the opener against Delaware State in 2020, the average margin is still 22.6.

Wake Forest shouldn’t have to sweat out this non-conference game. This next three-game stretch — especially two road games next week — will tell us a lot about the Deacons’ potential this season.