Preview: Wake Forest at Boston College

The last time Wake Forest played games that weren’t within the warm clutches of Joel Coliseum, things didn’t go that well for the Deacons.

Consider the last seven games — all of them wins, by an average margin of 20.6 — the problem-solving portion of the schedule.

Especially on the defensive end.

“They’ve really embraced it,” coach Steve Forbes said of his team’s defensive approach. “I was really mad at myself coming back from Charleston. I felt like I was just spending too much time working on offense and it was hard to work on defense a little bit because we had so many guys out.”

When the Deacons got back from the Charleston Classic, having lost three of their last four games, Forbes put the plastic bubbles over the baskets in the Shah Basketball Complex and they went to work on defense and rebounding.

Wake Forest held each of these last seven opponents under 1.0 points per possession. It’s more impressive considering each of the first five games saw Wake’s opponents above that 1.0 threshold, even in wins against Elon and Towson.

“I just said, ‘Forget it, we’re going back to being gritty, grimy,’” Forbes said. “I said it, but they executed it and they bought into it. It was always there, it’s not like we didn’t work on it. I just thought that was a missing component for our team.”

Now the Deacons take their show back on the road with a renewed dedication on the defensive end.

The first of eight January games comes Tuesday night, when the Deacons go to Boston College. It’s Wake’s first game away from home since those three games in Charleston on the week before Thanksgiving, and it’s Wake’s first road game since the second game of the season, when the Deacons lost at Georgia.

In the interest of pointing out the obvious; Wake Forest is a changed team from the one that lost in Athens, Ga., and slogged through three games in Charleston. Here’s the chance to show that the Deacons’ growth and development translates outside of the Joel.

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

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

TV: ACC Network.

Series; last meeting: BC leads 17-14; BC won 71-69 on Feb. 28 last season, as the teams split regular-season meetings (WF won 85-63 in mid-January).

Records: WF 9-3, 1-0 ACC; BC 9-3, 0-1.

Stat to watch: 14.1%.

That’s BC’s turnover percentage, which is 21st in the country (per KenPom).

The Eagles don’t turn the ball over often and have really kept a lid on the giveaways since a late November loss to Colorado State, when they committed 16 of them. In the seven games since then, BC has averaged 8.9 turnovers, only twice committing double-digit turnovers.

Wake Forest hasn’t necessarily been turnover reliant, but it certainly helped against Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Deacons forced a season-high 19 turnovers against the Hokies, which led to 23 points — coincidentally matching the final score’s margin.

Matchup to watch: Wake Forest centers Efton Reid III (No. 4) and Zach Keller (No. 25) vs. Boston College center Quinten Post (No. 12).

Reid and Keller handled Virginia Tech’s Lynn Kidd well Saturday afternoon, as he needed 15 shots to get 14 points and only had five rebounds, along with three turnovers.

It’s a different test against Post.

BC’s 7-footer has become one of the ACC’s premier centers, averaging 18.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He already has more blocks this season (26) than he had last year (17 in 19 games), and improved health and defensive discipline (2.9 fouls committed per 40 minutes) has helped him stay on the court longer (31.5 minutes per game, second on the team).

Reid and Keller could sag off Kidd because he hasn’t attempted a 3-pointer this season; Post is a 45.9% shooter (17-for-37) from long range this season.

Of course, if Wake’s centers keep playing at the same level as the last several games, it’s hard to see this matchup not favoring the Deacons.

“He’s certainly a presence. He’s a load,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said of Reid. “We had some things on in an effort to pull him off. … Today it was obvious Steve and those guys made a concerted effort to stick him in the post and work his way to the charge circle. And he’s big enough, he’s going to get up over a lot of people.”

Eagle to watch: Guard Claudell Harris Jr. (No. 1).

BC’s best perimeter player is one who transferred away from one the team that Wake Forest started its current winning streak against.

Harris was a decent scorer last season at Charleston Southern and has made a smooth transition at BC. He’s second on the team with 14.6 points per game and, like Post, shoots comfortably above 40% on 3s (27-for-62, 43.5%).

The 6-3, 190-pounder is coming off his best game, too. That was a 29-point game against Lehigh in which he was 7-for-10 on 3s, and also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Deacon to watch: Guard Hunter Sallis (No. 23).

If there were any reservations of how Sallis would hold up in his first ACC game — not that there should have been — they were snuffed out by his 20-point, nine-rebound game against Virginia Tech.

It was Sallis’ second straight game scoring 20, his sixth with at least that many points. He’s a combined 17-for-26 from the field in these last two games, which comes on the heels of a mini-slump that saw him go 15-for-40 across three games.

As easy as it is to say Sallis is just following in the footsteps of successful transfer guards who have come to Wake Forest before him, it shouldn’t detract from how impressive he’s been. A change of scenery and freedom within Wake’s offense have turned him into a three-level scorer and one of the best perimeter players in the ACC.

What’s on deck: After a seven-game homestand, five of Wake’s eight games in January are on the road — though none are back-to-back until the last two games of the month, and there’s a nine-day break in between those trips to North Carolina and Pittsburgh.

After Wake’s game at BC, the Deacons come home to play a Miami team that’s got some Jekyll and Hyde to it, sitting at 10-2 with a few decent non-conference wins and two blowout losses.

BC goes on the road for three straight games after this, heading to Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Clemson.

KenPom prediction: Wake Forest wins 76-75.

Deacons Illustrated prognosis: Not to turn every game into a litmus test, but this feels like another one for the Deacons.

We know, based on the last seven games, that Wake Forest has turned the corner from the early season struggles. The Deacons have played some of the best basketball in the ACC over the past month-plus.

It’s all been at home.

It’s not like Conte Forum is going to be the most-hostile environment Wake Forest sees this year. But it’s a place where the Eagles are 6-1 this season, and where last season they scored wins against Clemson and Virginia.

Here’s a chance for Wake Forest to take its improved show on the road, where the Deacons are going to face some adversity they haven’t seen since November.