There’s a fool-me-once/fool-me-twice element to Wake Forest’s one-game-old season, as much sense as that can make.

When the Deacons dug an early hole in the exhibition game against Alabama, there didn’t need to be an intense overhaul of everything they were doing. Steve Forbes didn’t need to peel paint off of the walls.

When the Deacons dug an early 21-point hole in the opener against Elon, the shame was theirs.

“They were the tougher team and basically just whipped us in the first half,” Forbes said on Monday night. “The way we played in the first half is just not acceptable. With where we want to go where we want to be, we can't do it.”

Wake Forest turned things around in both games. Nobody is concerned about the way the Deacons have played in the second halves that we’ve seen.

It would be nice, though, if those second halves didn’t start with the Deacons trailing by double digits.

“For the first 15 minutes they were the way better team. We made a run there at the end of the half that gave us some confidence, then in the second half we played like we practiced,” Forbes said. “We had tremendous practices after the Alabama game.

“So we have to get it figured out, because we're gonna play some really good competition coming up.”

That starts with Friday night’s game at Georgia. That’s when Wake Forest will play the first of what could be four straight games against power conference teams (depending on how the Charleston Classic shapes up).

“So, you know, it was a good second half, but this is not acceptable, what we did in the first half,” Forbes said.

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

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Ga.

TV: SEC Network.

Announcers: Mike Morgan (play-by-play) and Daymeon Fishback (analyst).

Series; last meeting: Georgia leads 4-3; Wake Forest won 81-71 in Winston-Salem last year.

Records: Wake Forest 1-0; Georgia 0-1.

Stat to watch: 10.

It’s both how many 3-pointers Elon made against Wake Forest on Monday night and how many Georgia made in its season-opening loss to Oregon.

The Deacons gave up double-digit 3-pointers in eight of 33 games last season and starting the season off by allowing that many to Elon is a bad sign. Granted, Elon was 9-for-14 in the first half and 1-for-9 in the second, so the Deacons’ 3-point defense wasn’t horrible for all 40 minutes.

Georgia shot 31.7% on 3-pointers last year, 307th in the country, and only hit double-digits five times. So, hitting 10 3s in the opener registers as a little bit of a concern — though Mike White is in his second season with the Bulldogs and in three of his seven seasons at Florida, the Gators were a top-100 3-point shooting team.

Matchup to watch: Wake’s Matthew Marsh (No. 33) vs. Georgia’s Russel Tchewa (No. 54).

Elon didn’t seem like a good matchup for Marsh, and Wake’s junior center played 14 minutes with two rebounds and two fouls to show for it.

He could play a larger role against Georgia.

The Bulldogs have Tchewa, a fifth-year center, anchoring their middle. He played one season at Texas Tech before spending the last three at South Florida, being a two-year starter. Tchewa had five points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes against Oregon.

Marsh is listed at 7-1, 250; Tchewa is 7-foot, 275.

Bulldog to watch: Forward Jabri Abdur-Rahim (No. 1).

The fourth-year player had one of the stranger ways to score 18 points in Georgia’s opener.

Abdur-Rahim made three 3s and was 9-for-12 at the free-throw line against Oregon, missing his only two 2-point attempts. It led Georgia and was more points than he scored in nearly all 32 games for Georgia last year (his season-high was 21 and he had 18 in another game).

Tracking back to that 3-point shooting number, if the Bulldogs get hot against the Deacons, Abdur-Rahim is likely going to be a culprit. He took 119 3-pointers last season and only 41 shots from inside the arc, making 46 of the 3s (38.7%).

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

No overthinking this one.

“Cameron Hildreth has been playing outstanding,” Forbes said after Monday night’s win.

The junior scored a career-high 33 points against the Phoenix, blowing past his previous personal best of 23. It came on the heels of him scoring 38 in the exhibition game against Alabama — which obviously doesn’t register on the Deacons’ record, but further illustrates the surge for Hildreth.

The most impressive — maybe important — part of Hildreth’s emergence has been 3-point shooting. The 6-4, 195-pounder made 2 of 5 against Elon; he had three games in his first two seasons as a Deacon with two 3s.

“It all really just comes down to confidence,” Hildreth said after the exhibition game. “My teammates giving confidence to me that when they pass me the rock … to shoot it with confidence.”

What’s on deck: Wake Forest goes to the Charleston Classic, where it’ll play three games between Nov. 16-19. The first will be against Utah, and the second will be against No. 7 Houston or Towson.

Georgia has a quick and difficult turnaround, playing host to N.C. Central on Sunday and then heading to the Bahamas Championship, where its first game is against Miami.

KenPom prediction: Georgia wins 80-75.

Deacons Illustrated prognosis: Now comes the real test.

Well, a realer test.

Georgia will be a decent measuring stick for the Deacons. The Bulldogs were picked to finish 12th in the SEC, but KenPom has them as No. 63 in the country and they should be improved in White’s second season (though next season is when they’ll probably break through, per recruiting forecast).

Hunter Sallis’ health is a key factor. He’s battling a sprained ankle and didn’t play for the last 9½ minutes against Elon.

The bigger factor is whether Wake Forest can avoid digging itself a hole in the first half.