Duke Defeats Wake Forest, 63-56

The Duke Blue Devils (17-2, 9-0 ACC) escape Winston Salem and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (15-5. 7-2 ACC) with a 63-56 victory. This is the Blue Devils first win by less than double digits in the ACC and keeps their record unblemished in conference play.

The Blue Devils were met with something they have not seen in a while: adversity. Foul trouble and a cold shooting streak had the Blue Devils in a deficit in a hostile environment.

The first half was characterized by a lackluster performance on both ends. The crowd was looking for moments to get loud but could not find the opportunity. The Blue Devils went into the half with a 35-22 lead.

The second half began with a giant change of momentum as the LJVM Coliseum came to life. The Deacs went on a 17-4 run to tie the game up at 39 coming out of halftime. The Blue Devils missed 13 straight shot attempts in the second half, going 1-19 in the first 12 minutes of play The Demon Deacons took a 45-39 lead on a Juke Harris jumper with a little under 10 minutes to go in the game.

Duke turned to their star freshman, Cooper Flagg to help them get anything going on the offensive end. Flagg finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists. After falling behind by 6, Duke scored on 6 straight possessions ending with Cooper Flagg making two free throws to take a 53-47 lead at the 3:55 mark. Both Mason Gillis and Tyrese Proctor hit big time buckets down the stretch to secure the Duke victory, none of these bigger than Proctor’s made 3- pointer with 2:18 left to give the Devils a seven point lead after the a loose ball bounced around and the shot clock was nearing its end. 

The Deacs dropped their first game at home of the season after battling back from 15 down in the first half to up 6 in the second. The Deacons find themselves in third place in the ACC at 7-2 behind the undefeated Blue Devils and one-loss Clemson Tigers and Lousiville Cardinals. Juke Harris lead the Demon Deacons with 14 points off the bench, Hunter Salis finished with 12 points and 7 boards, and Efton Reid and Tre’Von Spillers finished with 9 points. 

Takeaways:

Blue Devils: They battled through ACC road adversity and their first real experience with foul trouble to win a heat matchup on the road. Patrick Ngongba battled for a season high 21 minutes in relief of Khaman Maluach who was in foul trouble and finished the game with 4 fouls and 0 points. Ngongba played more minutes and outscored the Duke big man

Demon Deacons: This team has no quit. After a double-digit halftime deficit, they stormed back and took a lead and brought the Joel to life. Unfortunately, the magic ran out as Coope Flagg got hot. Now the Deaca are looking at a must-win game Tuesday night at Louisville who is the surprise team of the ACC season. The Deacons do not have many more valuable teams left on their schedule to sweeten their march resume.

Next Up:

The Blue Devils start a two game home stand on a quick turnaround as they host the NC State Wolfpack on Monday. The Blue Devils also welcome the UNC Tar Heels to Durham on Saturday.

The Demon Deacons travel to Louisville to take on the 8-1 in conference Cardinals in a pivotal matchup with March implications.