The #6 Duke Blue Devils return home to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face the 11 and 7, Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The Demon Deacons enter the weekend with an 11-8 record and a 2-4 conference record. They are coming off of losing 3 of their last 5 games with the latest being a home loss to SMU. Wake Forest leads the ACC and is 18th in the nation with 9.5 steals per game, and also tops the conference and is 18th nationally with 15.5 turnovers forced per game. The Demon Deacons have the fifth-best free-throw percentage (.756) in the conference.
Juke Harris is the ACC’s third-leading scorer, averaging 20.5 points per contest, and is second in the league and 24th nationally with 141 free-throw attempts, while grabbing a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. The Sophomore forward leads a quartet of double figure scorers for Wake. Junior Myles Colvin checks in, averaging 12.8 points per game and 4.5 boards. Nate Calmese and Tre’Von Spillers are averaging 10.8 and 11.5 points her game, respectively. Calmese is eighth in the ACC with 5.2 assists per game.
Last Time Out
The Wake Forest men’s basketball team fell in a Tuesday night showdown with SMU (14-5, 3-3) by a final of 91-79 at LJVM Coliseum. Three Demon Deacons ended the game in double figures, with sophomore guard Juke Harris leading the team with 27 points on 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) shooting, including going 5-for-7 from three-point range. The Sailsbury, N.C., native also recorded a team-high six rebounds, as well as three assists, three steals and a pair of blocks. Senior forward Tre’Von Spillers finished the game with 19 points while shooting at an efficient 54.5 percent clip and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The Charleston, S.C., native also added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. Meanwhile, junior guard Myles Colvin logged 17 points, three rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. This marked the Indianapolis native’s highest point total against an ACC opponent this season.
Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils are coming off of a 35-4 season that saw them within a game of a title shot. Duke went 19-1 in conference, winning both the regular season and the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils welcome in a number 1 recruiting class after their Final Four run. Jon Scheyer after losing his entire starting lineup to the NBA but retaining core pieces with experience. Leading Duke are experienced returners senior big Maliq Brown and junior guard Caleb Foster, both instrumental pieces in Duke’s run this past season. Duke also returned 3 members from last season freshman class in hot shooting Isaiah Evans, who shot a team high 41.6%. Duke also brings back Darren Harris who has reshaped his body in hopes for a larger role and Patrick Ngongba who similarly has reshaped his frame, coming into this season healthy.
The Blue Devils enter the weekend with a 17-1 record, and an unblemished conference record at 6-0. Duke is one of just three teams ranked in the top-eight nationally in both offensive efficiency (126.1, 8th) and defensive efficiency (92.9, 6th) ratings. (KenPom) The Blue Devils lead the ACC and are seventh nationally in scoring margin (+20.4). Duke tops the conference and ranks 15th in the country in rebounding margin (+9.0). The Blue Devils rank 17th in the nation with the league’s best scoring defense (65.1 ppg).
Cameron Boozer is the nation’s fourth-leading scorer with an ACC-best 23.2 points per game, and ranks third in the ACC in rebounding (9.9 rpg), tied for fifth in steals (1.8 spg), 11th in assists (4.1 apg) and fourth in field goal percentage (.586). He’s followed by sophomore Isaiah Evans at 14.6 points per game, and Pat Ngongba at 10.9 points her game and 6.1 boards. Evans is the ACC’s sixth-leading scorer in conference play, averaging 20.2 points per game, and is tied for second in the league high with 3.5 3-pointers per ACC contest.
Last Time Out:
The Blue Devils return to form with a dominant performance by Cameron Boozer led No. 6 Duke to an 80-50 victory at Stanford on Saturday, Jan. 17. The Blue Devils (17-1, 6-0) held the Cardinal (14-5, 3-3 ACC) to just 19 points in the first half, as Duke led wire-to-wire and swept its west coast conference swing. Boozer finished with 30 points and 14 rebounds, the freshman’s ninth double-double of the year and sixth with at least 20 points. The freshman scored 20 of his points in the opening 20 minutes and finished one rebound shy of his career high on the glass. Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba II joined Boozer in double-figures, scoring 15 and 13, respectively. On defense, Dame Sarr played a pivotal role in holding Stanford’s Ebuka Okorie to just nine points, 14 points below the Cardinal guard’s season average. With the victories over California and Stanford, Duke is just the second ACC team to emerge unblemished after traveling west, joining the 2024-25 Wake Forest squad.
Final Thoughts
My Keys to the game
The Blue Devils, especially early in games and when they have a substantial lead, have a tendency to be very loose with the basketball. Not sure if there’s a statistic for starting the game with turnovers, but if there is, Duke has to be one of the worst at this stat. The worst thing you can do when you have significant advantages is gift the other team extra possessions. Wake Forest leads the ACC and is 18th in the nation with 9.5 steals per game, so Duke has to be on guard there and value the basketball. Fast break points for Wake Forest could be the difference in this game, the less they have, the larger Duke’s margin for error is.
If Duke’s defense has indeed returned then their primary target to shut down becomes Juke Harris. Harris is a volume scorer and can get hot from anywhere on the floor Harris is also a solid rebounder so keeping him off the glass, especially on the offensive end will be a stat to watch for Duke.
Defending the perimeter against the Demon Deacons is paramount, as Wake Forest averages 9.7 made 3-pointers per game in conference. Duke also has to win the rebounding battle – especially on the defensive end. Trevon Spillers is an explosive athlete and if Duke allows him to clean up misses on offense then Duke could be in for a long night. Spillers isn’t the leading rebounder for the Demon Deacons he is their best athlete. Duke has to box out 1 through 5 and secure the defensive exchange.
