Game Preview: Duke at Wake Forest - SCACCHoops.com

Game Preview: Duke at Wake Forest

by DukeBlogger.com

Posted: 2/25/2020 9:00:09 AM


Duke and Wake Forest are meeting for the 253rd time in a series that dates to the 1905-06 season. The Blue Devils lead the series 174-78, including 50-39 in Winton-Salem (17- 11 at the LJVM Coliseum).  Duke has won 11 straight in the series -- its second-longest active ACC winning streak behind 13 consecutive wins over Georgia Tech.  Duke won 90-59 on January 11 at Cameron Indoor behind a game-high 23 points from Tre Jones. Wake’s Brandon Childress was held scoreless (0-6 FG) in that game.

Five Blue Devils reached double-digits in that win as Duke shot .532 from the field and knocked down 11 threes.  With the exception of Jones, each of Duke’s last 10 leading scorers in a Duke-Wake game are now playing in the NBA.

The Opponent
Wake Forest, which is 11-15 overall and 4-12 in the ACC, has not played since February 19, an 86-79 setback to Georgia Tech in Winston-Salem.  The Demon Deacons have dropped four of their last five.  Brandon Childress leads three Deacs in double-digits points (15.0), while also averaging 4.5 assists.  Olivier Sarr, who scored 13 points in the first meeting versus Duke in January, is second on the team in scoring (12.4) and leads in rebounding (8.6).

Duke
Duke remains No. 6 in the NET (as of Feb. 23), which is the primary evaluation tool used by the NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee, for which Duke Director of Athletics Kevin White is the chairman.  Two of Duke’s three losses this season came in back-to-back games without freshman Wendell Moore Jr. (broken hand), while its third loss was to Stephen F. Austin on a buzzer-beater in overtime. SFA is 24-3 overall and leads the Southland Conference at 15-1.  Neither Moore nor Joey Baker (ankle) played in Duke’s loss at Clemson on Jan. 14.  The Blue Devils’ overall strength of schedule is No. 22, while its non-conference strength of schedule is No. 7.  Other metrics for Duke: No. 1 BPI (Basketball Power Index), No. 4 KenPom, No. 6 Sagarin, No. 8 Strength of Record.

Six different Blue Devils have led the team in scoring through 26 games -- Tre Jones, Vernon Carey Jr., Matthew Hurt, Cassius Stanley, Joey Baker and Jordan Goldwire.

  • Duke has deployed 12 different starting lineups -- its most (by two) in at least the last six seasons.
  • Sixteen times this season, Duke has had four or more score in double figures. Five times this season, five or more have reached double digits.
  • Five different players have recorded a 20-point game.
  • Four players are averaging double figures in points, while eight are averaging 4.8+ points per game.
  • Seven are averaging 3.1+ rebounds per game.

Duke is third nationally in both scoring offense (82.6) and scoring margin (+16.0), while ranking 16th in field goal percentage (.477). Duke leads the ACC in all three stats. Duke is 13-0 this season when scoring 85+ points. Eight of Duke’s 22 wins are by 30+ points, including five ACC wins by 30+, which is a new program record. The program’s previous record for most 30-point wins in ACC play was set in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 2000-01. The 39-point margin in the BC win (88-49) was Duke’s largest in an ACC game since beating Georgia Tech, 110-57, on Jan. 3, 2017. Duke is ranked fourth overall in KenPom, and is one of three teams (San Diego State and Kansas) ranked in KenPom’s top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

Duke is seventh in the NCAA and leads the ACC in blocked shots per game (6.0).  Nineteen times this season, Duke has blocked five or more shots, including in seven of the last 10 games.  Duke is second in the ACC and 21st nationally in steals per game (8.5). Duke is one of only two teams nationally (FIU) -- and the only power conference team -- ranked in the NCAA’s top 30 for steals, blocks and three-point field goal defense.  Duke is second in the ACC and 40th nationally

Vernon Carey Jr. leads the Blue Devils in both scoring and rebounding, nearly averaging a double-double with 17.9 points per game and 8.8 rebounds. Carey also leads the team in blocks at 2 per game. Tre Jones leads the Blue Devils in assists at 6.4 per game, he also averages 15.8 points and a team leading 2 steals per game. Cassius Stanley and Matthew Hurt round out the double figure scorers for the Blue Devils with 12.4 and 10.5 points per game respectively.

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