Has there been a more disappointing team this season than Duke? I am sure there has been but cannot recall one very recently. The No. 17 Blue Devils were preseason No. 1 in both polls and the betting favorites to cut down the nets on the first Monday in April. However, with a loss on Saturday at Wake Forest, Duke probably falls out of the Top 25 altogether.
The problems for Duke (15-5, 3-4 ACC) were largely summed up in Monday’s 84-82 home loss to NC State. It was the Wolfpack’s first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995 — the same NC State team that lost by a whopping 51 earlier this season to North Carolina. NC State ran off a 20-5 run to erase a 68-59 deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes. Dennis Smith Jr., not any of Duke’s heralded guys, was easily the best player and freshman on the court Monday. Luke Kennard finished with 20 points to lead Duke, which shot just 38 percent after halftime. Duke used the starting lineup of Jayson Tatum, Marques Bolden, Matt Jones, Frank Jackson, and Amile Jefferson for the first time this season. Tatum, Bolden, and Jackson are all freshmen. That improved the bench as Duke’s reserves had a season-high 41 points, marking the first time this season the Blue Devil bench scored at least 30 points in back-to-back games. Grayson Allen scored 13 points, bringing his career total to 1,203. Allen’s 1,203 points rank 46th on Duke’s all-time scorers list.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski remains away from the team following back surgery, but that does not mean he is not still in charge. Coach K reportedly summoned all the players to his home on Tuesday night. In my opinion, he created more negativity for the team by telling them that they were temporarily kicked out of the locker room and also forbidden from wearing Blue Devils apparel. This is not the first time Coach K has ever done this. What did this get him? Absolutely nothing, again in my opinion. This is not a leadership quality and I do know a thing or two about leadership, its pluses, and minuses. When asked about the situation on Thursday, acting coach Jeff Capel said: “Really can’t speak on it. Disappointing when stuff that’s supposed to stay in the locker room gets out.” The Blue Devils are 2-3 overall since Krzyzewski took a leave of absence, which means nothing to me other than they simply won less games than they lost during that stretch, nothing more.
Coach Danny Manning has done a nice job at Wake Forest (12-8, 3-5 ACC). It will not be an NCAA Tournament team but is trending in the right direction. The Demon Deacons had a two-game winning streak end Tuesday in an 81-76 loss at Syracuse. There were 12 ties and 14 lead changes. Reigning ACC Player of the Week John Collins had his third straight 20-point game with 23 and pulled down an ACC career-high 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Bryant Crawford added 13 points while Brandon Childress scored 10 for the Deacs to round out double-digit scoring.
Wake Forest surrendered 52 points and allowed the Orange to shoot 55.6 percent in the second half after giving up only 29 points on 37 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes. In ACC defeats, Wake Forest has surrendered an average of 47.6 points in the second half. This is in contrast to the 35.2-point average the Deacons are allowing in the first half of those games. Overall, the Deacons have allowed each of their past five opponents — Virginia, North Carolina, Miami, N.C. State and Syracuse — to score more points than their season average.
The Deacons are improved and pretty good on offense, but their defense needs work. They are also 0-5 vs. ranked teams this year and only one game was close. Duke won both meetings last year. The one at Wake Forest was 91-75. Allen scored 24 points and Kennard added 23. Duke shot 52 percent.
Endgame
Wake and Duke both come into this game coming off of loses, both lost games that were winnable, and both come in with only three wins in conference. Both teams are looking for consistency and to try to turn their seasons around. Duke, unlike Wake was expected to be atop the conference standings but to date the lofty preseason expectations have been nowhere in sight. With Coach K imposing some in-house punishments on the team, it will be interesting if the listless team that folded against N.C. State shows up or the team that rebounded from a horrid first half against Miami. It is fast becoming do-or-die time for Duke and with the conference title most likely out of reach it is time to set day to day goals for this team.
The Blue Devils rank third in the ACC in points per game (82.9), just behind North Carolina (89.4) and Florida State (85.7). Wake Forest surrendered an average of 90.5 points per game in two earlier losses to ranked North Carolina and Florida State in the ACC. Wake also allowed 96 in a loss to Villanova. This one should be a shootout.
I expect this game between the Deacs and the Devils on Saturday afternoon is shaping up to be a great and competitive game. Considering neither team plays particularly strong defense, this should be a high scoring affair. Wake Forest’s star power forward, John Collins, should have another great game against Duke’s weak interior defense, and Duke’s star guards, Kennard and Allen will get their healthy share of buckets on offense. I think this game will come down to who wants it more down the stretch, as all indications point to a close game.
All said, I think the Blue Devils will narrowly edge out a win over the Deacs, as they would be unable to deal with the embarrassment of back-to-back losses for the second time this season, especially to perennial ACC cellar dwellers NC State and Wake Forest. Let us call it an 80-75 win for Duke.
