After an up-and-down matchup between Wake Forest Men’s Basketball (15-5, 7-2 ACC) and No. 2 Duke (17-2, 9-0 ACC), the Blue Devils prevailed 63-56.
The Demon Deacons started the game off shooting poorly from the floor, only scoring 4-17 (22.2% FG) in the first 12 minutes. Compounding on those issues, the Demon Deacons suffered foul trouble early, with Cameron Hildreth and Tre’Von Spillers exiting the game with multiple fouls each.
“I thought it was really hard to have [Spillers] and Cam [Hildreth] in foul trouble in the first half,” Wake Forest Head Coach Steve Forbes said postgame.
Foul trouble also hit the Blue Devils as freshman Khaman Maluach earned a few quick fouls against Wake Forest center Efton Reid III.
“In a high-level game, sometimes that’s going to happen,” Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer said. “Obviously you don’t want to pick up fouls. Reid is big and physical, has been scoring a bunch, and I thought [Maluach and freshman Patrick Ngongba II] did a good job battling inside.”
Despite the foul trouble for each team, Duke freshman Cooper Flagg facilitated the Blue Devils’ offense throughout the first half, scoring nine points and dishing five assists more than his per-game average (4.1). Although the Blue Devils built up to a 15-point lead late in the first half, Flagg and freshman Kon Knueppel eventually finished with career-highs in turnovers, finishing with 7 and 5 on the night, respectively.
“You have to give Wake credit,” Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer said. “They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country. I don’t know if that’s the first time we had more turnovers than assists [this season], but we haven’t had that a lot.”
Going into halftime, the Demon Deacons needed to ignite a spark to come back from their 35-22 deficit.
They found that spark quickly. Wake Forest went on a 21-4 run in the first 10 minutes of the second half, leading for the first time all night. A three-pointer from Spillers turned the sold-out atmosphere at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Arena, electric, and all momentum shifted towards the Demon Deacons.
“We knew we had to come out and throw a punch, and that’s what we did,” Reid said. “The Joel was rocking. It shows how good we can be when we hit shots and play good defense.”
“I mean, you come into an environment like this, it’s just crazy,” Flagg added. “When [Wake Forest] was going on that run, it was really loud in [the arena].”
After two timeouts from the Blue Devils, Scheyer made tweaks to the Blue Devils’ game plan and implemented an unfamiliar zone defense.
“We’ve kept [the zone] in our back pocket, just in case,” Scheyer said. “We’ve played it one possession all year. It’s always good to have a curveball.”
The zone forced the Demon Deacons to have open looks, but mostly from three-point range — an area that Wake Forest struggled with throughout the night (3-18, 16.7% FG). Those struggles shifted the momentum back into the Blue Devils favor.
Flagg and the Blue Devils would not only bounce back out to a lead, but three-point shots from graduate student Mason Gillis and junior Tyrese Proctor sealed the game with just minutes left to play.
“Mason Gillis, you know, what he did was off the charts,” Scheyer said of the Purdue transfer. “To come in, he really wasn’t phased at all [in that environment].”
After trading buckets late, the Blue Devils eventually defeated the Demon Deacons 63-58.
“Credit to Jon [Scheyer] and his team for staying composed,” Forbes said postgame. “They have a really good team, and Jon has done a really good job with them.”
Although the Demon Deacons dropped this chance at a marquee win, Forbes’ squad has another chance this week, visiting the No. 25 Louisville Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network.