It was always going to be an arduous task trying to take down the ACC’s number 1 scoring team and the second ranked 3pt shooting team but the Blue Devils needed a win to maintain home court and split with the Demon Deacons. The first half saw the Blue Devils reverse a few trends, holding Wake to just 36.7% shooting and 35.7% overall from the 3, while shooting 42.9% themselves – the Blue Devils even made more free throws than Wake attempted. Those factors coupled with a huge 17 point first half from junior guard Jeremy Roach allowed the Blue Devils to head into the locker room at the break up 7 points.
Duke began the second half with a 7-2 run, capped off by Lively slam, to open up a 48-36 lead and force an early timeout by Wake Forest. The Blue Devils defense held the Demon Deacons to a stretch of 1-of-9 from the field and led, 51-41, with just over 13 minutes left to play in the second half.
A tip-in by Proctor gave the freshman 10 points in the second half and 17 in the game, matching his career-high.
The second half saw the Blue Devils push their lead to 14 points on gritty play from their bigs capped off by a layup from Ryan Young off a Filipowski assist but Wake would not be held down for very long, they made their run.
The Duke deficit was cut to seven, 68-61, after a 7-0 run by Wake Forest. Filipowski ended the run and secured his 11th double-double on the season, ensuring Duke possession with a layup at the 2:37 mark.
Wake was able to once again draw foul after foul against the Blue Devils getting to the line 10 times in the second half to just 4 for the Blue Devils. Wakes shooting form from 3 was never there in this game but they did the little things to claw there way back. Wake outrebounded the Blue Devils on he second half and nearly came all the way back from being down 14.
Up by four with less than a minute to play, Filipowski connected on his first three-pointer of the game to make it a three-possession game, 73-66, with 46.4 remaining and dunked home his 16th point of the game to help secure the Duke victory.
Jeremy Roach led the Duke scoring with 21 points off of 9-16 shooting. Freshman Tyrese Proctor scored a career high 17 points and added 5 rebounds in the win and freshman Kyle Filipowski notched another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
DUKE HEAD COACH JON SCHEYER
Opening Statement:
“Well, big time game. Thought it was a big win for us. I give Wake Forest a lot of credit. We’re up there, whatever it was 14 or 12, and they fought back and made some big time plays. I felt we were in pretty good control down the stretch. I thought Jeremy [Roach]’s steal and Tyrese [Proctor]’s tip-in was a big time play. Flip [Kyle Filipowski] obviously hitting the three and then the heads up play by Jake [Grandison] and Flip to connect and hit him long to finish. You wish you could make a couple of those free throws, but it happens and we did enough definitely to put ourselves in a position to win, so proud of our team and I think we are getting better. It’s the competition will continue to go up but like what we’re doing and we’ll continue to build and go from here.”
On the play of Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor:
“That’s when we’ve been at our best, when [Jeremy Roach] is just playing instinctually and playing aggressive. I think he had 17 [points] in the first half. We weren’t in a great flow offensively and Jeremy was the guy that kept us going. I like the look that he had. He drew the toughest assignment guarding [Tyree] Appleby as well. Tyrese is such a natural. He’s a smart player. He makes things easier. He made some uncharacteristic turnovers tonight, but Jeremy we needed in attack mode and that’s what we need to continue him to do.”
On the high number of fouls and how they are going to stop them in the future:
“I think it’s us just learning how to handle different situations and we played really good basketball to get that lead and now we need to maintain it and one of the best ways for a team to get back in the game is by shooting threes and by fouling. And it’s not like we’re trying to do that but it’s having the discipline to understand the time and score, so we have to continue to learn and I told the team it’s better to learn while you’re winning as opposed to the other way but we have a lot of room to grow and tonight the fouls and the free throws was a big thing.”
On the motivating factor of being outrebounded by Wake Forest in the last game
“Yeah, it was a big thing. And for us that’s been our strength all year. They actually got 10 offensive rebounds, which that wasn’t great, but besides that, we did control the backboards and you know you look at our success, we’ve done that and so we talked about it. Watching back, it’s amazing how different we are than that time that we played Wake and obviously they’re a lot better too, but for us, we’ve grown a lot and to have that response, I thought we came out and really competed the whole game. There wasn’t a drop off with that. We made mistakes and maybe turned the ball over, missed some stuff at the rim, but the competitiveness and the job we did on the backboards was a big difference.”
On Dariq Whitehead’s recovery and potential Saturday play:
“Yeah, I think it’s too early to say for Saturday, but he’s recovered really well. He was able to do some work today before our shootaround where he was out on the court and we want to make sure with Dariq he’s, of course, fully healthy, but also game ready. And those are two different things and he’s been working his butt off, progressing really well, and we’ll make that decision as we get closer.”
On the aggressiveness of the offense and their ability to attack:
“Those guys, being aggressive, our bigs are going to continue to get attention. It’s opened some things up for Jeremy with the intention that Flip has gotten. Tyrese the same thing. They were really trying to go under a lot tonight, and daring those guys to shoot. They ended up with five threes and shooting a good percentage. I would be okay if they took more, but them being aggressive opens up a lot for Flip, a lot for Ryan [Young] and Dereck [Lively], and by the way, Dereck to have three assists and no turnovers, four blocked shots, he’s just getting better and better. He’s just getting better and better but for Tyrese and Jeremy more of the same.”
JUNIOR GUARD JEREMY ROACH
“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy. We have a bunch of young guys and as the season goes along, we learn different stuff about each guy and learn some new things in each game. I think this is kind of the turning point of our season.”
On his matchup against Wake Forest point guard Tyree Appleby:
“He’s a tough match. He’s just fighting through screens all the time. He can shoot it, he can handle it, and he’s quick – definitely one of the toughest matchups in the ACC. But I’m up for the challenge and I think we had a helluva matchup today.”
When asked how Tyrese Proctor playing the point guard position has impacted his role on the court:
“It just lets me focus on scoring, getting guys involved, too. He’s been doing his thing pretty much the whole season. Recently, he’s stepped up – I know the last two games he’s had 15 assists and one turnover. He’s been doing a helluva job controlling our team.”
On the upcoming matchup with North Carolina on Saturday:
“UNC, they’re a helluva team. Obviously, we lost to them in the Final Four [last season], so we kind of want to see that matchup again. It’s always a great matchup with UNC, whether it’s home or away. It’s always a battle. It’s always a war. Obviously, there’s definitely some extra juice [because of the loss in the Final Four], but I just want to come out there and get the win. We don’t want to worry too much about that, worry about the crowd, or what’s happening around us. We just want to focus on ourselves and get this win.”
FRESHMAN FORWARD KYLE FILIPOWSKI
On his key three-point basket late in the game to put Duke up by seven points:
“I was just shot-ready. I gave up a look first to Tyrese [Proctor], and the ball finds energy and he got it right back to me, and I was loaded up and ready to go. I just shot the ball with confidence and that’s all it is really.”
On what Wake Forest did defensively tonight to make it difficult for him to get going offensively:
“I think they were just being very physical from the beginning with me, and I had to adapt to that a while ago. I think just trying to adapt to every type of defender they threw at me, and I don’t have an issue with that. I didn’t get off to a hot start, but I’m ok with that because other guys were stepping up and that’s great because that helped us get the win. Then down the stretch they kind of leaned on me a little bit and I repaid the favor.”
On what has stood out to him the most as Duke has grown and improved throughout the season:
“Just how much effort they put in every day. Dereck’s [Lively II] getting in the weight room and getting in early in the gym every day, and that’s showing on the court, how much he’s been a big asset for us. Jeremy’s [Roach] coming back and he had a big game today. Tyrese [Proctor] is stepping up as a playmaker, too. All these guys are doing a great job, and I think it’s making the chemistry so much better on the court.”
When asked what it will be like to be a part of the Duke-North Carolina rivalry:
“It’s awesome. A game is a game in the ACC. A win is a win, but obviously there’s a little more personal side to it. I’m just going to play my butt off like I do every game, enjoy it, embrace the crowd and all the [hype].”
FRESHMAN GUARD TYRESE PROCTOR
“I thought we all played really well defensively, and we got our open looks on offense. I was just reading what was in front of me, and I’m not trying to force it and just take what the defense gave me. I’m just reading what’s in front of me and not trying to force it.”
On Duke’s success tonight in a tight game down the stretch:
“We’ve been in so many games in this situation, throughout the ACC [season] and pre-[ACC]season, so we know what we need to do to win these type of games now, just staying together and doing it collectively.”
