In what was their 900th win at Cameron Indoor Stadium (more wins than any other college team has at its current venue), the Duke Blue Devils premiered a new uniform version and a new focus. The Blue Devils came out and dispatched of a good Wake Forest team with reckless abandon. The Blue Devils were crisp, precise and probably played their most complete game of the season winning 90 to 59.
The first half saw the Blue Devils use a balanced attack offensively with 8 different players scoring the basketball and a ferocious defense that forced 12 first half turnovers from the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The hot Blue Devils shot a blistering 60% from 3 point range in the first half and 62.5% overall while Wake was held to 32% in the half.
Last time out the Blue Devils allowed the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to erase a double-digit halftime lead but this time it was not to be for the opponent. Duke got a spectacular performance by sophomore point guard Tre Jones, who scored a game high 23 points. Jones also dished 5 assists with no turnovers, had 4 steals and 1 blocked shot in just 27 minutes of action. Jones shot 3-4 from 3-point range and 67% overall. Duke also got double figure efforts from Cassius Stanley who scored 16 points, 11 points each from Jack White and Joey Baker and 10 from Jordan Goldwire who also led the Blue Devils in assists with 6. The Blue Devils fired on all cylinders shooting 53% from the field for the game and just under 48% from 3 point range.
The Blue Devils had 20 assists as a team on 33 made baskets and an 18 to 6 advantage in points off of turnovers for the game. The only facet of the game lacking for the Blue Devils was free throw shooting which was a trait shared by both teams. The Blue Devils shot 52% from the charity stripe to 56% for the Demon Deacons. Duke is currently 15 - 1 on the season and 5 - 0 in the ACC.
Duke plays at Clemson on Tuesday night. The Tigers won at North Carolina for the first time in program history earlier Saturday.
DUKE HEAD COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI
Opening Statement: “We played really well. Our defense was outstanding, especially perimeter. All five of the perimeter players did a great job. Tre [Jones] was spectacular tonight, but Jordan Goldwire continued to play at a high level… and Cassius [Stanely]… the whole perimeter. Our team played well. [Wake Forest] is hurting with [Chaundee] Brown out. He is one of the better players in the league. They’re under-manned. I thought we played well.”
When asked about Duke’s pressure on Brandon Childress: “With Brown out you could concentrate a little more on him. It wasn’t just one guy… our big guy… whoever it was, we committed to more of what we call a read on him. The pressure that Tre and then J-Gold, to go along with that, were putting on… it was tough for him to get an open look. He has a lot of pressure on him with Brown being out. Those two – that’s a good combination. He’s good.”
On Duke’s offense: “We’re pushing it and sharing it. Tre’s playing at a really high level because he’s looking for a shot too. He is the best guy in the country as far as passing ahead. A lot of people don’t. They dribble. If our guys run, they’ll be hit. If it was a quarterback, there’s not seven five-yard drop off or screen passes. If you’re open, he’s throwing it. We get to move their defense and we can try to score on a defense that’s had to rush back instead of walk back. It creates a few more openings. Second half we have more of a lead and all that – it’s a little bit different. They didn’t give up. The first half we were really good.”
On Duke’s defense: “Our defense was outstanding. Our depth helps in that regard, especially on the perimeter. Our two veteran big guys Jack [White] and Javin [DeLaurier], having them to go along with our two freshmen – it’s nine guys and you and stay pretty fresh throughout the game.”
When asked about coaching this team: “I love my team. They listen. They all want to get better. They’re really a great group of kids. All of them are getting better. It’s too bad that Wendell [Moore Jr.] got hurt. He was kind of taking off. Hopefully we’ll get him back at some time here in the near future.” “We’re a different team than we’ve been. Why would we be a team that we’re not? In other words, why would we do something that was successful in the past that wouldn’t be for this group? It’s kind of – you hear stats like 250 something at home – what kind of relevance does that have to this year? It’s not the same team. Those stats kill me. This is our first home game with the students here. It’s our 900th win in Cameron for any Duke team, but it’s the first one in 2020. We got to keep developing our team. As long as people stay healthy we’re going to play guys.”
SENIOR FORWARD JACK WHITE
On Duke’s continued pressure in the second half: “I really liked it. It just kind of felt like Duke was scoring the whole night. I think we shared the ball really well and just kind of took what they gave us. I don’t know if it was the jerseys and the fit, but it felt like we had a bit of a chip on our shoulder, you know, something to prove. I think we had a big-time defensive effort. I think we played a pretty complete game. I’m sure there will be stuff that we can work on that we’ll find out in the film [room] tomorrow, but I’m happy with the way we performed. Wake Forest is a really good team. I’m really proud of, especially, the point guards – Tre [Jones] and J-Gold [Jordan Goldwire] taking Brandon [Childress] out of the game. He’s a heck of a player. I feel really good about it. It just felt like a collective team effort.”
On the new uniforms Duke unveiled and wore tonight: “They’re great. Something different, a bit of a navy, and shout-out to Nolan Smith for designing them and making this happen. It’s a huge honor for us to wear them and be the team that unveils them. To do that, coming back home, the first time the students are all back, and have a great environment like we did tonight, it’s just a lot of fun. Obviously we’re happy with the win, too.”
SOPHOMORE GUARD TRE JONES “We knew that that would be a big thing for us – coming out early and establishing ourselves on the defensive end. We felt like we could do things to take them out of their offense and make it difficult for them to get into what they wanted to with the pressure that we could apply. It worked out early and we were able to keep wearing them out throughout the first half and then the second half.”
When asked how he feels about the way Duke is playing at this point in the season: “We’ve showed really good stretches at times, but also there’s times where we’re struggling out there. I know everyone in here [the locker room] would agree with me that we’re not playing how we wish we would. But, at times, we definitely are. The way we’re able to keep communicating with each other and talk out there and bring the energy every single day has been huge.”
On his aggressiveness tonight on the offensive end of the floor: “Really, I just try to take what the defense gives me every night, just reading the defense, reading how they’re playing, what type of defense they’re in, who they’re shading toward and trying not to let score. I’m just trying to take what the defense gives me.”
On the new uniforms Duke unveiled and wore tonight: ”These kind of speak for themselves – the Brotherhood, coming in here and playing after everyone who’s played here and built up Duke basketball and made this program what it is today, and having the honor to play here and put on the same jerseys that those guys did. With the writing and the retro feel and look, it pays homage to the players that played before us.”
When asked what specifically he thought Duke needed to improve upon:
“Our offense, at times for sure, is stagnant. We stand around sometimes. In some of those four-minute stretches or at the beginning of some halves, we tend to come out slow and we’re not talking, not moving the ball real well, not moving on offense as well. There are stretches like that that we have to eliminate to take us over the hump.”
FRESHMAN GUARD CASSIUS STANLEY
On Duke being so dominant tonight, despite Vernon Carey Jr. not having a typical night statistically:
“I think that’s the beauty of this team. Tre [Jones] and I were talking about it on the bench actually. A team can scheme for pretty much anybody … We’ve got five players on the court. If you want to triple[-team] somebody or you want to double[-team] somebody, we’re going to make you pay. [Vernon is] happy we won. He knows what it is. He was killing it the whole season and he knows that people are going to start really scheming to stop him, but he’s a great passer and a great player, so he’s going to be fine.”
When asked what Duke was doing early on to get off to such a fast start:
“Definitely just driving and kicking, creating great shots, getting open shots, and we were hitting them. That’s everything you want out of your offense.”
WAKE FOREST HEAD COACH DANNY MANNING
Opening Statement: “Well, stating the obvious, not a great start for us offensively and defensively. I think you obviously have to give Duke credit for their defensive intensity, and they came out and made some shots, and we have to do a better job of not giving as many open looks. On the scouting report for us was taking away some driving lanes for the drivers, but they had some of those guys knock down some shots. We also had too many turnovers in the first half as well. I thought our bench gave us really good production again, but saying we struggled tonight from the field is an understatement, but not just offensively, just across the board. I give Duke credit because they came out with an aggressive mindset and jumped on us early.”
On how close Chaundee Brown was to playing: “I don’t know, because the doctors haven’t cleared him, he hasn’t practiced, so before he gets back out there on the court, he’s going to have to go through some practices and some rehab and that hasn’t happened yet and I don’t know when it will happen, but when he’s able to get back out there, the doctors will give him the clearance for it.”
On how Duke took Brandon Childress out of the game: “Brandon (Childress)’s line was not a good line for him tonight. I thought they maintained a lot of pressure on him, but that’s par for the course for us. We know teams are going to scheme to take Brandon out and we’re going to have to have other guys handle the basketball and get us into our offensive sets and that didn’t happen enough tonight and then Brandon also has to do a better job of picking his opportunities and finding his teammates, but also keeping an aggressiveness and trying to score the basketball. Tonight was just a rough night for him.”
On what caused the lineup changes early in the second half: “The score.”
On Sharone Wright Jr.’s performance: “I thought it was a good step. I thought he came in and gave us some good energy, 11 points on five-of-seven shooting is really good in that regard, but across the board, he didn’t have any rebounds. I’m not just picking on him, but as a team we have to do a better job of rebounding the basketball as a whole. We gave up 15 offensive rebounds and that’s far too many, and we only had 11 as a team, so we have to do a better job of rebounding the basketball also, and getting paint touches. We didn’t get the number of paint touches that we like to get or we normally get tonight and you have to give Duke’s defense some credit for that, but we also have to be more aggressive in pressing the big when we come off the ball screen and not being content with just coming off and getting rid of it, we have to come off it with some pace and aggressiveness and try to get some paint touches and we didn’t do that enough tonight.”
On if he was disappointed by his starting lineup’s energy: “I wanted more of everything, whether it was production from the bench, production from the starters, energy level, attention to detail, everything and that was the reason for it. I thought the group that came in gave us some good energy, gave us a little burst, but we needed that for the duration of the game, not in a short period of time.”
Team Notes
• Mike Krzyzewski is in his 40th season as Duke’s head coach, and his record is now 1,074-286 at Duke, and 1,147-345 overall in this, his 45th season overall.
• Duke is 5-0 in ACC play for the 14th time in school history, the 11th under Coach K and the first time since 2008-09.
• Duke has now held seven straight opponents to 65 points or less – the longest streak at Duke since eight straight opponents scored less than 65 in the 2003-04 season. Those are the two longest such streak in the Coach K era.
• Duke won its 900th game in Cameron Indoor Stadium, which opened Jan. 6, 1940. No college basketball team has won more games in its current venue than the Blue Devils (900-162).
• The game marked the 252nd meeting between Duke and Wake Forest, with Duke leading the series 174-78, including 78-18 in home games. The Blue Devils have won 11 straight in the series – their second-longest active ACC winning streak (13, Georgia Tech).
• Duke’s 31-point win marks its sixth win of 30+ points this season.
• The Blue Devils went into the break leading 49-23, marking the ninth time this season they have led by double digits at the break this season. Duke held a halftime lead of 10+ points in 10 games last season.
• The margin tied for the largest halftime advantage in an ACC contest this season (Boston College, 45-19). Duke has scored 40+ points in the first half for the fourth consecutive game.
• Five players reached double figures in scoring for the Blue Devils – Tre Jones, Cassius Stanley, Joey Baker, Jack White and Jordan Goldwire – marking the fourth game that has happened this season. It marks the 10th time for four or more Duke players have scored 10+ points.
• Duke committed nine turnovers to Wake’s 17. The Blue Devils have forced their opponent into 15+ turnovers in 11 games this season, including five straight.
• Duke held Wake Forest senior guard Brandon Childress scoreless (0-5 FG), his sixth-career scoreless game.
• Duke had 20 assists on 33 made field goals, marking the fifth time this season the Blue Devils have dished out 20+ assists.
• The Blue Devils shot 11-of-23 from beyond the arc, marking the 1,075th consecutive game they have made a three-pointer – the third-longest active streak in the nation.
Player Notes
• Sophomore Tre Jones paced the Blue Devils with 23 points, which marks his fourth career 20-point game – with three coming this season. Duke is 26-2 when he scores in double figures.
• Jones netted 11 points in the first half, marking the fifth game this season he reached double figures before halftime.
• Junior Jordan Goldwire tied his career high with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Goldwire also dished out a team-high six assists, one shy of his career high. Goldwire has played 30 minutes or more for the fourth time in the last six games.
• Freshman Cassius Stanley poured in 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting for his ninth double-figure scoring game and third straight.
• Senior Jack White scored a season-high 11 points, one shy of his career high.