The Blue Devils have been clawing their way back defensively to the team they were prior to Texas Tech, and after 2 superb games on the West Coast, they seem to have done that. Enter a hungry Wake Forest team in need of a win and boasting the ACC’s 3rd leading scorer.
The Blue Devils didn’t start the game particularly well offensively missing their first 9 3-pointers. Despite the bad start Duke only found themselves down 7 points to Wake… then something happened. Duke arrived, going on a 29-13 run to end the half and turned that 7 point deficit to an 11 point lead highlighted by 24 points from their front court. Duke pounded the paint with 28 points to just 10 for Wake Forest.
Duke’s defense held Wake Forest without a field goal for three minutes to start the second frame and opened up a 17-point advantage, 50-33. Juke Harris scored 10 straight points to help the Demon Deacons pull within 10 points, 58-48. The two teams traded three-pointers on their next possessions, and Duke remained in front by double-digits at the under-12 timeout. The Demon Deacons got no closer as Duke pushed the lead to 20 on a pair of Isaiah Evans free throw at the 7:56 mark. Duke cruised to a 90 to 69 victory.
Cam Boozer paced the Blue Devils scoring 32 points, his fourth 30-point game this season and second straight (30 points at Stanford, Jan. 17). Boozer scored 22 points in the second half, the most by any Blue Devil in a second half this season. Patrick Ngongba added 13 points, alongside seven rebounds and two assists. Isaiah Evans rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points.
What we learned
Duke has been able to, all season, overcome slow starts. While they never fell behind by more than 7 to Wake in the first half – Jon Scheyer’s team was able to flip the switch in the first half and turn use their defense to trigger their offense. Duke was solid in every facet of the game aside from long distance shooting but to their credit, were able to utilize and reap the benefits of having excellent post players who can both score and play make.