The No. 3 team in the nation, Duke Blue Devils stay on the road, this time heading to Winston-Salem to battle the Wake Forest Demon Deacons who are undefeated at the Joel.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wake Forest enters the weekend 7-1 in the ACC and 15-4 overall. Riding a 6 game winning streak, the Demon Deacons are undefeated at home this season, boasting a 10-0 record in LVJM Coliseum. Wake is first in the ACC in free throw attempts and makes per game, second in overall field goal percentage and 5th on the defensive glass in the ACC. Wake Forest is second in the ACC and 22nd in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.391) and tops the league in 3-point percentage defense (.307). They also rank second in the ACC in blocked shots (4.5 pg) and turnovers forced (14.3 pg).
Led by senior guard Hunter Sallis who is scoring nearly 20 points per game (19.2), Sallis is the ACC’s third-leading scorer and 27th nationally in points per contest. Wake has a trio of players scoring in double figures. Guard Cameron Hildreth leads the Deacs in assists per game at 3.2 per game coupled with his 14.2 points per game, second on the team. Forward Tre’Von Spillers leads the Demon Deacons in rebounds with 8.8 per game, he comes in second in the ACC in that category as well as blocks (1.6 pg) the bouncy senior also averages 10.4 points per game.
Duke Blue Devils
The Duke Blue Devils enter Saturday with a 16-2 record, 8-0 in the ACC. Having won 12 straight games, Duke owns the longest active winning streak in the nation, it’s the longest win streak is the longest by the Blue Devils since the 2014-15 season. Duke’s 8-0 start in ACC play is the best by the Blue Devils since the 2007-08 season (10-0).
The Blue Devils lead the nation in scoring margin (+21.8) and rank fifth in the country in field goal percentage defense (.370), sixth in scoring defense (59.5), seventh in assist-toturnover ratio (+1.72), 11th in rebound margin (+8.9), 14th in three-pointers per game (10.4) and 19th in assists per game (17.3) – all top marks in the ACC. Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-five in both offensive (4th) and defensive efficiency (2nd), according to KenPom and are the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (81.3) and hold its opponents to fewer than 60 points per game (59.5). Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, tops Duke in points (346), rebounds (145), assists (73), steals (28) and blocked shots (22). Flagg is the only player to rank among the ACC’s top-10 in all five of the major statistical categories – scoring (2nd), rebounding (6th), assists (8th), steals (9th) and blocks (7th). Freshman Kon Knueppel and junior Tyrese Proctor round out the double-figure scorers for the Blue Devils with 12.7 and 11 points respectively. Proctor is shooting 41% from beyond the arc thus far this season. Freshman Khmaman Maluach leads the nation in 2-Point Field Goal Percentage.
*As of right now, Duke will be without Maliq Brown for the foreseeable future due to a knee injury suffered against Notre Dame.
Final Thoughts
Steve Forbes always fields a tough team to play against, and this year he’s put together a much better team defensively. Top 50 in points allowed in the country and 4th in the ACC, Wake is much tougher to score against. For The Blue Devils, offensive efficiency is a must, movement leading to assists and hard cuts to the basket.
Defensively, Duke has to make it hard for Hunter Sallis to get his. Sallis is averaging nearly 20 points per game but has been less efficient from beyond the arc. His numbers from 3 have gone down, while his percentage from inside the arc have improved and is shooting it at 57% there. Sallis, however, is not the only weapon for the Demon Deacons. Senior guard Cameron Hildreth is having his most productive scoring year this season. Never a great 3-point shooter, the 6’4 guard does seem to hit them when it matters. He, like Sallis, does most of his damage from inside the arc, and Hildreth is a very good post-up guard. His game, similar to that of Jalen Brunson, is really dependent upon getting paint touches in the middle of the floor. Using an array of short fade away jumpers and post moves, he’s one of the harder covers in the ACC. Another important note on defense for the Blue Devils is to keep the Demon Deacons off of the free throw line, they do a masterful job go getting there and converting those free throws, winning their games in the margins to account for a lack of great shooting. Duke need not aide them by giving them freebies.
The X-factor for Wake for me is Ty-Laur Johnson. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but he’s a guard that has the ability to hit shots that are on occasion unbelievable, he can also be very erratic, but if he’s having a good night for Wake it could spell trouble for Duke.
I fully expect Wake to go at Khaman Maluach with Efton Reid early and often to try to get him in early foul trouble and test the theory that Boston College utilized early in their game against Duke. Reid is big, strong and can score the basketball effectively. It will be an interesting matchup to see if Duke and Khaman have made adjustments and if not, how Duke plays it should Maluach pick up a couple of early fouls.
