Not a lot of time to recap this one, but I'm sure our content partner at Blue Devils Hoops will have a write-up soon. Here are some notes to hold you over...
- The other day we gave a roadmap to beat Wake: stay even on turnovers, stay even on the boards, slow the tempo, and force the Deacs to the perimeter. Duke won on turnovers 15-11, actually had a higher Offensive and Devensive Rebounding %, kept the game in the 60's, but were unable to force Wake outside. Wake Forest took 80% of their shots inside the arc and nearly half were inside the paint. Ultimately, Duke had a chance, but a mistake on the final defensive possession cost them.
- Speaking of the final possession, when the Blue Devils took the floor defending with 2.8 seconds remaining, I was shocked Brian Zoubek wasn't on the floor. At that point, I felt two things were going to get Wake a win. A pass going to the basket or a tip-in. Ultimately, the former was correct. No, Zoubek isn't a defensive stalwart but he is long so I would have put Zoubek on the the man inbounding the ball to simply disrupt the play. Ultimately, a missed defensive assignment on a switch got James Johnson open for a layup.
- Before Johnson's final layup, the sophomore had to be sweating. After all, the only reason the game was tied was because he didn't aggressively pursue a defensive rebound. Instead Jon Scheyer's hustle gave Gerald Henderson the chance to hit the game tying basket with just under 10 seconds remaining.
- Al-Farouq Aminu and James Johnson are freaks and I mean that in the most endearing way. Aminu's follow-up dunk was incredible, and the play from Ish Smith through the legs to Aminu was equally impressive.
- The Blue Devils did a nice job on Jeff Teague, but I actually think Wake is a better team with Teague is letting the game come to him. Ish Smith was incredibly good while in the game, and between he and Teague they simply picked apart the Duke defense.
- If it wasn't obvious before the game, as soon as Greg Paulus stepped on the floor Wake isolated and went right by the Duke senior. Paulus didn't have a chance defensively against Smith or Teague.
