It was a frustrating night all together. You just never got the sense that Duke was going to walk away this one tonight. You have to hand it to Wake Forest, for whatever reason, they just get off on playing at home.
Let’s not waste anymore time, let’s gets to the quick hits.
It’s all in the wrist – Apparently I had missed the fact that Gerald Henderson has a hurt wrist, which is responsible for his recent struggles. If that is the case, it showed tonight. Gerald was 1-4 from the floor tonight, twice passing up easy jumpers in the lane. He hasn’t lost a step, but he’s definitely lost his shot. I’ll have to look into this one to find out how long he might be hurting.
Most ‘experts’ will probably talk about Duke’s 8-28 from behind the stripe. Certainly, 29% is not an impressive number, but that’s not the reason why Duke lost (keep in mind, a handful of those 3’s were taken in desperation at the end). Personally, their greatest failure tonight was the free throws. They again started 1-7 and finished 13-25. DeMarcus Nelson started off 0-5 again. This can’t keep happening. These free throws are important. When they should have had a 2-3 point lead early, they instead trailed. At one point, the Blue Devils were 5-13, while Wake was 5-6.
We said DeMarcus Nelson would get 20 tonight. We were wrong, he only got 18. He did foul out, so we’re not too ashamed of the prediction.
Nolan Smith broke his mini-slump, by scoring 20 on 8-12 shooting. He got about eight of those in junk time, but when he was on the floor, he did well.
Taylor King though continues his slump; three minutes, one shot, no makes.
Our goal we set for Lance Thomas every game is to have more points and rebound than fouls. His stat line: Four points, three rebounds and five fouls.
I’m started to see a trend in Duke’s defeats (yes, all two of them). It’s becoming clear, no John Sheyer, no win. Tonight he went an awful 0-8 from the floor tonight, producing a shutout. In Duke’s two defeats, Sheyer is 1-18 from the floor.
Fucking turnovers. Yep, it’s curse-worthy. Duke committed five turnovers in the first four minutes and they finished with 22 for the game. The Devils are supposed to force turnovers, not hand them over.
Missing offense – During the stretch where all the calls went against Duke, they also lost their shooting touch. They can’t blame the refs on that. After taking that 60-55 lead, Duke would miss their next 12 shots…a full 7:04 with a single field goal. Wake took full advantage by outscoring Duke 17-3, taking the game with them.
No excuses, Wake Forest controlled this game, made all the plays down the stretch and earned a solid win. If they can put together a few more wins, this ‘W’ will look good on the tournament resume. The keys to success for Wake Forest were two huge freshman, Johnson & Teague. The two combined for 50 of Wake’s 86 points, on 15-28 shooting. Johnson also dominated the boards with 16 rebounds.
For Wake, it appears everything is starting to come together, but this was one win and if they want to keep playing in the dance, they’re going to need to bring this energy on the road with them. Three of their last five are on the road, including their next game at UNC, who should be plenty motivated now that their back into the hunt for the ACC crown (thus, the top seed in the East Regional). It’s going to be a tough place for Wake Forest to end that seven-game road losing streak.
Duke’s Stud of the Game: Kyle Singler…the freshman continues to impress. He finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Wake’s Stud(s) of the Game: Johnson/Teague…if these two freshman stick around, Wake Forest will be a team to deal with in the next couple years.
*** Photos from ESPN ***