With future much more clear, Duke ready to tackle Wake Forest in first task

The Duke Basketball team holds its future in its hands, and the Blue Devils will hit the road once again to face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Tuesday night.

Duke controlled its own destiny in the ACC when it went on the road to face the North Carolina State Wolfpack, and the Blue Devils fell flat on their face.

The Blue Devils since needed help to earn the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament, and Duke got the help it needed on Monday night when the Florida State Seminoles defeated the Louisville Cardinals.

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Mike Krzyzewski‘s team now controls its own destiny once again and will go back on the road to face Wake Forest but is expecting a different result than a week ago.

Duke is coming off a 24-point victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday night, and the Blue Devils have previously defeated the Demon Deacons by 31 points in early January with Wendell Moore not being able to play due to his broken hand.

Moore will be back on the floor for the Blue Devils on Tuesday, but the freshman is one player that Duke needs to get back in a groove as he has scored just 13 points in his last four games.

In its first matchup, Duke did a sensational job on Wake’s leading scorer, Brandon Childress, who did not score in 27 minutes, while Chaundee Brown did not play due to an injury.

Brown has returned and is averaging 11.9 points per game on the season.

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Olivier Sarr went for 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Wake in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the 7-footer is averaging 12.4 points and 8.6 rebounds.

Much like NC State, playing Duke on its home floor will be the ‘Super Bowl’ for Wake Forest, and after not matching the intensity of the Wolfpack last week, the Blue Devils must show that they are ready to play from the opening tip.

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Duke and Wake Forest will tipoff at 7:00pm EST in Winston-Salem and the game can be seen on the ACC Network.

PREDICTION: Duke 82, Wake Forest 63

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