Can Duke Avoid a Season Sweep by Wake Forest?

Wake Forest takes on Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium with the ACC standings and NCAA Tournament seeding at stake.

The Deacons won the first game of the season on a last-second layup in Winston-Salem.  Duke has lost four of their last seven, including the defeat to Wake.  But the Deacs have not been much better: just 3-3 in their last six games.

Records

Wake Forest 20-4, 7-4, 5-3 (away), RPI #16
Duke 21-5, 7-4, 14-1 (home),  RPI #5

Series

Duke has won six of the last 10
Duke has won the last five at home

Players to Watch

Wake Forest
Jeff Teague 20 ppg, James Johnson 13.8 ppg, Al-Farouq Aminu 13.2 ppg

Duke
Kyle Singler 16.3 ppg, Gerald Henderson 15.6 ppg, Jon Scheyer 13.3 ppg

What Duke Must Do To Win...

The Blue Devils have to shoot the ball better than they did in the first meeting, where they hit just 33 percent of their shots and were just 4-for-22 from behind the arc.

Duke has to get more production from their bench, too. Greg Paulus accounted for five of the seven Duke bench points in the two-point loss to the Deacs.

Duke's defense has slipped lately as well, allowing their last three opponents to shoot over 50 percent from the floor.  Wake Forest hits 49.5 percent on the season.

What Wake Forest Must Do To Win...

The Deacons defense has to clamp down on Duke from driving the ball to the basket.  Wake did a good job of this, only allowing the Blue Devils eight assists in the first game while forcing 15 turnovers.

Duke is known for getting to the free-throw line, but Wake actually shot more free throws than Duke in the last game between the two. 

Wake allowed NC State to shoot 31 from the line in their last loss, with the Deacs shooting just 16.

Prediction

I think Wake is the more talented team, but Duke is really tough to beat at home.  They have not played their best ball as of late, but I think they are due for a bounce back in this game.

Coach K gets the Dukies to toughen up their defense and keep Wake frustrated all game.

Duke wins by 3-8 points.

Season: 17-14 SU through Feb. 20

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