Duke basketball concluded their longest homestand since conference play began, defeating the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 77-69 on Monday night.
The victory was Duke basketball’s (19-5, 10-3) 24th straight home victory in the series. They haven’t lost to Wake at home since Tim Duncan was dominating the paint. The defeat drops the Deacs to 2-6 on the road this season.
Sophomore forward Mark Mitchell led all players in scoring with 23 points for the Blue Devils. Mitchell was one of four players to score in double figures for Duke. Freshman guard Jared McCain continues his hot streak on the boards, with his fourth double-digit rebounding total in the last five games. Junior guard Hunter Sallis carried the offensive load again for Wake (16-8, 8-5), scoring 22 points.
Here’s what you need to know about the game.
Takeaway #1: Jared McCain is growing as a player
Going into the rivalry game against North Carolina, McCain had only recorded one double-double to start his college career. He had been more of a scoring threat, registering 11 double-digit scoring games.
Maybe it was playing in the most nationally recognized college basketball rivalry, but the Sacramento, CA native started to adjust to the college game defensively.
His 17 points and 10 rebounds was his third double-double in the last four games. This is something that second-year coach Jon Scheyer has noticed.
“His defense has just come such a long way too,” Scheyer said after the game. “And for freshmen, that’s the hardest adjustment.” He talked about all the different ways to adjust defensively, and that he has embraced all of those adjustments.
McCain saw almost 38 minutes of action, a feat he’s accomplished four times already this season. The fact that a freshman is getting these minutes shows that hard work in practice is giving Scheyer the confidence to play him more minutes.
“He’s giving it his all when he’s out there,” said sophomore center Kyle Filipowski. “He knows that he can slip in and get some rebounds. It’s been great for us.”
Takeaway #2: Foul trouble pushed bench to log in more minutes
Since Wake lost to NC State on Jan. 16th, they had averaged just under 15 fouls a game and had only eclipsed the 20 personal foul mark twice.
On Monday, the Deacons had two players foul out and junior guard Cameron Hildreth close with four fouls.
“We came out in the second half, and we scored right away,” said fourth-year head coach Steve Forbes. “But then Efton [Reid] got the foul and his foul trouble really hurt our team.”
His foul trouble forced redshirt senior guard Damari Monsanto to play double the minutes he’s been averaging since coming back from injury against Louisville last month. In fact, he hadn’t played more than 20 minutes in a game in almost a year.
Wake committed 21 fouls and allowed Duke to shoot 72% on 25 free throws, just the seventh time in ACC play that Duke had over 20 attempts at the line. This was just the seventh time Wake allowed their opponents to shoot over 20 free throws. They fell to 1-6 in those games.
Keeping players like Reid, a junior forward, out of foul trouble would do alot for Wake. He had a plus-6 rating against Duke, meaning they outscored Duke by 6 points when he was on the court. If he had even played 28 minutes, that could have been the difference between a loss and an impressive Quad 1 victory.
Takeaway #3: Duke’s toughness shouldn’t be questioned
“Anybody who doubts their toughness, what they’re about, they don’t know Mark Mitchell, they don’t know Kyle Filipowski.” This was part of Coach Scheyer’s opening statement letting the doubters know not to sleep on Duke as a tough team.
The fact that the bench, outside of freshman guard Caleb Foster, logged just under five minutes of game action, should be a sign. Scheyer has coached in a way that, if a player is hot and contributing on both ends of the court, he can’t see subbing them out.
“When [Filipowski is] not playing as well, he takes that on his shoulders,” Scheyer said while praising his ability to double down on the work in practice to get ready for games.
The physicality came into play against Wake, when he was on the receiving end of fouls eight times. This added seven free throw attempts for the (where is he from), making four of them.
“Sometimes you need a little kick in the butt to get yourself going,” Filipowski said when asked about the physical play. “Sometimes that’s just how I’m wired, with needing to feel that contact in order to get myself going.”
Even Mitchell thought this win showed a lot about this team, showing that they are a resilient team that fights for every position and each other. “People can say what they want to say, but I think we’re growing up and growing together. I think that really matters, especially at this point in the season.”
Both teams will hit the road after getting some rest, after playing two games in three games. Wake will look to sweep a newly ranked Virginia team, while Duke travels down to Florida to face a tough Seminoles team.
Next game for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons: at Virgina (Feb. 17 – Noon)
Next game for the Duke Blue Devils: at Florida State (Feb. 17 – 2 p.m.)