Duke 90, Wake Forest 70, FINAL
The Blue Devils won a physical, hard fought game. Singler, Smith and Miles Plumlee shouldered the bulk of the offensive load, combining for 60 points. Duke is now 14-2 including a 3-1 record in the ACC.
Be sure to check out The Chronicle's Sports Blog and DukeChronicle.com for more coverage of this game and Duke sports in general.
Duke 81, Wake Forest 67, 4:12 left in the second half
After taking a pretty hard foul, Singler air-balled a free throw and grabbed his right wrist. We'll keep you updated on that injury as more information available, but it looks like nothing substantial. After shooting from the charity stripe he left the floor and got it checked out but then quickly refutned to the floor.
Singler now has 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Duke 71, Wake Forest 60, 8:31 left in the second half.
Singler and Miles Plumlee have combined for 35 points and 27 rebounds so far tonight. Singler has 19 points and 14 boards, and Plumlee has added 17 and 13.
Duke 62, Wake Forest 55, 13:15 left in the first half.
Mason Plumlee looked for a moment like he was seriously injured after being fouled by the Demon Deacons' Ishmael Smith. The referees immediately ruled it a flagrant. After getting up and gathering himself, he looked at Coach Krzyzewski and said, "I'm OK, I'm OK" to the delight of Duke fans. His brother, Miles, will take the free throws, though, as Mason rests some on the bench.
"Throw him out, throw him out," the crowd chants. Smith will continue to play, however.
Duke 61, Wake Forest 55, 13:34 left in the second half
A Scheyer basket and the foul (free throw good) puts the Blue Devils up six.
It's getting physical down low between Zoubek and Wake Forest's Chas McFarland. During one possession, the two got tangled up and both fell to the floor, and then soon after McFarland hit the hardwood again. No foul called in either instance, but on the second one the referee did shake his head.
The fans using the whiteboard to make signs on the fly during the game is providing some entertainment off the court. It currently reads: "Mr. Referee, you are weak sauce."
Duke 50, Wake Forest 42, 17:41 left in the second half
A follow up on what I called an "impressive" from Singler in the first half: He did only shoot 2-for-11 during the first 20 minutes of play. Maybe solid would be a better adjective, in retrospect.
The Blue Devils will need to take better care of the ball in the second half. During the first half Duke had two assists and 11 turnovers.
Duke 46, Wake 38, Halftime
I'm feeling the bullet points tonight, so here are a few more:
- Mason Plumlee ended the half with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
- Kyle Singler added an impressive 8 points and 8 boards.
- Thanks to 20 fouls between the two teams, the first half of this game took 63 minutes to play. Just sayin'.
- Duke ran a matchup zone called "Orange". Perhaps Jim Boeheim inspired?
- Scheyer hit a three to end the first half and get on the board for the first time all line. The shot definitely will give Duke some momentum going into the second half.
Duke 37, Wake Forest 34, 3:40 left in the first half
Things to note since we last spoke:
- The Blue Devils have kept a lead despite the fact that Singler, Scheyer and Smith have combined for 2-for-22 shooting.
- Miles Plumlee, though, is having a monster first half with 11 points and nine rebounds.
- Duke has been showing off a little zone but the Demon Deacons have still found ways to score.
- A few of the Cameron Crazies have attempted to get a "BB gun" chant going for Al-Farouq Aminu. According to Wikipedia: "In March 2007 Aminu was arrested for aggravated assault and trespassing for shooting a woman with a BB gun from a vehicle."
Duke 23, Wake Forest 21, 8:43 left in the first half.
Junior Kyle Singler got on the board with just less than 15 minutes to play in the half after rebounding Zoubek's missed free throw and going straight back up. Singler has four boards to go along with the bucket so far.
The Cameron Crazies aren't liking all the foul calls—"I'm blind, I'm deaf, I wanna be a ref!" A few minutes later, the crowd chanted "read the sign" and pointed to a whiteboard written up by students, which read "Dear Refs, Please read the 'foul' section of your handbook at halftime. Thanks, Cameron Crazies". Oh, and those who can read lips have noticed that head coach Mike Krzyzewski has had some words for the referees, as well.
Scheyer picked up his second foul at the 12:26 mark and headed to the bench. At that point, Duke was up 15-9.
"Thomas Tattoo Watch" update from Twitter follower Dan Romero (@dwr): "Lance’s new tattoo is a tilted crown on top of the state."
Duke 12, Wake Forest 8, 15:15 left in the first half
Duke started by scoring the first two buckets and has Cameron rolling to begin the game. Miles Plumlee converted on an alley-oop delivered by Jon Scheyer and then finished strong on the second play to get a quick four points.
Senior Brian Zoubek has been strong off the bench, starting an offensive possession with a strong rebound and then finishing on the other end with a hard-fought layup.
In less important news, it looks as though Lance Thomas has added a second tattoo on his right arm to go along with the New Jersey one. Welcome to The Chronicle Sports Blog's newest series, "The Thomas Tattoo Watch".
Pregame
It's getting close to tipoff as Duke (14-2, 2-1 in the ACC) gets ready to take on Wake Forest (14-2, 2-1) in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke has won all 10 of its home games so far this season, all but one of which was by 20 or more points.
Recruit Quincy Miller is in the house tonight and stood when the Cameron Crazies chanted "Quincy Mille, Come to Duke!" The guard is on Twitter (@qmillertime) and wrote before the game, "Sooo excited! Going to the Duke and Wake game at Cameron tonight..good game&enviroment expected! :)"
Duke starters: Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, Miles Plumlee and Lance Thomas
Wake Forest starters: Al-Farouq Aminu, L.D. Williams, Ishmael Smith, Chas McFarland and C.J Harris
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