For much of the year, the focus surrounding the Blue Devils has centered around the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class—the post prowess of Jahlil Okafor, the craftiness of Tyus Jones and the athleticism of Justise Winslow. Wednesday night, the most consistent player for Duke will get his moment alone in the spotlight.
No. 3 Duke hosts Wake Forest at 8 p.m. on Senior Night for point guard Quinn Cook at Cameron Indoor Stadium. With a victory, the Blue Devils will secure the No. 2 seed in next week’s ACC tournament after Virginia clinched its second consecutive regular-season conference title Monday.
Cook may be Duke’s lone scholarship senior, but as a captain and emotional sparkplug, the floor general has been irreplaceable for head coach Mike Krzyzewski this season.
After rolling his ankle in the second half Saturday against Syracuse, Cook returned to the floor and ended up playing 34 minutes—the fewest minutes he has played since Duke’s ACC opener against Boston College Jan. 3. In addition to leading a young team, the senior is enjoying his best statistical year in a Blue Devil uniform, shooting career-best percentages from the field, charity stripe and beyond the arc. Cook has four 20-point games in his last six and has been held to single-digits just three times all season.
Based on the defensive matchup, Duke (26-3, 13-3 in the ACC) has switched between man-to-man and zone this season, but even with just eight scholarship players on the active roster, Krzyzewski has begun to extend the pressure past midcourt in recent games. The Blue Devils have employed a three-quarter court press at times in each of the team’s past three contests, giving Cook and freshman point guard Tyus Jones even more area to cover. But Cook has responded well, continuing to score and defend without getting fatigued. The senior played 39 minutes against Clemson and the full 45 minutes in Duke’s overtime win at Virginia Tech.
The first meeting between the Blue Devils and Demon Deacons (13-16, 5-11) came down to the wire, with Duke ultimately prevailing 73-65 in Winston-Salem, N.C., Jan. 7. With a new wrinkle on the defensive end, Wake Forest was able to slow down freshman Jahlil Okafor, who finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds but attempted just two shots and committed three turnovers in the first half.
Demon Deacon center Devin Thomas rose to the occasion against the Preseason Player of the Year, pouring in 24 points on 12-of-20 shooting. The junior is nearly averaging a double-double with 12.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
Wake Forest came back from a nine-point deficit and briefly took a 57-55 lead with 5:47 to play, but then Cook and Jones helped the Blue Devils close out the game with a 12-2 run. Justise Winslow finished with a team-high 20 points, but struggled through the rest of the month with various injuries, including a shoulder issue.
As the regular season winds down, the Houston native is back on track, despite playing with what Krzyzewski called a fractured rib after Saturday’s win against the Orange. Winslow has scored in double-figures in eight consecutive games and has been attacking the rim relentlessly, finishing acrobatic lay-ups or getting to the free-throw line. The freshman has also made six of his last 10 attempts from beyond the arc.
Wednesday’s game will also be the team’s first since The Chronicle reported Monday that junior Rasheed Sulaimon had been the subject of sexual assault allegations prior to his dismissal from the program Jan. 29. Duke vice president and director of athletics Kevin White released a statement Tuesday defending the athletics department’s actions, saying that, “Coach Krzyzewski and his staff understand and have fulfilled their responsibilities to the university, its students and the community.”
After Wednesday’s home finale, the Blue Devils will finish the regular season Saturday against rival No. 19 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
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