No. 2 Duke faced adversity at Wake Forest. That game pressure should benefit the Blue Devils moving forward

Even apex predators need to be threatened from time to time.

Virtually no team dominates through an entire season, especially not within a power conference. As down as people may see the ACC this year, it is almost inevitable that Duke will slip up at some point during the slate. While that does not necessarily mean a loss, it can definitely mean having to gut a game out against a lower-ranked team. 

That’s exactly what happened to Duke Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem. After a strong first half, it still took every ounce of energy the Blue Devils had to stave off an upset bid from Wake Forest. Despite being up by 13 at halftime, the visitors found themselves down by as much as six in the second half before pulling out a 63-56 victory.

“I think that's the hardest thing in basketball is when you're up somewhat big and that team takes the lead and you have to claw your way back. So I think that speaks to just the toughness of this team,” head coach Jon Scheyer said.

For one of the only times in almost two months, Duke’s dominance was truly challenged by an opponent late into a game. Even with the subpar performance by their standards, this level of game pressure may have been just what the Blue Devils needed heading into the back half of conference play. 

The Demon Deacons entered Saturday’s contest on a hot streak of their own, the winners of six straight. Add in an undefeated home record, a sold-out crowd at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and two red-hot scorers in Hunter Sallis and Cameron Hildreth? A perfect recipe for an upset. 

But after tipoff, it seemed like the current No. 2 team in the nation was handling business as usual. Neither team’s offense looked pretty in a chippy defensive battle, but the Blue Devils did just that much more defensively to build a 13-point lead at intermission, holding Wake Forest to 22 points at half. 

Even with the lead, there was still cause for concern for Scheyer. Every starter beside Kon Knueppel was in some sort of foul trouble, and Duke had already racked up 10 turnovers through 20 minutes. 

But every game, and especially every season, is different. This time around, the zone was stifling. The switch was just enough to string together a few stops and put wind back in Duke’s sails, as the Blue Devils dared a team with a poor track record from beyond the arc to shoot over the zone. 

“We've kept it in our back pocket, just in case. It’s good to have a curveball … even if it's not maybe the best zone in the world,” Scheyer said.

On the other end of the floor, it was somewhat of a slog to drag back in front. Flagg did his usual heroics at the rim, getting to the cup at ease and drawing a multitude of fouls in the process; the star freshman finished with 15 second-half points. Knueppel added three points to chip in, but only two other Blue Devils scored in the half, and the two could not have had much different performances. 

With Maliq Brown still out due to injury, Mason Gillis has consistently seen his role increase as a small-ball five. In the second half Saturday, he may have had his finest moments yet in Duke blue. Outside of scoring, the graduate student came up with a monster offensive rebound followed up by a save off a Demon Deacon leg to gift the Blue Devils extra chances at scoring. But his biggest contribution was from three, as he canned two triples late in the contest to give Duke some cushion, with the second coming just 52 seconds before the final buzzer. The veteran presence was just the extra push Duke needed to close the game out.

“Everything was just going almost the wrong way, and then just the way Mason carried himself, he came into the game with just such strong body language, and just kind of turned everything around for us,” Flagg said.

Tyrese Proctor provided the other spark. The junior point guard played one of his worst offensive games in his three years on campus, but he came through for his team at the exactly right time. After coming off a screen with contact, Proctor seemed to have a chance at falling down and turning the ball over. Instead, the Sydney native collected himself and found himself wide open for three for what served as a dagger to Wake Forest’s upset chances. 

Duke should be favored in every game until the NCAA Tournament, likely by double digits in the majority. But that doesn’t mean the Blue Devils can afford to take a night off. Through a grit-and-grind win, Duke only strengthened its arsenal of experiences to draw on during March battles.