No. 2 Duke men’s basketball ends its home slate with a Monday night contest against Wake Forest. After 20 minutes of play, the Blue Devils lead the Demon Deacons 40-27:
Proctor back in action
After missing one contest due to a knee injury sustained against Miami, junior Tyrese Proctor returned to the starting lineup Monday night. He made his first bucket back nearly 10 minutes into the first half with a three from the top of the key before making a layup late to put Duke up 34-20. The guard finished the half with six points and two rebounds, getting quality time on the floor.
Slow start, better finish
In the opening minutes of the game, Duke struggled to find offensive momentum. Cooper Flagg missed his first jumper, while Proctor failed to capitalize on a long-range three. Nearly four minutes passed before Kon Knueppel broke the ice with a midrange jumper, but even then, the Blue Devils only had one basket before the under-16 timeout. Duke continued to look out of sync, with a miscommunication on a pass between Knueppel and Flagg resulting in a turnover.
Wake Forest, however, could not keep the Blue Devils down for long. An open three from Sion James began to turn the tide in Duke’s favor, followed by a three from Flagg. Then, Isaiah Evans took over. The freshman cashed in on a layup opportunity before draining a three to get the entirety of Cameron Indoor Stadium on its feet. Making four of their five field-goal attempts to bring the score to 13-8, the Blue Devils found their offensive firepower.
Defensive dominance
While Duke struggled to find its scoring spark, its defense was dominant early. The Demon Deacons also scored a singular basket before the under-16 timeout, largely thanks to the Blue Devils’ defensive pressure. Wake Forest went 0-for-9 after an opening bucket by Tre’von Spillers, going scoreless for nearly five minutes. Perhaps more importantly, Duke kept the Demon Deacons’ Hunter Sallis off the score sheet for nearly eight minutes, limiting his impact. The Blue Devils’ stringent defense continued as they put Sallis under pressure, forcing another shot clock violation with just over nine minutes left to play. Wake Forest’s other weapon, Cameron Hildreth, went scoreless in the half thanks to Duke’s lockdown play. The home squad also kept the visitors from posing a threat from deep, holding them to only two threes on the half.
Winning on the fast break
While both the Blue Devils and Demon Deacons had six and eight turnovers, respectively, it was Duke who found a way to capitalize. After nabbing a defensive rebound, Evans cashed in on a fast-break layup on the other end of the floor with 13 minutes left to play. Nearly five minutes later, it was his classmate Knueppel that made the most of his opportunity following a steal by James. The Milwaukee native was fouled by Ty-Laur Johnson and made both his free throws to put the Blue Devils up 22-14. Duke finished the half with 14 points off turnovers to Wake Forest’s two, lifting head coach Jon Scheyer’s squad to a 13-point lead heading into the halftime locker room.
Player of the half: Cooper Flagg
While the Newport, Maine, native struggled to find his groove in the opening minutes of the half, Flagg quickly regained his composure to lead the Blue Devils with 10 points and a critical three that helped Duke find its offensive rhythm. Defensively, the freshman was just as sharp, with two blocks and three defensive rebounds as he helped shut down the weapons of Sallis and Hildreth. As he continued to shake off the rust, Flagg was a key facilitator of the Blue Devils’ offense with the rock in his hands. He added three assists to his stat sheet as well, including a kick out to James for a three with just over a minute left to play.
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Mackenzie Sheehy is a Trinity junior and associate editor for The Chronicle's 120th volume.