Outside of last month’s loss to the Clemson Tigers on the road, no ACC team has come closer to beating the Duke Blue Devils than Wake Forest did back in January.
The Blue Devils led by 13 points at the break, but the Demon Deacons scored 21 of the first 25 points out of halftime to take a four-point lead. Staring down the barrel of his first ACC loss of the season, head coach Jon Scheyer balked to a zone defense for the first time all year, and freshman sensation Cooper Flagg contributed 24 points before the final buzzer for a 24-13 closing run.
Wake Forest will hope to avenge that near-upset at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday, but there are more factors working against the Deacons than before. For one, they’ll be in Durham for Duke’s final home game of the season, an atmosphere sure to be charged with emotion from the Cameron Crazies. The Blue Devils look unbeatable right now on a six-game victory streak, winning four of their last five by at least 35 points, and Wake has lost three of its last five to potentially end up on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Here’s a (re)introduction to the in-state rivals ahead of Monday’s Duke basketball game.
How has the 2024-25 season for Wake Forest thus far?
Record: 20-9 (12-6)
Points per Game: 71.0
Points Allowed per Game: 68.0
KenPom Efficiency Ranking: 77th (out of 364 teams)
Offensive Efficiency Rank: 137th
Defensive Efficiency Rank: 44th
What are the Demon Deacons best at?
The Demon Deacons are one of the ACC’s best defenses according to KenPom’s tracking metrics, and the Blue Devils felt the brunt of that during their 63-56 victory in Wake Forest back in January. The Deacons let opponents compile a 47.5% effective field goal percentage while shooting 30.8% from 3-point range this season, two of the best marks in the country, but the last handful of games haven’t been as sharp. NC State and Virginia combined to shoot 23/54 (42.6%) in back-to-back losses last week, the first time Wake has given up 80 points in consecutive games this season, and the Deacons have surrendered 73.6 points over their last nine contests.
What does Wake Forest struggle with?
Wake Forest is genuinely and unequivocally awful from 3-point range. The Demon Deacons connect on just 28.6% of their triples, the eighth-worst mark in the country, and of the eight players with at least 10 attempts this season, only Cameron Hildreth (35.0%) is shooting better than 31.3% from distance. In Duke’s victory over Wake Forest earlier this season, the Deacons went 3/18 (16.7%) from behind the arc.
Statistical Leaders
Points: Hunter Sallis, 18.5
Rebounds: Tre’Von Spillers, 7.6
Assists: Ty-Laur Johnson, 2.8
Steals: Ty-Laur Johnson, 1.6
Blocks: Tre’Von Spillers, 1.3
FG%: Efton Reid III, 56.7%
3PT%: Cameron Hildreth, 35.0%
Player to Watch
Freshman Juke Harris stole the show against the Blue Devils back in January, but any conversation about the Demon Deacons needs to start with Hunter Sallis. The former Gonzaga Bulldog is one of the ACC’s most prolific offensive talents, scoring 31 points against Detroit Mercy and 30 points against Stanford in a season with 14 20-point performances. He’s only scored more than 20 once in the last 11 games, however, and he’s shooting 9/45 (20.0%) from 3-point range over that span.
