No. 9 Duke, Wake Square Off on Tuesday at Cameron

Tuesday, February 15

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

Wake Forest

No. 9 Duke, Wake Square Off on Tuesday at Cameron

2/14/2022 4:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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THE OPENING TIP

No. 9 Duke begins a crucial two-game homestand Tuesday night, welcoming Wake Forest in a battle of 20-win teams.
The game tips at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN with Rece Davis and Debbie Antonelli on the call. On the radio locally, David Shumate and John Roth call the action on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
The Blue Devils have won seven of their last eight, including five straight ACC road wins. Duke is in a first-place tie in the ACC and holds the tiebreaker over the three of the five teams within 1.5 games.
Duke and Wake are meeting for the first time each as 20-win teams since Feb. 22, 2009 when a 21-5 Duke squad defeated 20-4 Wake Forest, 101-91, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This week's ACC Freshman of the Week, Trevor Keels is averaging a team-leading 15.3 points and shooting .541 from the field and .533 from three over the last four games, including 25 points and a career-high 11 rebounds at Clemson -- just the sixth game in the Coach K era of player going for 25 and 10 with no turnovers.
Duke is 15-1 this season when Keels scores in double digits.
Leading the ACC in both field goal defense (.402) and three-point defense (.291), the Blue Devils have allowed opponents to shoot .267 from three-point range since Jan. 1 (68-of-255) -- the best three-point defense by power conference teams in that span.
Duke is 18th nationally for the year in guarding the three-point line and 33rd in field goal defense, while ranking eighth in scoring margin (+15.2) and sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.59).
Duke has held 11 of its last 14 opponents -- and 17 for the season -- to .300 or worse from behind the arc (14-3 in those games).
Six-time ACC Freshman of the Week and the ACC's lone representative on the late-season watch list for the Wooden Award, Paolo Banchero leads all power conference true freshman in scoring (17.0), rebounding (8.7) double-doubles (eight) and 20-point games (nine).
Banchero's last 10 games: 16.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
Sophomore Mark Williams averaged 14.0 points and missed just three field goals (16-of-19) and one free throw (10-of-11) in three games last week. For the season, his .716 field goal percentage would lead the nation, but falls just short of qualifying (min. 5 FG/game).

DUKE VS. WAKE FOREST
Duke and Wake Forest are meeting for the 257th time in a series that dates to the 1905-06 season. The Blue Devils lead the series 177-79, including 79-18 in Durham -- 64-16 at Cameron Indoor … Duke's 22-game home winning streak over Wake Forest stands as the program's longest active home win streak over an opponent … Behind 24 points from Paolo Banchero and 22 from AJ Griffin, the Blue Devils won the first meeting at Wake Forest, 76-64, on Jan. 12 … Alondes Williams scored a game-high 25 points, but Duke limited Wake to just 2-of-16 from three and forced 15 turnovers … Duke and Wake are meeting for the first time each as 20-win teams since Feb. 22, 2009 when a 21-5 Duke squad defeated 20-4 Wake Forest, 101-91, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

ABOUT THE DEMON DEACONS
Two of the ACC's most complete teams meet Tuesday, as Duke and Wake Forest enter the game ranked first and second, respectively, in scoring margin and first and second, respectively, in field goal defense and first and second in assists … Duke and Wake are first and third in scoring offense and first and third in three-point defense; first and fourth in blocked shots and second and fourth in rebounding margin … Wake and Duke are first and second in the ACC in field goal shooting … A grad transfer from Oklahoma, Alondes Williams averages 19.8 points, 5.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds to pace Wake in all three categories -- his scoring average and assists per game also lead the ACC, while he ranks fourth in field goal percentage (.532) … Wake and Duke have two of the 50 tallest rosters in the nation -- an average height of 78.5 inches for Wake (t-12th tallest) and 78.0 inches for Duke (t-43rd tallest).

ON THIS DATE
Duke is 17-9 all-time when playing on Feb. 15 and has won three straight and five of the last seven … Duke last played on this date in 2020 -- a 94-60 win over Notre Dame … On Feb. 15, 1984, Duke won its first game as a ranked team under Mike Krzyzewski beating Stetson, 80-69. It also gave Duke the program's first 20-win season since 1980.

#KEELMODE ACTIVATED
Freshman Trevor Keels matched his career high with 25 points and recorded a career-high 11 rebounds with no turnovers in 30 minutes for his first career double-double Thursday at Clemson … He also netted 25 points in his collegiate debut -- a 79-71 win over Kentucky in the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden … It marked the sixth time in the Coach K era that a Duke player registered 25+ points and 10+ rebounds with no turnovers -- the first occurrence happening on the road and the first against an ACC opponent since 2010 by Kyle Singler … Of his 25 at Clemson, 23 came in the second half -- the most in any half by a Blue Devil since Marvin Bagley III had 23 in the second half vs. Notre Dame on March 8, 2018 … His second half stats at Clemson: 8-of-9 from the field, 3-of-4 from three, 4-of-5 free throws, five rebounds and three fouls drawn … This week's ACC Freshman of the Week for a second time, Keels also scored 12 against Virginia on Monday and 13 in Saturday's win at Boston College … The Clinton, Md., native has scored in double figures in each of his last four games, averaging team-best 15.3 points, to go with 5.5 rebounds on .541 shooting and .533 from three in that stretch … Duke is 15-1 when Keels scores in double figures … He returned six games ago from a lower leg injury suffered at FSU that forced him to miss the next three games.

ON THE DEFENSIVE
Since January 1, Duke opponents are shooting just .267 (68-of-255) from three-point range -- the best percentage defense by power conference teams and seventh best overall in that span … For the year, Duke is 18th nationally in three-point defense (.291) -- was 119th nationally (.314) on December 31 … Duke leads the ACC in both field goal defense (.402) and three-point defense (.291) -- on pace for top-five single-season performances in the Coach K era at Duke … Duke has held 11 of its last 14 opponents -- and 17 for the season -- to .300 or worse from behind the arc (14-3 in those games) … Duke has held 18 of its 25 opponents this season -- including eight straight -- to 70 points or less … Junior Wendell Moore Jr., is one of the nation's premier perimeter defenders, regularly drawing the opponent's best offensive match up. This season, opponents are shooting just .310 from the field and .253 from three-point range with Moore as the primary defender … Sophomore Mark Williams, who leads the league and is 12th nationally in blocked shots (3.04), is one of the best rim protectors with his 7-foot-7 wingspan … Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Virginia and Boston College each made their fewest number of threes of the season against the Blue Devils … The three-point percentages by Gardner-Webb, Lafayette, Syracuse, VT, Wake and ND were each their lowest this year … In Duke's defensive gem at Notre Dame, the Irish were limited to a season-low 43 points, and it marked the fewest points Duke allowed in an ACC game since a 68-40 win over Clemson on Jan. 8, 2013. It was the fewest points Duke allowed in an ACC road game since a 56-41 win at Virginia on Feb. 16, 2011.

SHARING AND SHOOTING THE ROCK
Duke enters the game with the nation's sixth best assist/turnover ratio of 1.59. The Blue Devils also rank top 20 nationally in field goal shooting (.485, ranked 16th in the NCAA) and assists (17.1, lead the ACC and ranked 11th in the NCAA) … Duke has had a positive assist/turnover ratio in 20 of 25 games.
The Blue Devils posted their best assist percentage in the Jan. 22 win over Syracuse, dishing out 25 assists on 30 made field goals (83 percent). Duke's 25 assists were an ACC season high and matched its season best (25 vs. The Citadel) … Duke has assists on at least half of its field goals in a game 19 times this season, including in eight of the last 10. For the season, Duke is assisting on 58 percent of its field goals -- the second best percentage in the ACC (Virginia) and 42rd nationally.

CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM
Duke has posted an all-time record of 928-170 (.845) at Cameron Indoor, including 570-74 (.885) under Coach K … Duke is 263-64 (.806) in ACC regular-season games at Cameron Indoor in the Coach K era … Duke has won more games at its current home venue than any team in college basketball … Now in its 83rd season as the home of the Blue Devils, Duke has averaged 11.1 wins since the venue opened January 6, 1940 -- a 36-27 win over Princeton … The Blue Devils have 18 undefeated home seasons, including 11 under Coach K.

#GoDuke