MBB: Duke 90, Wake Forest 69 (January 24, 2026) Postgame Thread

Dr. Maturin said:
Nice win, and nice to get to focus on a game rather than courtroom drama for a while.


The Good:

- Our interior defense looks back. Duke was an elite 2-point defense until our 4-game slide. We've now held 3 straight opponents under 50% from 2. Amazingly, we only allowed Wake to get up 13 attempts at the rim, of which they mad 6. They were also 2/9 from midrange. With Jon's defensive philosophy, we're going to trade a few open 3s in exchange for protecting the paint. So it's critical that we limit easy 2s.

- We dominated the glass. Duke is now up to #22 nationally in offensive rebounding. Dame had a career high 3 offensive rebounds, which was nice to see.

- Our interior passing and scoring was elite. Candidly, Wake had a hand in this. Their defensive rotations were atrocious. When they doubled Cam, they so often left Pat or Maliq wide open for a layup. Then when they didn't double, Cam feasted. Credit our guys for making the right reads and finishing well.



The Bad:

- 3-point defense. Really the only blemish on a solid performance. Yes, Wake shot way better than expected. Yes, Jon was playing the math game with guys like Spillers and Schweiger who don't really shoot. Yes, Juke Harris made some contested 3s. But there were also some poor rotations and lazy closeouts. I know this seems harsh since he had a monster game offensively, but I thought it was Cam's worst defensive game of the year. It felt like half of their 3PAs were against him.

- 3-point shooting. I've been cautiously optimistic that our shooting would improve, but it hasn't happened yet. Slim is an elite 3-point weapon, albeit streaky, and Cam is solid as well. The rest of the team doesn't seem reliable from 3 right now. Caleb, after his hot start, is 1/12 over his last 5 games. Nik is 5/25 in his last 9 games. I'm a little surprised we haven't seen teams pack it in more against us.

- I was a little disappointed to see Jon sit Dame for so long when he picked up his 4th foul. Almost immediately, Harris went on a spurt that cut our lead to ~10. I think it would have been a nice opportunity for Dame to learn to play with foul trouble. Likewise, I'm not sure why Pat only played 15 minutes when he was so effective out there (13 points, 7 boards, no fouls).



The Realistic:

- That's a 5th straight Torvik game score of 94 or better. That Lipscomb-TTU-GT-FSU stretch looks to be in the rear view mirror. This Duke team doesn't always dominate, but consistently stacks solid performances. I think we have as high a floor as just about anyone, and it remains to be seen whether the ceiling can be raised between now and March. That probably will require something like better 3-point shooting, or getting more from our bench.

- It was an excellent week for scoreboard watching. Clemson and Virginia (I know, I know) picked up ACC losses, while Purdue (x2) and Houston lost as well. The margins are still tight, but Duke is in good shape in the race for #1 seeds in the ACCT and NCAAT.

- Monday is going to be a huge game with Mikel Brown Jr. coming to town. We'll have to defend the 3 much better than we did on Saturday.
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Really good post. I think the reason Pat sat so long was because he seems to get tired out quickly and Maliq was playing so well. Pat seems to be somewhat out of shape. Of course there could be a medical reason.

GoDuke!
 
jv001 said:
Really good post. I think the reason Pat sat so long was because he seems to get tired out quickly and Maliq was playing so well. Pat seems to be somewhat out of shape. Of course there could be a medical reason.

GoDuke!
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Who knows if he’s 100% or under the weather but he was frequently the last guy up the court. At one point in the second half didn’t even to get to half on 2 straight possessions, after which Maliq immediately subbed in.
 
mkirsh said:
With Duke now hedging ball screens, there are 2 defenders momentarily on the ball, leaving the other 3 defenders to cover 4 offensive players. The second big usually tags the rolling screener in the lane, leaving his primary assignment open for 3. If Duke doesn’t get sufficient pressure on the ball and rotate quickly, the offense can get open threes, usually from a shooter Duke has decided it can live with shooting, and sometimes that player makes the defense play.




Agree on Evans’s shot. I think that’s why he seems to make contested threes at a better rate than open ones - with defenders nearby he instinctively shoots the ball higher over a close out, but when he’s open he’s lasering line drives. Would love to see him shooting like last year as everything else in his game has leveled up tremendously.
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I wonder about Duke players who have shot very flat 3 point attempts and never seemed to make adjustments. Mark Mitchell comes to mind. He shot corner threes but they were always flat. Are Duke coaches working with these guys? Clearly, the higher arc on the shot doesn't have to be as perfect to go in.

What's interesting about Isaiah's shot is that sometimes he has an arc and sometimes it is flat. Maybe you are onto something about it has more arc when he is guarded. I'm hoping the coaching is there to help him and that he is willing to listen.
 
Saratoga2 said:
I wonder about Duke players who have shot very flat 3 point attempts and never seemed to make adjustments. Mark Mitchell comes to mind. He shot corner threes but they were always flat. Are Duke coaches working with these guys? Clearly, the higher arc on the shot doesn't have to be as perfect to go in.

What's interesting about Isaiah's shot is that sometimes he has an arc and sometimes it is flat. Maybe you are onto something about it has more arc when he is guarded. I'm hoping the coaching is there to help him and that he is willing to listen.
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You’re comparing Mark Mitchell’s shooting form to Isaiah Evans’s?
 
I would be shocked if our coaches, two of whom were excellent shooters, are not on top of these shooting issues.

As for Pat, I suspect there is a medical issue. One of the big stories at the beginning of the season was how Pat had lost weight and was in better shape. If he's dragging, then it has to be something else.
 
Kedsy said:
FWIW, Duke as a team doesn't even shoot 65% on layups. Per Torvik, on non-dunk, around the rim shots, we've only shot 60.6%. Which actually is an improvement over last season, when Duke only shot 56.6% on non-dunk, around the rim shots (i.e., layups). Expecting 65% on 12-footers in game conditions is kinda crazy.
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You are so right and I apologize. Duke only shot 64.8% on 2 pointers on Saturday. ;)
 
Maged said:
I would be shocked if our coaches, two of whom were excellent shooters, are not on top of these shooting issues.

As for Pat, I suspect there is a medical issue. One of the big stories at the beginning of the season was how Pat had lost weight and was in better shape. If he's dragging, then it has to be something else.
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I have to agree about Pat. If this was an "out of shape" thing or him just blatantly not hustling, I have to think Jon Scheyer would yank him from playing. I'm assuming he's maybe playing a little bit under the weather as Caleb and Isaiah have at points this season and the coaches are letting him slide as a result.
 
brevity said:
Right on schedule, 3 days later, the ACC Digital Network has a free replay of the entire Wake Forest-Duke game.

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Wish the ACC Digital Network had gotten this up earlier. I had a snafu with my DVR settings (had set the DVR to record a show on the CW at 12 to 2:30, but when that show was moved to a different time, so that the Duke game showed on the Verizon schedule, the DVR didn't record it).

I watched on Youtube instead. It was fine, except for really terrible commercials.
 
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