Wake Forest aims for upset in rematch with No. 4 Duke (Jan 23, 2018)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest ought to be used to this by now.
The Demon Deacons have a second meeting with fourth-ranked Duke in an 11-day span on Tuesday night at Joel Coliseum.
"It helps in terms of preparation for the staff, so there has only been a handful of games in between since we played," Wake Forest coach Danny Manning said Monday. "Kind of had a feel for what they like to do the first time you played them. It gives you a little better chance to have a book on them on what they want to do."
Of course, for Wake Forest it's a matter of changing the script. Duke won that Jan. 13 game 89-71 at home.
Duke (17-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) will be playing its second game in a row against a team it has already defeated this season.
"That's one thing we've got to get out of our system -- assumption," Blue Devils forward Wendell Carter Jr. said. "We play Wake Forest on Tuesday. We played a really good game against them (in the first meeting), but we cannot assume. We've just got to come out and play our game."
The Blue Devils own a four-game winning streak, with three victories by 18 or more points.
"When things are going well, that's the point when you need to lock in even more because teams will be gunning for us," Duke senior Grayson Allen said. "We'll have a very tough next game, and we can't overlook anybody or get satisfied. We've got to keep going and keep realizing that we need to get a lot better."
Wake Forest (8-11, 1-6), which has a five-game losing streak, is coming off a 59-49 home loss to Virginia on Sunday night. So, this makes it two games against top-four teams in a three-night span.
"In the second half, we didn't provide enough resistance to come away with a win," Manning said of the Virginia game.
But perhaps the Demon Deacons gained some confidence.
"We did some good things against the No. 2 team in the country," Wake Forest center Doral Moore said. "We have a good base. We just have to clean up some things."
Wake Forest guard Brandon Childress said the team will have to change gears, expecting a much faster pace from Duke than against more deliberate Virginia.
Wake Forest has played strong home games against Duke in recent seasons. Last year, the Blue Devils rallied to win on Luke Kennard's shot in Winston-Salem.
"We're looking for a win," Manning said. "We don't want a close game. We want a win."
A sellout crowd could be on hand Tuesday night.
"So the energy is going to be there," Childress said.
Duke has scored 80 or more points in 15 consecutive games, marking the longest such streak for an ACC team since North Carolina's 16 in a row during the 2007-08 season.
Wake Forest's post players fell into foul trouble in the first meeting, in part because of the strength on the inside displayed by Duke freshmen Marvin Bagley III and Carter.
"They have threats from all over the court," Manning said. "Bagley and Carter give them a different dimension than what they've had."
Bagley and Carter are coming off the first game this season (an 81-54 rout of Pittsburgh) in which they both reached 20 points in the same game.
