No. 12 Duke will look to record its season-high fifth straight win Tuesday when it visits Wake Forest for an Atlantic Coast Conference clash in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Blue Devils (10-2, 1-0 ACC) posted their third straight lopsided victory with an 82-55 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Dec. 10.
Tyrese Proctor and Dariq Whitehead each scored 15 points and Kyle Filipowski collected 14 points and seven rebounds versus the Hawks. Those three players joined Mark Mitchell and Dereck Lively II as Duke featured an all-freshman starting lineup for the first time in the program’s history.
Blue Devils captain Jeremy Roach sat out with a toe injury, marking his first missed game of his collegiate career.
“Jeremy’s a big key for us. Obviously, him being out, it (stinks) for us, but we just wanted to fight for our brother,” Proctor said. “I thought the main thing for our starting group (versus Maryland-Eastern Shore) was just being vocal, everyone being on the same page, getting stops, and just pushing our offense from our defense.”
Duke coach Jon Scheyer told reporters that Roach has been playing through the pain and was willing to do so against the Hawks.
“I actually had to go to him to talk to him about it,” Scheyer said, “because he’s a true warrior out there, and it’s not right for him to continue to do that.”
Scheyer, however, said he expects Roach to be ready to return on Tuesday.
While Roach averages a team-leading 3.5 assists, Filipowski contributes club-best totals in points (14.8), rebounds (9.2) and steals (1.5).
Wake Forest (8-4, 0-1) enters Tuesday’s tilt having lost three of its past four games.
The Demon Deacons matched their lowest point total of the season and made a campaign-high 22 turnovers in an 81-57 setback at Rutgers on Saturday.
“They physically overwhelmed us, especially at the beginning of the first half and beginning of the second half, that’s where the game got out of hand for us,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “We just weren’t strong with the ball and got sped up.
“… We had more turnovers than we had made field goals. I don’t know if you can win any games that way.”
Damari Monsanto made a career high-tying six 3-pointers to highlight his season-best 22-point performance versus the Scarlet Knights. He also made six shots from beyond the arc in the Deamon Deacons’ 97-90 victory over Hampton on Nov. 26.
“I was really proud of the way Damari played,” Forbes said. “He didn’t have a good week of practice and preparation, and he knows what he has to do. But I thought he came in and did what he can do. He’s a really good player when he scores off the catch. I thought he did a really good job of playing within himself (on Saturday).
Cameron Hildreth recorded his eighth straight double-digit scoring performance with 13 points.
Tyree Appleby, who averages a team-best 18.0 points and 5.1 assists, was limited to just 10 and two, respectively, while playing 26 minutes on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
