WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — No. 14 Duke left two key players back in Durham due to an illness Tuesday night and two other key players came up empty on the court at Wake Forest.
With Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively not in uniform, Kyle Filipowski and Jeremy Roach combined for 10 turnovers and just 18 points for Duke.
That allowed the Demon Deacons to lead the entire game save a few minutes early before posting an 81-70 ACC win over the Blue Devils at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.
Reserve sophomore guard Jaylen Blakes did all he could to help Duke’s cause, scoring a career-best 17 points after never scoring more than nine points in any game during his career.
But that wasn’t nearly enough as Tyree Appleby scored 18 points for Wake (9-4, 1-1 ACC) while Cam Hildreth added 16. The Demon Deacons shot 49.1% against a Duke team that had only allowed its first 12 opponents to shoot 39.1%.
Wake Forest had five players score in double figures.
The Blue Devils (10-3, 1-1 ACC) played without the 7-1 Lively and the 6-7 Whitehead, who didn’t make the trip to Wake Forest due to a non-COVID illness.
Filipowski entered the game averaging 14 points per game while Roach averaged 13. But Filipowski hit only 4 of 14 shots, while missing all six of his 3-pointers, to score nine points while committing five turnovers.
Roach also had nine points on 3-of-7 shooting while committing five turnovers.
After leading by nine points at halftime, Wake Forest pushed its lead as large as 15 points when Cam Hildreth scored at 14:44 giving the Deacs a 53-38 lead.
With Wake Forest up 60-46, Duke made a push when Tyrese Proctor and Jaylen Blakes hit 3-pointers, slicing the Deacs lead to 60-52 with 9:27 left.
Another Blakes 3-pointer, with 8:03 to play, left Wake Forest with a 62-55 lead. But the Blue Devils didn’t shoot well enough to draw any closer.
While Duke was in the midst of missing six consecutive shots, Hildreth hit a running one-hand shot in the lane with 4:50 to play giving Wake Forest a 68-57 lead.
After hitting just 3 of 15 3-pointers in the first half while shooting 38.7% overall, Duke trailed at halftime for just the third time this season.
The Demon Deacons exploited the middle of Duke’s defense, while also hitting four first-half 3-pointers, to lead 39-30.
Duke’s struggles on offense were exemplified by the fact reserve guard Jaylen Blakes led the Blue Devils in first-half scoring with seven points. Roach was scoreless.
Wake hit Duke with an early 9-0 run to build an 11-4 lead. Duke fought back to tie the game at 11 on a Jacob Grandison 3-pointer but the Blue Devils could never overtake the Deacs in the first half.
Damari Monsanto’s 3-pointer with 7:19 gave Wake Forest a 26-18 lead. Duke pulled within five points on three occasions the remainder of the half but got no closer due to lackluster shooting.
