Duke remains undefeated at home in close win over Wake Forest

DURHAM, NC — Jeremy Roach scored 21 points en route to the Duke Blue Devils defeating Wake Forest 75-73 on Tuesday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The last time these two teams faced off was on December 20th when the Blue Devils lost in Winston-Salem while being plagued by injury. The Demon Deacons have now lost four in a row.

Jeremy Roach’s switch from the traditional point guard to shooting guard has boded the Blue Devils positively in the scoring column since his return from a Toe injury.

“This isn’t the same team we played back in December,” Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes told the media after the game. “We guarded Jeremy (Roach) in drop coverage off ball screens in the first half and he got going. Credit to him, I think he’s an elite player.”

The game remained close throughout the first half as Kyle Filipowski struggled to get shots off. On a positive note for Duke, Jeremy Roach scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, keeping Duke with the advantage early.

Wake Forest guard Tyree Appleby, who is third in the ACC in scoring, led the Deacons with 27 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Appleby began to heat up toward the middle of the second half as Wake Forest would bring the game within four with a minute left to play.

A three-pointer from Kyle Filipowski with 47 seconds remaining proved to be the dagger. Despite a slow start, Flip would finish with 16 points and 11 rebounds to help guide Duke to the win.

“We came in and played really really well defensively,” Duke guard Tyrese Proctor told me after the win. “We’ve been in so many late-game situations this year already so we know what we need to do to win these types of games now and do it collectively.” Proctor tied a career-high tonight, finishing with 17 points and five rebounds.

Duke returns to action at home on Saturday as they take on long-time rival North Carolina at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN.