Winston Salem, NC – Just the night prior to the Duke at Wake Forest game, the Louisville Cardinals suffered their fourth conference loss allowing Duke to be crowned regular-season champions and the number one seed in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2010. After a 113-101 loss to the Demon Deacons, it shifts the advantage back to Florida State, who is in position to win the ACC regular-season title now.
Duke went down early in the first half, trailing by as many as 12 points. The Blue Devils gradually made their way back into the game and they eventually tied it at the half with a buzzer beat by sophomore point guard Tre Jones. Duke took the second half by storm and seemed to have it locked up, leading by 9 with only 1:21 left on the game clock. With a 9-point lead, an Olivier Sarr and-1, along with a couple of other buckets put the Deacs down only 3 with 32 seconds to go. Jordan Goldwire proceeded to give the ball away, as he allowed Brandon Childress to knock down a 3, remarkably enough his first points of the night. Childress could not miss after that ending up, with 17 points, 14 of them coming in the overtime periods. Eventually, Wake Forest ran away in the second OT and handed them the 12 point win over the #7 ranked Blue Devils. The court was stormed following the final whistle.
Coach K praised the Demon Deacons, saying “The second overtime they just took over and the total game they were the team deserving of winning.”
This makes it two losses in the last three for Duke, both coming from in-State rivalries.
On the night, Olivier Sarr led the home team, with 25, and Chaundee Brown added in 24. Wendell Moore led the Blue Devils with 25, and important contributions from Justin Robinson and Tre Jones kept the Blue Devils around.
The Blue Devils have another tough road test coming up against UVA this Saturday, and the Demon Deacons will play host to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday as well.
Bracketology Effect: Duke moves to the 3 line, dropping from the 2 seed in the East Region. Wake Forest remains out of contention.
Betting Effect: Covered: WF +11, Over 153