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#1 Duke vs. #4
Wake Forest
Key Release
1/2 unit Wake Forest +2 over Duke
In perhaps the biggest college basketball game of the year so far,
Coach K’s newly crowned #1 team in the country Duke Blue Devils will
take on the former #1 team in the country Wake Forest in an ACC
battle of the best in one of the toughest conferences in college
basketball this season.
The Demon Deacons were flying high and coasting through their season
until they met up with a very motivated and unranked Virginia Tech
squad determined to do the impossible and knock off the #1 ranked
Wake Forest team lead by Jeff Teague.
Even though the Deacons had been playing phenomenal basketball up to
this point they just couldn’t hold off a Virginia Tech team on a
mission as they lost their first game of the season 78-71.
The Blue Devils on the other hand have gotten back to championship
form while flying somewhat under the radar this season. It is no
real surprise to most college basketball fans, Blue Devils faithful
especially, that Coach K and forward Kyle Singler have been able to
lead Duke to yet another #1 ranking, but they will be facing their
biggest test Wednesday going up against a defense that rivals their
own.
Duke may be the ACC leader in scoring defense by holding their
opponents to only 59.5 points per contest, but the Deacons defense
has been just as impressive holding their opponents to just 39.8%
shooting from the floor this season which is best in the league. Not
only is Wake Forest one of the best defensive teams in the ACC and
the country by forcing teams to shot a low percentage, but on the
offensive end of the floor they also have the second best shooting
percentage in the country just behind Utah State by shooting a very
impressive 50.5% from the floor.
A big factor for Wake Forest coming out on top in this ACC battle
and getting closer to retaining the #1 spot in the country will be
whether or not they can contain Duke forward Gerald Henderson who
has been huge in the Blue Devils current 10 game win streak. With
his average of 18 points a game over the last 10 wins for Duke,
Henderson has stepped up his game and has played a pivotal role in
Duke’s run to the #1 ranking in the Top 25.
As for Duke and their point guard Nolan Smith, they will have their
work cut out for them trying to contain Wake Forest’s leading scorer
Jeff Teague who is putting 21+ points a night this season. If Nolan
and Blue Devils defense aren’t able to stop Teague from having a
monster game it just might cost Duke the game and position in the
ACC.
This will not be a high scoring affair by any means as both of these
teams are defensive minded and will be looking to prove they are the
true number one team in the country. Although Duke is favored by two
points, I would have to go with Wake Forest pulling off the slight
upset as they have probably corrected their costly mistakes made in
the embarrassing loss against Virginia Tech and are looking for some
redemptions and who better to prove it against than the team that
took your number one ranking. 1/2 unit Wake
Forest +2
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