Duke basketball center calls rebounding effort 'embarrassing'

Duke basketball rebounders were too few and far between versus Wake Forest.

An 8-for-27 shooting clip from deep isn't ideal. And neither is a 26-14 free throw disparity in the opponent's favor. But perhaps the overriding factor in Duke basketball's 81-70 road loss to the unranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-4, 1-1 ACC) on Tuesday night was the missing extra effort in corralling rebounds and loose balls.

The shorthanded No. 14 Blue Devils (10-3, 1-1 ACC) fell short in the rebounding battle, 37-29, leading to their many comeback attempts falling short.

It was only the third time this season that Duke, which entered the game at No. 5 among all 363 Division I teams in average rebounding margin (+11.0), grabbed fewer boards than its opponent. Now, two of those three outings have resulted in losses.

As for the other occurrence, it came in a 75-59 home win over the Boston College Eagles on Dec. 3, meaning the Blue Devils, while still rebounding well on the season as a whole, are now 0-2 in rebounding battles in ACC play.

Final box score at Wake Forest.#DukeMBBStats pic.twitter.com/aMrqFjOVf3

— #DukeMBBStats (@DukeMBBStats) December 21, 2022

"It's inexcusable," graduate center Ryan Young, who finished with 10 points and nine boards as an admirably aggressive fill-in starter for one of two rookies out with illness in Dereck Lively II, said about the negative rebounding margin. "It's toughness, and it's effort. It's not much else that goes into rebounding, and we know that.

"We take pride in that being a strength of ours. And it was embarrassing that we couldn't win that tonight. And as [head coach Jon Scheyer] mentioned, I felt like it was all effort, and they out-toughed us, and they came out right from the jump and wanted it more than us."

Speaking of Scheyer, the loss was only the program's third to Wake Forest since his junior year as a Duke basketball guard in 2008-09; the Blue Devils have 23 wins in the series during that stretch.

WAKE DOWNS DUKE 81-70 at home for a huge upset win! @WakeMBB | #ACCMBB

pic.twitter.com/wjKcxg4HUR

— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) December 21, 2022

Although the first-year Duke basketball head coach mentioned that it didn't help to be without Lively and freshman small forward Dariq Whitehead (also out with a non-COVID illness), he too noted that the overall effort level wasn't sufficient following his team's 10-day span since its last game.

"Being in this environment, playing shorthanded, we played without our full team in about half our games or whatever it is," Scheyer explained. "You have to keep perspective, but you also have to hate the result. That's part of what makes you a competitor, whether it's as a coach or as a player.

"And so for us, I think it's important understanding the room we have to grow, and we just have to keep going. And also, we need to address the things that we need to cut out now because there's a sense of urgency. In the ACC, you have to win these games. You have to come back and win against Florida State. You have to win on the road."

Duke hosts the Seminoles at 1 p.m. ET on Dec. 31 before playing back-to-back road games against the NC State Wolfpack and Boston College Eagles the following week.

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