Shooting struggles cost Wake Forest in road loss to Duke
Wake Forest came up just short against Duke Tuesday night, losing 79-77 after their frantic late-game comeback wasn’t enough to cover for their worst shooting performance of the calendar year.
The Deacs shot just 37.5% from the field and 29% from three — Damari Monsanto and Andrew Carr went a combined 4/19 from long range. The lackluster performance can partially be chalked up to shot selection, but in the end Wake Forest just didn’t hit their open looks.
“You’ve got to give them credit,” Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes said after the game. “They’ve got size and length. They make you speed up a little bit. Probably some of it was shot quality at times. We probably didn’t take some of the best shots. But I will tell you — I’ll have to go back and look — I thought we got some wide-open looks that we just didn’t make.”
“I think we were fortunate they missed some,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer added. “They’re no question one of the hardest teams to guard and they make you make decisions. I think we’re fortunate they missed some, and we also had pretty good discipline making them shoot over the top.”
The lone bright spots for Wake Forest were Tyree Appleby (27 points, 9/19 FG) and Bobi Klintman (8 points, 2/2 3PT, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, one steal). Klintman — who logged a season-high 33 minutes — gave the team a huge spark that helped keep the game competitive, especially in the first half. This could be a sign that Klintman is finding his stride in the college game.
“He’s young, he’s coming,” Forbes said. “He’s gonna be a good player. I hope tonight was a breakout night for him. Made two big threes. Tough turnover late, still learning to play off two feet. He’s a good player and hopefully this will help him.”
For the Blue Devils, the backcourt of Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor gave the Deacs trouble defensively all night long. The two combined for 38 points on 15/27 shooting, attacking Wake Forest with a mixture of mid-range jumpers and three-point bombs. Wake’s ball screen defense — which was a struggle in the loss to Pitt — once again cost them dearly.
“A lot of that was how we guarded the ball screen,” Forbes said. “I think Jeremy’s an elite player. He made tough twos, he made in-between shots, he made shots at the rim. He played well. I think Proctor has gotten better. He’s young, he’s got great size. He’s got good pace, great stroke. Doesn’t seem to have to have the ball in his hands all the time, nice player.”
Wake Forest went into the half down seven, playing the Blue Devils close before giving up a 7-2 run over the final few minutes. In the second half, things got worse before they got better — the Deacs fell behind by as many as 14 before embarking on a 12-2 run that cut the lead to just four points with under two minutes to go. Credit to the Deacs, they once again battled back — but they still couldn’t get over the hump.
“There’s no moral victories in this,” Forbes said. “It’s a tough loss, credit to Duke. It’s what we signed up for to be in this league. We have good spirit. These cats play hard. They could have folded. A lot of teams come here and fold down 11, and then it becomes 20 real quick. I’ve seen that happen — it didn’t. We got right back. I think these guys will fight all the way until the end.”
Steve Forbes’ group is in the midst of a gut-check portion of the season — they’ve now lost four-straight games, three of them by two points. Though the losses sting, none of them have been blowouts. The Deacs have given themselves a chance to win in each of the four defeats, despite brilliant offensive showings from Pitt, Virginia and NC State’s DJ Burns. Wake Forest’s grit and resilience says a lot about the team identity.
“I think a lot of teams will wilt under the pressure that we’re seeing,” Forbes said. “I go all the way back to Virginia, we’re down 19. They had three shots to take the lead. That’s resilience. Pitt banged 18 threes on us, but we still had the ball to win the game. The fight was tremendous in those guys. Tonight, down 11, we cut it to three. It’s there — you’ve just gotta win.”
Wake Forest will have a chance to end their losing streak in an away battle against Notre Dame on Saturday. Tip off is set for 1pm ET on RSN.
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Ben is a managing editor and lead contributing writer for Deacons Daily. Ben has a year of experience as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black, and a year of experience as the publication’s print managing editor. He has a journalistic profile of over 40 published news and sports pieces for the Dayton Daily News.