Duke at Wake Forest: 2022-23 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
Wake Forest has a major opportunity for a big victory at home with the Duke Blue Devils coming to town. Can the Demon Deacons pull off the upset?
TV schedule: Tuesday, December 20th, 6:30 pm ET. ACC Network
Arena: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
The past couple of weeks have been rough for Wake Forest (8-4, 0-1), who has lost three of four games. The latest came this past weekend, falling 81-57 at home against Rutgers. The good news is that star guard Tyree Appleby, who was questionable for the game after a recent injury, did manage to play 25 minutes and score 10 points. But the rest of the team couldn’t produce much on either end, outside of 22 points off the bench from Damari Monsanto.
The Demon Deacons also barely won against Appalachian State earlier in the week and are in danger of going on a skid. The schedule in the next couple of weeks includes Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and the next opponent, Duke (12-2, 1-0). The Blue Devils haven’t played since a 27-point win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on the 10th, led by 15 points each from both Tyrese Proctor and Dariq Whitehead.
Starting point guard Jeremy Roach didn’t play in that game due to a toe injury but after 10 days of rest, could be available against Wake Forest. But Proctor and sophomore Jaylen Blakes are capable of running the offense if he’s out as well. With a healthy Dereck Lively, Duke’s frontcourt is fully intact, with Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell also in the starting lineup. Wake Forest doesn’t have a ton of size, with Davion Bradford and Matthew Marsh the ones who play a good part of the five-spot for them.
For the Deacons to pull off the upset, they’ll have to win it at the three-point line. They shoot 35% from deep and have a pair of lethal shooters in both Appleby and Monsanto. Andrew Carr, who averages 10.1 ppg and 5.1 apg on the season, is capable of being a great stretch-four option but right now, is just at 30% from deep. Improvement from him would be huge not only in this game but going forward for Wake Forest.
Next. Takeaways from a loaded slate of weekend games. dark
Road games always can be tricky in league play and this is the first true away game in college for many of the freshmen on the roster for Duke. Between that and the desperation of the Deacons, look for them to find a way to win this battle.
Prediction: Wake Forest 81, Duke 76