Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons At Cameron Indoor Thursday Night To Face Duke
1/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2007
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Deacons At Cameron Indoor Thursday Night To Face #11 Blue Devils
Wake Forest, coming off a pair of disappointing home losses last week, look for better fortunes on the road Thursday when they play 11th-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium (ESPN2/7 p.m.).
The Demon Deacons, 9-7 overall and 1-3 in the ACC, lost at home to NC State Saturday, 88-74. Wake Forest out-rebounded the Wolfpack, forced 19 turnovers and shot 53.8 percent in the loss.
Senior Kyle Visser (18.3 ppg and 7.8 rpg), the only Wake Forest player averaging double-digits, ranks fourth in the ACC in both scoring and rebounding. The 6-11 Visser has scored in double figures in every game and he ranks second in the ACC in field goal percentage (.633).
Duke, 14-3 and 1-2, broke into the ACC win column Sunday with a 86-63 victory at Miami. The Blue Devils shot an amazing 68.3 percent, including 81.0 percent in the first half.
Duke is led in scoring by junior Demarcus Nelson (14.8 ppg) and sophomore Josh McRoberts (12.8 ppg).
No rivalry in the ACC has been played more often than Wake Forest-Duke (229 previous meetings). Duke leads the all-time series 154-75 and the Blue Devils have won the last four meetings.
Deacons Own Drought In Durham
Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser, in his sixth season with the Deacons, has experienced at least one win in every ACC arena with two exceptions -- Boston College and Duke.
The Deacons have played at Boston College just once -- a loss last season -- since the Eagles joined the ACC.
Duke, however, has beaten Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor in each of the previous nine seasons. The last time the Deacons won in Durham came in Tim Duncan's senior year of 1997.
During the nine-game losing streak at Cameron Indoor, Wake's smallest margin of defeat was 10 points (102-92 in 2005).
Duke was ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 nationally in eight of Wake Forest's last nine trips to Durham. Only in 2005, when Duke was ranked No. 7, have the Blue Devils been ranked lower than No. 2 when hosting Wake Forest.
Meanwhile, Wake Forest has enjoyed various levels of success in every other ACC venue. Deacon senior Kyle Visser has been a part of Deacons road wins against every ACC team except for Duke, Boston College and Florida State.
Tradition Stops Here
Wake Forest's series with Duke is one of the last to be effected by ACC expansion.
The Deacons and Blue Devils will meet just once this season -- the first time since 1943-44 that the two teams haven't met at least twice on the hardwood. In 1943-44, Wake Forest did not field a basketball team because of the war.
Many historians say that Wake Forest's game against Duke (then called Trinity) in 1906 was the first college basketball game played in the state of North Carolina.
The only Wake Forest series not effected by expansion are NC State and Georgia Tech. Those two teams, at least for the near future, will play Wake Forest twice every season.
Wake Forest-Duke Series History
- No rivalry in the ACC has been played more often than Wake Forest-Duke. Thursday's game will mark the 230th meeting between the Deacons and Blue Devils.
- Duke leads the all-time series, 154-75.
- The Blue Devils have won the last four meetings. Wake's last win in the series came in Winston-Salem on Feb. 2, 2005.
- Duke has won the last nine meetings in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Deacons' most recent win in Cameron Indoor came on Jan. 11, 1997.
- Wake Forest is 16-64 all-time when playing the Blue Devils in Durham.
- Duke holds a 9-8 series edge in Lawrence Joel Coliseum. The two teams will not play in Joel Coliseum this season.
- Duke has eliminated Wake Forest from the ACC Tournament more times (14) than any other team. The Blue Devils beat the Deacons last season in the ACC Tournament semifinals in Greensboro.
- Wake Forest and Duke first met in basketball in 1906.
- Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser is 3-9 all-time versus Duke.
- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is 35-21 all-time versus Wake Forest.
- Wake Forest is 404-461 all-time against teams from the state of North Carolina, including a 4-1 record this season.
Deacon-Blue Devil Connections
- Wake Forest has nine North Carolinians on its roster; Duke has none.
- Deacon associate head coach Dino Gaudio and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski both previously served as the head coach at Army.
- Former Wake Forest All-American Tim Duncan plays for the San Antonio Spurs. Former Duke guard Chip Engelland is a Spurs assistant coach. Mark Freidinger, Wake's radio color analyst, also works as a scout for the Spurs.
Wake Forest vs. Ranked Opponents, Duke
- Wake Forest will play its first nationally-ranked opponent of the season Thursday night. That's not to say the Deacons haven't played a difficult schedule. After beating Wake Forest, Air Force moved into the top 25 and is now ranked in the top 15. Virginia Tech has been close to the top 25 all season and Georgia received votes for the poll earlier this year.
- The Deacons won their last two games against ranked opponents. Both of those games came last March against NC State. The Wolfpack were ranked 25th when they lost to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament. State was ranked 22nd March 4 when it lost to the Deacons in Winston-Salem.
- Wake Forest is 127-306 all-time against teams ranked in the top 25. That includes a mark of 32-140 on the road.
- The Deacons' last road win against a top 25 team came Jan. 22, 2005 at Cincinnati (74-70).
- Wake Forest is 18-30 all-time against nationally-ranked teams, including a 5-16 record on the road.
- The last 23 times Wake Forest has played Duke, not only were the Blue Devils nationally-ranked, but ranked in the top 10. Thursday's game marks Wake's first against a Duke team outside of the top 10 since Feb. 11, 1996 when the Blue Devils were not ranked.
