The Wake Forest Demon Deacons, ranked fourth in the country, defeated the Duke Blue Devils 70-68 in Wake Forest. The Blue Devils were ranked #1 in the country, but now it is likely they will lose that spot when the next rankings come out on Monday. The Demon Deacons previously held the #1 spot in the country as well. They lost that spot when they lost their first game of the season against the Virginia Tech Hokies at home.
Wake Forest made sure that they were very physical with Duke's offense. Duke shot only 33% from the field in the game, and they weren't good from the three-point line as well. Wake Forest only shot 40% from the field also, and that is why the game ended up close. Wake Forest had a 13 point lead in the second half but let Duke back into the game.
The final minute of the game was dramatic. Duke's Gerald Henderson tied the game up at 68 with under 20 seconds left in the game. Wake Forest's Jeff Teague drove down the court and missed the basket. It was rebounded by Henderson but he traveled with 2 seconds left. So Wake Forest's coach Dino Gaudio drew up a clever play with Wake Forest's James Johnson getting the ball for the easy basket. It worked and that was the difference in the game.
This game was a classic college basketball game. Both teams have the potential of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. It's now interesting to see who will become the new #1 team when the new rankings come out. UConn is my pick for the new #1 spot because they have been good all season. Oklahoma also has a shot at becoming the new #1 team but I think they're a long shot. Duke also has a chance at staying #1 but that is highly unlikely as well. Wake Forest has played well all season with the exception of their loss to Virginia Tech and they should get heavy consideration for #1. With that said, I don't think they can beat UConn so they're deserving of #1.
No comments:
Post a Comment