Wake Forest @ Duke preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 5, 2019 ) Wake Forest 70, Duke 71

The ACC schedule hasn't proven to be any more difficult for Duke than its non-conference slate to this point, and it may take another week - and a showdown next weekend against No. 11 Louisville - before it faces an opponent capable of changing that. The second-ranked Blue Devils set their sights on a ninth consecutive victory Saturday when they host Wake Forest.

Duke leads college basketball in scoring margin (plus-20.9) and has been particularly dominant inside its league, winning its first four ACC contests by an average of 23.8 points. Only one of the Blue Devils' games during their winning streak has been decided by fewer than 10 points - Wednesday's 73-64 victory at Georgia Tech in which the Blue Devils forced the Yellow Jackets to miss 14 of their final 15 shots. The Demon Deacons put up a good fight at home Wednesday without second-leading scorer Chaundee Brown (leg injury) against No. 10 Florida State but were unable to overcome 11 second-half turnovers in a 78-68 defeat. "Obviously, we can say that we competed against a top-10 team, but that's not enough. Now we need to win games. Losing by 10 to a top-10 team is not just something we should be happy about," Wake Forest center Olivier Sarr told reporters afterward.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: ACC Network

ABOUT WAKE FOREST (8-6, 1-3 ACC): The Demon Deacons managed to keep things close in the first half by going 18-of-22 from the foul line, but coach Danny Manning pointed to his team's inability to consistently handle Florida State's ball pressure - contributing to 17 Wake Forest turnovers - as one of the key reasons for the loss. Senior guard Brandon Childress (team-high marks of 16.0 points and 4.6 assists) bounced back from a pair of eight-point efforts with a game-high 20 points Wednesday and has reached the 20-point mark three times in his last five outings. Manning informed reporters after the game he has not been given a timetable in regards to when Brown (13.3 points, 6.5 rebounds) will be cleared to return to action.

ABOUT DUKE (14-1, 4-0): Tre Jones (14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, ACC-best 7.2 assists, 2.2 steals) was allowed to turn it loose Wednesday for the first time in three games since missing a pair of contests with a mild foot sprain and finished with 16 points, eight boards, seven assists and four steals in 39 minutes. Freshman Cassius Stanley (11.2 points) has settled into a groove offensively, bouncing back from a month-long stretch of single-digit scoring efforts by averaging 17 points on 70 percent shooting over his last two outings. The Blue Devils played for the first time all season Wednesday without freshman Wendell Moore Jr. (7.4 points, 3.9 boards), who broke his hand last Saturday at Miami and is out indefinitely.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Duke's next victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium will be its 900th. No other college basketball team has won more games at its current venue.

2. The Demon Deacons, who have dropped 10 straight in the series and 18 of the last 19 meetings, have not won in Durham since Tim Duncan's senior year in 1997.

3. Saturday will mark the 252nd meeting between the programs, making Wake Forest the opponent Duke has played more than any other team (North Carolina, 251).

PREDICTION: Duke 85, Wake Forest 71