Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Duke Blue Devils

Mitchell, Filipowski lead No. 9 Duke past Wake Forest 77-69

“It’s hard to take Mark Mitchell or Kyle Filipowski off the court when they’re playing that way,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.

Mitchell scored 23 points while Filipowski posted his first double-double in nearly three weeks as the ninth-ranked Blue Devils fought off the Demon Deacons for a 77-69 win Monday night.

The 6-foot-9, 232-pound Mitchell made 9 of 14 shots to go with eight rebounds and two blocks for a rangy and physical presence carrying out to the perimeter, while the 7-foot Filipowski added 21 points and 10 rebounds — including making his last four shots — for the Blue Devils (19-5, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).

They joined freshman wing Jared McCain (17 points, 10 rebounds) in playing all 20 second-half minutes.

“Obviously they have a really good frontcourt ... and we knew it was going to be a battle," Mitchell said. "Those guys came to fight, we came to fight.”

Indeed, Duke repeatedly answered pushes that kept Wake Forest (16-8, 8-5) hanging around within two possessions or so for much of the second half. But the Demon Deacons never could overtake the Blue Devils.

Wake Forest was chasing its first win in Cameron Indoor Stadium since January 1997 during star big man Tim Duncan's senior season. The Demon Deacons had multiple chances to pull to within a possession in the second half, but Damari Monsanto missed a 3-pointer with his team down five followed by another one after the Demon Deacons had rebounded his first miss.

Moments later, after Mitchell's free throw pushed the margin to 75-69, Monsanto missed one more 3 from the top. Mitchell rebounded the ball and ultimately pushed ahead in transition for a clinching dunk for the final margin.

Hunter Sallis scored 22 points for the Demon Deacons, who were thrown out of synch with starting big man Efton Reid III limited by foul trouble. Wake Forest made just 6 of 26 3-pointers, the fourth time in six games that a team ranked in the top 20 nationally failed to hit 30% from deep.

“We missed a lot of open shots,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said, adding later: "There's not an answer for everything, fellas. Sometimes the ball doesn't go in the hole. Find other ways to do things.”

BIG PICTURE

Wake Forest: The metrics already like Wake Forest (ranked No. 28 in KenPom, No. 35 in the NET), but the Demon Deacons have work to do to make their case for an NCAA Tournament bid. They entered Monday night at 0-3 in Quadrant 1 games that top a a postseason resume with their best nonconference win coming against Florida. This was the first of five Q1 opportunities still on the schedule, including a home game against Duke on Feb. 24.

“I don't know how you don't think that's a tournament team,” Scheyer said.

Duke: It was a nice boost for Filipowski after a few frustrating showings, posting his first double-double since going for 17 points and 15 rebounds against Louisville on Jan. 23. It helped that he stayed out of foul trouble after recent issues there, too.

UP NEXT

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons visit No. 21 Virginia on Saturday.

Duke: The Blue Devils visit Florida State on Saturday.

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