As the Duke bus barrels down Interstate-40 towards Winston-Salem tomorrow afternoon, the team will be staring at a pivotal point in its season. Having lost their last three ACC road games, the Blue Devils (16-3, 6-3 in the ACC) have been streaking downward.
However, thanks to a flurry of upset losses in the ACC coupled with victories over North Carolina and Clemson, Duke is in a position to gain possession of first place from the Demon Deacons (16-3, 6-2) if it can muster a win out of Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
"Every game in the conference will be a huge game because the standings are so close," newly named captain Nick Horvath said. "We want to go out and play a great game on the road. We're really jacked up and ready to go."
Duke's lack of intensity on the road has hurt it earlier this season, and Wake Forest's home crowd will certainly not let up Thursday night. The Demon Deacons are undefeated at home this year, including a win over Maryland.
"For one reason or another...we don't have momentum on the road," Horvath said. "There have been little shifts that push the momentum for the other team."
Wake Forest forward Josh Howard, leading candidate for ACC player of the year honors, leads the league in scoring at over 19 per game. As a versatile wingman, Howard is also able to sneak inside and grab 8.5 rebounds a contest. The Blue Devils have only one answer for Howard - Dahntay Jones.
"He's [Howard] the best player in our league," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's a beautiful player to watch on both ends of the court. Everyone talks about his offense, but he'll guard whoever is hot."
His defensive abilities have been proven in the past, as he held Howard to 13 points in a 74-55 Duke win a month ago. He will surely get the matchup a second time with Wake Forest's big man on campus.
"I'm excited [to guard Howard]," Jones said. "It's an opportunity to prove ourselves on the road. It's not a personal thing, I'm just excited to go down there and try and get a win."
Even if Jones can secure Howard, the Demon Deacon's second offensive threat is exactly where the Blue Devils usually come up short.
Vytas Danelius, a sophomore from Lithuania, is a bruser inside who muscles his way around the basket but can use his soft touch from outside the paint. Eric Williams, Danelius' partner in the paint, is an undersized center, as are most of the Duke big men.
The Blue Devils should have little difficulty in containing Williams, but they will have to strap Danelius with early fouls just as they did in the last meeting.
The backcourt of both teams has played consistently, but Wake Forest's guards have the luxury of feeding the ball inside and to Howard on the wing. The Blue Devils must penetrate in the gaps and utilize the shooting ability of freshman J.J. Redick and the senior Jones to produce their scoring.
Wake Forest's leading guard is Taron Downey, a sophomore point guard who hits timely shots and runs the offense for head coach Skip Prosser. Justin Gray, a valuable asset to the Demon Deacons, will be absent because of a broken nose he suffered in the last matchup - in a play with Jones.
Overall, the Blue Devils' backcourt should be able to dominate Wake Forest's guards with defensive pressure and outside shooting.
Since 1997, the Blue Devils have beaten Wake Forest 14 consecutive times, a curse that will be hard to break after the resurgence of Duke this past week.
"We have a very unusual week this week and I'm not sure anyone else has this," Krzyzewski said. "We play a Thursday night away game and then a Saturday night game away. That's different and it's a little bit tougher and hopefully our kids can do a good job in that situation."
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