Beyond the Arc: Duke basketball vs. Wake Forest

Yet again, foul trouble doomed the Blue Devils, who fell to Wake Forest 82-72 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. No. 4 Duke went ice-cold late in the second half, resulting in a 17-0 Wake Forest run as the Blue Devils struggled to find anything on the offensive end. For the Demon Deacons, it was forwards Travis McKie and Tyler Cavanaugh carrying the load, combining for 39 points on 19-of-22 shooting from the charity stripe, taking advantage of Duke's foul woes.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Wreak havoc on the defensive end: Doesn't really seem possible to both wreak havoc on the defensive end and allow a 17-0 run. Duke lost the turnover battle 15-10 and was frequently out of control on the defensive end, resulting in the 27 personal fouls whistled against the Blue Devils. Less reaching in and more straight-up defense from Duke would have certainly helped.
• Start strong: This didn't happen either. Wake Forest jumped out to a 5-0 lead and led by as many as seven points in the first half. It wasn't until 3:10 remained in the first half that the Blue Devils captured the lead for the first time, and by the end of the first period of play Duke was trailing by three points.
  
• Capitalize from the perimeter: This makes it 0-for-3. Duke shot a paltry 6-for-27 from beyond the arc, a mediocre 22.2 percent. The biggest culprits were Rodney Hood and Rasheed Sulaimon, who shot 1-for-6 and 2-for-8 from long range, respectively. Quinn Cook had the best touch from deep today for the Blue Devils, draining 2-of-5 from trey land. Andre Dawkins was the only other Duke player to connect on a 3-pointer.
  

Three key plays:

• 9:28, second half: Rodney Hood chases down Travis McKie after a Quinn Cook turnover, delivering a foul to prevent the easy layup for McKie. For Hood, that was his fourth personal foul, relegating him to the bench. For all intents and purposes, that was the end of the night for Hood. The redshirt sophomore would not attempt a shot or record an assist, rebound, steal or block for the remainder of the game, essentially becoming invisible. With four fouls, Hood was also a liability on defense at times, allowing Tyler Cavanaugh to feast on the offensive end.
• 5:09, second half: Jabari Parker is called for the offensive foul just 11 seconds after being called for one on the defensive end, all of a sudden giving him four fouls. Parker, who had scored Duke's last four points, was replaced in the lineup by Hood, who was passive after sitting with his four fouls. What transpired after Parker's foul was a 15-0 Wake Forest run that put the Demon Deacons ahead 76-66.
  
• 1:13, second half: With desperation starting to set in, Rasheed Sulaimon drives straight to the basket, only to lose his balance and turn the ball over. Codi Miller-McIntyre came up with the loose ball and found Coron Williams for the transition hoop to extend Wake Forest's lead to 10 and put down any hope of a Blue Devil rally.
  

Three key stats:

• Duke goes 5:05 without a field goal: It's very tough to win games when a team fails to make a single field goal for more than five minutes in the final six minutes of the contest. After Jabari Parker picked up his fourth foul, Rodney Hood was called on to take his spot on the court, but the forward did not take a single shot attempt for the remainder of the game, contributing to Duke's long stretch without a hoop.
• The Blue Devils commit 27 fouls: It's also very tough to win games when you commit 27 fouls compared to just 13 committed by the opposition. When all was said and done, Rodney Hood fouled out, Jabari Parker and Marshall Plumlee each had four fouls, and Amile Jefferson, Tyler Thornton, Rasheed Sulaimon and Andre Dawkins all had three fouls. Foul trouble has bedeviled Duke for much of the conference schedule, and will likely continue to be problematic in postseason play.
  
• Marshall Plumlee records six offensive rebounds: If there's a silver lining to this loss, it's the continued strong play of Marshall Plumlee. The redshirt sophomore was on the court to start the second half in place of Amile Jefferson in large part due to Plumlee's strong rebounding and his defensive presence—he recorded two blocks on the night. Plumlee is surely rough around the edges, but it would be far from a surprise if he replaces Jefferson in the starting lineup moving forward.
  

And the Duke game ball goes to... Jabari Parker

Nobody on Wake Forest could stop Parker tonight. Luckily for the Demon Deacons, Parker stopped himself with foul trouble. The freshman phenom ended the night with 17 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 7-for-11 from the field. His shooting was even better than that in reality, as three of the four misses came in the first four minutes of the game. Once again, Parker was doing his damage in the paint, where he's been so effective of late, attempting just one 3-pointer on the night.

And the Wake Forest game ball goes to... Travis McKie

The senior forward hadn't defeated Duke once in his four years in Winston-Salem, but on his senior night McKie led his team to victory. McKie poured in 19 points and was a mainstay at the free throw line, knocking down 9-of-10 from there. Tyler Cavanaugh's 20 points and Codi Miller-McIntyre's 13-point, eight-assist performance were both worthy of this honor, but McKie's senior leadership was vital to his team's victory. McKie even showed some good sportsmanship at the end of the game, pulling guard Rasheed Sulaimon to safety as the Wake Forest faithful stormed the court.