In their first ACC road game of the season, the No. 2 Blue Devils will make the trip to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take on Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Coliseum looking for their 14th consecutive double-digit win to open the season. Tipoff is at 9 p.m. Before each game this season, the Blue Zone will select a player on both teams that could make the difference for their respective squads:
Duke: Forward Amile Jefferson
The Blue Devil captain has been putting together another quietly solid season, averaging 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Jefferson has once again been an extremely efficient contributor on offense—attempting just slightly more than five shots per game and shooting 65.7 percent from the field—by crashing the offensive glass and creating his own offense off his teammates’ misses.
Jefferson’s success on the boards will be especially important against a Wake Forest team that is very strong in the rebounding department. The Demon Deacons pull down nearly nine more boards per contest than their opponents, and they rank first in the conference in defensive rebounding percentage. Expect Wake Forest to focus heavily on slowing down the red-hot Jahlil Okafor, which should leave plenty of scoring and rebounding opportunities open for Jefferson in the paint.
Wake Forest: Forward Devin Thomas
The ACC’s leading rebounder with 9.7 boards per game, Thomas will play a critical role in the Demon Deacons’ attempt to control the glass and slow down Duke’s offense. The junior boasts an impressive 6-foot-9, 255-pound frame, but still yields two inches and 15 pounds to Okafor, his counterpart in the post. The Chicago native is coming off three straight 20-point performances and appears to have found his groove as the focal point of the Duke offense. Thomas may not be tasked with guarding the freshman stud by himself for the entire game, but it’s a good bet that he will be a major part of Wake Forest’s approach to dealing with Okafor.
On the offensive end, Thomas has been a steady contributor since his freshman season and is now the Demon Deacons’ second-leading scorer at 12.1 points per contest. He is efficient with his shots—connecting at nearly a 50 percent clip from the field—but struggles from the free throw line, where he hits only 56.7 percent of his attempts. Thomas uses solid footwork and a polished array of post moves to score down low, and Wake Forest will look to get him going as they hope to upset the Blue Devils.
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