Sportswrap: Duke men's basketball gets bounce-back win, women's basketball has undefeated week

Sportswrap is your one-stop shop for everything Duke athletics, where we’ll recap how each of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week and give a brief look ahead. Here’s our recap for the week of Jan. 17-23.

Men’s basketball

Despite a Saturday romp against Syracuse, the sixth-ranked Blue Devils (15-3, 5-2 in the ACC) will likely fall in the AP Poll by way of their 79-78 heartbreaker against Florida State Tuesday. Paolo Banchero averaged 17.5 points, 12.5 points and 5.5 assists for the week, while Wendell Moore Jr. may be rounding back into form after his 15-point, eight-rebound, six-assist display in the win against the Orange. Duke has a softer schedule leading into the first date with North Carolina, as the Blue Devils host Clemson and travel to Louisville and Notre Dame over the next three. -Max Rego

Women’s basketball

It was a much-needed rebound week for head coach Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils, as No. 21 Duke (13-4, 4-3) women’s basketball downed defensively-minded Miami 58-49 Tuesday and edged out a surprisingly close contest at home against Virginia 57-48 Sunday. Junior Celeste Taylor’s injury is still undiagnosed but her teammates, especially senior guard Miela Goodchild against Miami and freshman Shayeann Day-Wilson against Virginia, have performed admirably in her absence and kept the Blue Devils right in the ACC mix. Duke next faces historic rivals North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium this Thursday. -Andrew Long

Track & Field 

It might seem like the semester just got going, but only a month remains until the ACC indoors—making growth imperative for the Blue Devils each time they lace them up. At the Hokie Invitational over the weekend, Duke’s 4x400m relay teams impressed, as the women snagged first and the men came in third. Add in top finishes by Erin Marsh and Nick Dahl in the pentathlon, and the Blue Devils go into a near two-week break until the Camel City Invitational, set for Feb. 4-5, with a confidence boost. -Max Rego

Wrestling 

The Blue Devils opened their ACC slate this weekend locally. Duke (6-6, 0-1) competed against No. 18 North Carolina Friday, taking the short trip to Chapel Hill for competition. The Blue Devils fell to the group 29-6, with only three registered wins on the day, including an extra match not counting toward the total. The group was successful in the 149-pound and 285-pound brackets, with Josh Finesilver and Jonah Niesenbaum taking the cake in their respective brackets. Josh’s twin brother and fellow captain Matt Finesilver dropped his match against North Carolina’s Clay Lautt. Duke will carry on conference play as it hosts N.C. State Friday for another leg of the Tobacco Road rivalry. -Ana Young

Men’s tennis

After their season opener against UNC-Wilmington was canceled Friday, Duke (2-0) kicked off its season with back to back wins Sunday against Elon and NC Central. Both wins were dominant performances for the Blue Devils. The team dispatched Elon 7-0 without losing a single set in any singles match before disposing of NC Central 6-1 to finish up a fantastic weekend of tennis. The team will look to build on this amazing start at the ITA Kickoff Weekend starting Jan. 29 versus Liberty. -Robert Miron 

Women’s tennis 

Duke opened its home slate this weekend with victories against No. 10 Ohio State and No. 23 Princeton, winning 4-3 and 4-2, respectively, and starting the spring 2-0. Against Ohio State, a clutch game-winning singles performance from Kelly Chen against Lucia Marzal highlighted the day after the duo of Chloe Beck and Margaryta Bilokin came back from a 1-4 deficit to secure the doubles point for Duke (2-0). The Princeton match was just as exciting, as the Blue Devils fought their way back to a win after losing the doubles point with help from Bilokin, who competed and won in the singles for the first time this season. -Sasha Richie

Fencing 

In the group’s second meet this season, the Blue Devils were victorious as they took on teams at the Penn-hosted Philadelphia Invitational. Both the women’s and men’s squads were highly successful in their endeavors, going nearly undefeated, as the No. 10 men’s squad went 5-0 on the day and the No. 12 women’s squads went 5-1. The men defeated NJIT 19-8, Lafayette 24-3, Johns Hopkins 17-10, NYU 18-9 and No. 7 Penn 15-12, upsetting Penn for the second consecutive weekend. The women beat No. 15 NJIT 17-10, Lafayette 24-3, Johns Hopkins 21-6, NYU 21-6 and No. 10 Penn 15-12, with the only team they fell to being No. 9 Cornell 15-12. Duke returns to competition Sunday for the Eric Sollee Invitational in Cambridge, Mass. -Young

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