Duke basketball wins a title: Three takeaways from Blue Devils’ win over Wake Forest
Another unbeaten season at home brought No. 2 Duke the first of what it hopes is many championships this season.
Behind Cooper Flagg’s 28 points, the Blue Devils beat Wake Forest, 93-60, Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, clinching them at least a share of the ACC’s regular-season championship.
A seventh consecutive win, and 23rd in the past 24 games, left Duke (27-3, 18-1 ACC) perfect in 17 games at home. With only Saturday’s game at rival North Carolina remaining in the regular season, the Blue Devils can do no worse than tie No. 11 Clemson (24-5, 16-2 ACC) or No. 14 Louisville (23-6, 16-2 ACC) in the final league standings.
Duke can lock up the No. 1 seed for next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte if it beats UNC, or if Clemson loses either of its final two regular-season games — Wednesday at Boston College or Saturday at home with Virginia Tech.
By shooting just 32.8%, Wake Forest (20-10, 12-7 ACC) saw its chances for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid weakened further as it squandered an opportunity to gain a much-needed Quad 1 win. The Demon Deacons entered the night No. 68 in the NET with a 2-6 record in Quad 1 games.
Duke’s regular-season championship is its second in the past four seasons since it won the title outright during Mike Krzyzewski’s final season as head coach in 2021-22. The Blue Devils have now won or shared 21 ACC regular-season titles.
The Blue Devils’ 17-0 record at Cameron Indoor this season marked the second time in Jon Scheyer’s three seasons as head coach they’ve been perfect at home.
Here are three takeaways from Duke’s latest win:
Proctor returns
The bone bruise Tyrese Proctor suffered to his left knee last Tuesday night at Miami only kept him sidelined for six days, as it turned out. The 6-5 junior guard missed his first game this season when Duke beat Florida State, 100-65, on Saturday but he returned to the starting lineup against Wake Forest.
Proctor played 24 minutes, scoring 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting. He made only 1 of 6 3-pointers but had two assists.
His presence meant Duke returned to the starting lineup it has used the most this season. The Blue Devils are now 21-1 in games when using Flagg, Proctor, Kon Knueppel, Sion James and Khaman Maluach as starters.
Offensive rebounds make the difference
Duke won the overall rebounding battle, 46-32, but the work the Blue Devils did on offensive rebounds tipped the game in their favor.
Duke logged 22 second-chance points while Wake Forest finished with seven points to show for their offensive rebounds. The Blue Devils grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, with Maluach leading them six as part of his 14-rebound night. Knueppel had four offensive rebounds.
Flagg farewell
In what will certainly be Flagg’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium before enters the NBA Draft this summer, the projected No. 1 overall pick left quite an impression.
The 6-9 freshman scored 18 of his game-high 28 points in the second half while finishing with eight rebounds and seven assists. Flagg made 10 of 16 shots overall, including 3 of 6 3-pointers.
His play early in the second half help Duke turn the game into another one-sided affair.
The Demon Deacons had trimmed what had been a 16-point Duke lead to 40-33 by scoring the first six points after halftime. But Flagg rebounded a Maluach miss to score with 18:14 to play. That started a stretch where Flagg scored 10 of Duke’s next 13 points. When he hit a 3-pointer with 14:22 to play, the Blue Devils held a comfortable 53-38 lead.
When Flagg left the game with 3:32 to play, the hopeful Cameron Crazies unleashed a loud “one more year!” chant until Flagg acknowledged them from the bench.
This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 9:09 PM with the headline "Duke basketball wins a title: Three takeaways from Blue Devils’ win over Wake Forest."