The game was right there for the Wake Forest men’s basketball team with less than 12 minutes to play Saturday afternoon.
Ismael Massoud had just gone to the free throw line, where he knocked down all three attempts to knot up the Atlantic Coast Conference game against Duke at 55-55.
Deadlocked in the tie game, Duke’s offensive rebounding clinic and ability to track loose balls crushed the Demon Deacons’ dreams of their first victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium in 24 years, the No. 21 Blue Devils pulling away for a 79-68 victory.
“We knew coming into the game that a lot of their points and a lot of the things they do is offensive rebounding,” Massoud said. “Our coaches did a great job of emphasizing to us that if we win the glass, we’re going to win the game. During that stretch, we weren’t doing that and they were able to get the 50/50 balls which was able to help them get the lead.”
Wake Forest last defeated Duke in Durham in 1997 when Tim Duncan was a senior All-American for the Demon Deacons.
The Blue Devils (5-2 overall, 3-0 ACC) grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the final 11 1/2 minutes and took advantage of the extra opportunities to put Wake Forest away.
“I thought there was really two areas that cost us the game,” Forbes said. “The offensive rebounds — I think they had four in the first half and they had 15 for the game. Then, the 50/50 balls. To me, every meaningful game is won by who gets the most 50/50 balls.”
“I think it’s sometimes checking your man out so he don’t get it. I think a lot of the times it’s just going and getting it. You just got to want the ball, man. You just got to have a desire for when that ball is loose — and it’s 50/50, it’s either your ball or my ball — I’m going to get it because I understand how important it is to have this possession, and I don’t think we’re there yet with that hunger. I don’t care how tall we are; it doesn’t matter. Box out and get the ball.”
Forward Matthew Hurt finished with a career-high 26 points to go along with six rebounds, freshman guard DJ Steward provided 21 points and six rebounds and senior guard Jordan Goldwire posted 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals to pace Duke.
“Matthew Hurt’s a handful,” Forbes said. “We knew that coming into the game. He’s a good player. He’s hard to guard because he can play inside and out, and they play at a fast pace.
“Their guards really hurt us on the offensive glass, especially in the second half. I think they maybe had nine of the offensive rebounds.”
Ismael Massoud and Daivien Williamson scored 17 points apiece to lead the Demon Deacons (3-3, 0-3).
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Massoud showing growth, making a difference
The sophomore forward was all over the Cameron Indoor Stadium court Saturday, making a difference for the Demon Deacons in a multitude of ways.
Massoud’s 17 points registered as a career-high and his eight rebounds were the most of any Demon Deacons player. The sophomore made 5 of 10 attempts from the field and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.
Wednesday against Virginia, Massoud provided 13 points and three rebounds.
“I thought Ish, he’s stepped up the last two games,” Forbes said. “I’m proud of the way he played.”
Through the first six games of the season, Massoud is averaging 9.3 points and 3.5 rebounds after registering 4.8 points and 2.0 rebounds as a freshman a season ago.
Oguama’s presence needed
Battling with foul trouble, Wake Forest sophomore forward Ody Oguama scored nine points on 3-for-5 shooting in just 15 minutes on the court.
“Ody, his energy is unmatched,” Massoud said. “When he’s on the floor, his rebounding, his energy on defense, so when he comes out or know he’s in foul trouble, that just means it has to be done by committee.”
His presence was missed by the Demon Deacons when he fouled out of the game with roughly 4 minutes to play.
“It really hurt us when Ody got in foul trouble and fouled out,” Forbes said. “We were able to get the ball to him because they were switching and we were able to throw it in there to him, but we’ve got to keep him in the game.”
At 6-foot-9, 235 pounds, Oguama is Wake Forest’s only true big man in the post, so his ability to stay on the court is of utmost importance as the Demon Deacons will generally face teams with more size.
Tariq Ingraham, a 6-foot-9, 255-pound forward, is recovering from COVID-19 and out for the season, Wake Forest announced last month.
Demon Deacons showing they’re better than expected
Wake Forest was picked to finish dead last in the ACC in the preseason poll, as selected by the media.
In the Demon Deacons’ last two games against Virginia and Duke, they’ve shown they’re capable of finishing better than that.
“It just shows that when we listen to the coaches and the game plan they have before the game, it shows that we’re in games that we feel like we should be winning,” Massoud said. “We’re in good games with Top 25 teams, so it shows that if we play the right way the whole 40 minutes, we can beat anybody.”
Both this loss at Duke and Wednesday’s loss at Virginia were decided by single digits. In each of those contests, Wake Forest put together strong performances early before fading in the second half.
“One of the main things we need to focus on is progression, just continue to go in an upward motion,” Williamson said. “This wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but it was a lot of positives to take away from this game. If we match them or outbound them, I’m telling you, this game could be a different outcome. It’s just things like that, we’ve got to continue to grow and just continue to get better and listen to our coaches and stick to our principles, and I think we’ll be all right.”
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Demon Deacons drop second straight vs. ranked ACC team late, lose battle for rebounds, loose balls vs. Duke