Ed Hardin: Duke blows past Wake, the barometer of the ACC

Duke's Grayson Allen gestures during the first half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
WINSTON-SALEM – The blue enigma that is Duke basketball, blew through town Tuesday night, confounding the Deacons and the Blue Devils themselves before winning 84-70.

The win sets up a Saturday showdown against Virginia for what might yet be a run for the top seed in the ACC tournament. But having seen both Duke and the Wahoos come through Winston this week, there’s little doubt about which is the better team.

And yet at times, Duke showed why a lot of people still believe the Blue Devils will eventually be the best team in the country.

Of course, we’ve seen this before.

Mike Krzyzewski has a tall order between now and March if there is to be an April for Duke. First of all, he has to find his team. Or let his team find itself.

Wake Forest saw the good and the bad Tuesday night, just as the Deacs did on Sunday when Virginia wore down Wake to win by 10. With a month of Wednesdays left in the regular season, the Deacs have become the barometer for the ACC.

And right now, Wake is spinning like a weather vane.

Louisville, Florida State, Clemson and Miami play the Deacs, in order, in the coming weeks. Somewhere in there, between Virginia and the others, Wake will help determine the final standings at the top of the ACC.

Duke’s not there yet, literally or figuratively.

Yes, the Blue Devils have one of the best players in the nation in Marvin Bagley III. But he didn’t play at that well against Wake. In fact, he didn’t play at all near the end of the first half of what was the worst half of basketball he’s played this year.

“We had a letup right at the end of the first half,” Krzyzewski said.

Bagley was more himself in the second half, but the performance was enough to cause concern for Krzyzewski. As Bagley goes, so goes Duke.

For all the talk of how polished the freshman is, he’s far from a finished product. For all his leaping skills and his good hands and ability to finish around the basket, he’s not a good jump shooter, not a good free-throw shooter and sometimes a little out of control of offense.

Then again, those are the finer skills of the game he would’ve learned in the 12th grade instead of enrolling in Krzyzewski’s basketball academy a year early.

Duke has more polished players in Grayson Allen and even Gary Trent, Jr. Wendell Carter is a better player around the rim. But those guys are role players now, even Allen. Krzyzewski has hitched his wagon to his star freshman.

And therein lies the trepidation for Duke.

Wake showed that a taller lineup can mess with Bagley. And the Deacs showed everyone that the way to cover him in a half-court set is to lay off the 6-11 forward and let him fire away from beyond the three-point circle, where he was 0-3 Tuesday and right at 30 percent for the season.

Virginia will use many of the ploys Manning used Tuesday night, pushing Duke away from the basket, playing physical inside and allowing Bagley to shoot all he wants from outside.

Wake saw Saturday’s collision as it developed, with Virginia coming in and holding Wake to 49 points and then Duke coming in and willing itself to 84 points.

“We’re getting better,” Krzyzewski said. “We’re getting better.”

The barometer revealed a lot about both teams this week. Virginia is playing like a defensive machine, a smooth and devastating force that takes teams out of what they do best and smothers them down the stretch.

The barometer revealed Tuesday that Duke is still an emerging force that might not come together until March, if at all. And the remarkable thing is, the Blue Devils could still win the ACC title, if not the whole thing.

Duke survived Bagley’s slow start and swatted away a few Wake rallies to easily blow past the Deacons. It looked ragged at times, and then again, it seemed effortless.

Now the Blue Devils and Virginia play each other with all the attention of the league on the Saturday game and finally, not on Wake Forest.

The Deacons await the rest of the league, the spinning gauge of the ACC with inside knowledge of what’s to come.

That would be bad things for Wake Forest.

And the game of the year Saturday in Cameron Indoor.