Coming into Saturday's game against No. 1 Duke (16-1, 5-1 in the ACC), no current Wake Forest player had ever defeated the Blue Devils or won a road game against a top-10 opponent.
And, until the worn-out Duke squad mustered an insurmountable 16-0 run with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half, the No. 14 Demon Deacons (13-5, 3-2) had put themselves in a position to end both of those streaks.
However, just like Thursday night, when Maryland closed the Blue Devils' lead to three points midway through the second stanza only to see the game slip away, Wake Forest succumbed to one of Duke's patented offensive explosions and lost 103-80 after narrowing the lead to as little as 76-73. The Demon Deacons' brief comeback was led by senior forward Darius Songaila, who scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the second half.
After consecutive baskets by Songaila brought Wake Forest to within three, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called a 30-second timeout to help his players regroup.
"There's no question our team was tired," Krzyzewski said. "We talked about a couple of things [during the timeout] that we might be able to do offensively. We went to one of those things right away and got a three-point play. We didn't play tired the rest of the night. Our players really gutted it out in those last 10 minutes."
The Blue Devils looked anything but tired coming out of the timeout, as Jason Williams scored three of his team-leading 23 points on a driving layup that also caused Songaila to pick up his fourth foul.
"I think that timeout
Subsequent points in the paint by Carlos Boozer, Chris Duhon and Williams, and a three-point shot by Mike Dunleavy helped Duke to continue its run.
Perhaps the most spectacular play of the game occurred at the end of the Blue Devil's 16-0 outburst, when Duhon beat two Wake Forest players to come up with a loose ball and make an acrobatic reverse layup on the opposite end while being fouled by Steve Lepore. The highlight-reel play sent the Cameron Crazies into their loudest frenzy of the afternoon.
If the second half was defined by the Duke's dominating run, then the first half was clearly the Dahntay Jones show.
The 6-foot-6 junior silenced critics of his offense by scoring 18 first-half points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line. Jones, who was recruited by opposing coach Skip Prosser when he was at Xavier, has been known primarily as a defensive specialist this year. Because Jones has struggled at times from the floor, he was frequently given open shots by the Demon Deacons, who instead chose to focus on Duke's more potent offensive weapons.
"From the start of the game, [Wake Forest] was basically saying that they wanted Dahntay to shoot," Duhon said. "I think Dahntay takes that as disrespect and he made them pay. He took the shots and he made the shots, but he also penetrated, drew some fouls, and kept them honest. That's
Despite Jones' stellar first-half performance, the Blue Devils were unable to pull away from the Demon Deacons in the first 20 minutes. Reminiscent of the game against Maryland, both Duke and Wake Forest came out with a high energy level that translated into a fast-paced, high-scoring opening stanza featuring numerous lead changes.
Wake Forest's Josh Howard kept his team close by topping his season average of 14.1 points per game with 15 in the first half alone. However, Jones' 18 points, a first-half double-double by Boozer and a buzzer-beating three-point shot by Dunleavy allowed the Blue Devils to go into the locker room with a 61-49 advantage.
"Wake is really good," Krzyzewski said. "They are an experienced, confident team, and they can hit you from all positions. We had to really do some tough things to win."
The victory marked the Blue Devils' fourth consecutive win following a shocking loss at Florida State earlier this month. Since that eye-opening defeat, the Blue Devils have increased their defensive intensity, which, in turn, has translated into an offensive explosion.
"I thought we played defense sporadically for the first couple of months of the season," Krzyzewski said. "In the last couple of weeks, we've tried to play defense on every exchange. A team that scores a lot of points can end up with the bad habit of playing in spurts defensively. Now we're playing on both ends, and it's paying off. The last four games the kids have worked so hard and played so well."
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