What was supposed to be a close, hard-fought matchup between the final two undefeated schools in Division I college basketball gradually evolved into a full-out rout Sunday night, as top-ranked Duke ran out to a 30-point lead in the second half on its way to a 74-55 victory over Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils broke open a tie game with 4:33 remaining in the first half, stunning the visitors with a game-altering 10-0 run. Duke captain Chris Duhon began the spurt, draining back-to-back three-point shots and the Blue Devils completely shut down the Demon Deacons to take a 10-point lead into halftime.
The second half then proved to be one long nightmare for previously unbeaten Wake Forest (10-1, 0-1 in the ACC), as Duke (11-0, 2-0) opened the half with a 31-13 run on its way to decimating its conference foe. Dahntay Jones scored 15 points in an eight-minute stretch, and the Deacons had no answer.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski offered no definitive explanation for his squad's dominant performance in what many expected to be a difficult test, pointing only to his team's general offensive explosiveness, especially the perimeter quartet of Duhon, Jones, J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing.
"It just kind of happens, really, and being at home helps," he said. "We really executed well offensively in the second half. When we have those four perimeter guys in there they can make plays for one another and they all can score.... It becomes a very tough team to defend."
Duke's fifth weapon Sunday night was 6-foot-10 power forward Shavlik Randolph. The freshman, whom Krzyzewski declared delivered the best performance of his young career, finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and two impressive blocks, and was excited to contribute to a Blue Devil blowout.
For his part, Jones looked like two different players Sunday night. The senior struggled in the first half, scoring just a single point while going 0-for-6 from the field, including a couple of unimpressive misses. He absolutely took over after halftime, however, making all three of this attempts from behind the arc and two mid-range jumpers in a game-clinching eight-minute burst.
Although appearing a bit out of control in an awkward-looking first half display, Jones denied making a halftime adjustment regarding his focus or attitude.
"In the first half I was taking shots that were available," Jones said. "In the second half I took the same shots-things started going down and then there's a different outcome. I don't think I was pressing in the first half. I don't think I had too much energy."
Krzyzewski said that he and his assistants went into the locker room at halftime without a specific message to the seemingly out-of-sorts Jones. He expected his enthusiastic leader to keep shooting and driving with confidence.
"When you're playing good players, good players are going to stop you," Krzyzewski said. "What you can't do is stop yourself and that's a maturity that
With Jones struggling during the first 20 minutes, Duhon delivered his best offensive performance in a month. Despite battling laryngitis, which rendered the junior mostly speechless both during and after the game, he finished with 14 points, his first game in double-digits since a Dec. 7 victory over Michigan, including his decisive three-point baskets during Duke's 10-0 run to close out the first half. He also dished out nine assists against a lone turnover.
"Duhon was spectacular again tonight," Krzyzewski said. "He's been concentrating so much on just leading us and making sure everyone else is okay that his shooting isn't where it will be. That's just a period of adjustment."
Duhon's three-point barrage propelled the Blue Devils during the game-deciding spurt. With Wake Forest placing defensive clamps on Duke for most of the first half, it appeared as though they would leave the floor gridlocked with the nation's top-ranked team. The Blue Devils exploded, however, and then played stifling defense of their own, and the Demon Deacons found themselves facing what proved to be an insurmountable deficit.
"We came to a hurdle at that point," Randolph said. "Coach told us that this can be a time where we can separate ourselves a little bit and go into halftime with somewhat of a lead and that's what we did."
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