Another home game against a highly ranked opponent, another impressive victory for the Blue Devils.
Behind a balanced scoring attack that saw four players reach double figures, second-ranked Duke (14-1, 4-0 in the ACC) continued its dominance in Cameron Indoor Stadium, defeating No. 4 Wake Forest 84-72 Saturday afternoon.
The win over the Demon Deacons (11-2, 2-1) extended the Blue Devils' unblemished run at home to 36 games--second in the nation to Pittsburgh's 37 straight--and gave them sole possession of first place in the ultra-competitive ACC.
"It was a great win for us," said freshman Luol Deng, who finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots as the Boston Celtics' Executive Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge watched from the sidelines. "We want to be at the top of the ACC. We just felt like coming out here and making it clear that this was our home and we wanted this game more than they did."
Duke came out firing in the first half, and a three-pointer by guard Daniel Ewing--who matched his season high with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting--with 15:28 remaining put the Blue Devils ahead 12-4 and forced Wake Forest to call a timeout.
But the break in the action did nothing to stop Duke's momentum. A lob pass from Sean Dockery to Chris Duhon, a three-pointer by Deng and two from long range by Redick increased the lead to 23-11 and had the 200th-consecutive sellout crowd at Cameron going crazy.
"That's what we try to do, go ahead and not let people come back," Deng said. "I thought we came out with a great intensity and focus, and the fans helped us a lot with our intensity."
Despite the early deficit, Wake Forest battled its way back into the game. Fueled by deep three pointers from guards Justin Gray and Chris Paul, who combined to score 25 points, the Demon Deacons pulled within four at 27-23 with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Blue Devils, led by center Shelden Williams, responded with a run of their own. Williams had five points, two blocks, two rebounds and an assist on a Deng basket in the final 4:25 to give Duke a 41-30 lead going into the lockerroom. The Oklahoma native--who finished the game with 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks--also had more rejections (6) in the opening 20 minutes than Wake Forest had assists (5).
"Obviously, in the first half, Shelden Williams was just a horse inside and we had no answer for him," Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser said. "He played really well. He blocked shots, he rebounded and he scored."
Williams started the second half how he ended the first--with another block--but the Demon Deacons went on a 12-4 run coming out of halftime to cut their deficit to just three points.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski called a 30 second timeout after a Gray three pointer made the score 45-42, and Ewing responded with a clutch shot of his own from downtown that restored the Blue Devils' lead to a more comfortable six points with 15:35 remaining in the game.
"[Wake Forest] had seized the momentum of the game," Krzyzewski said. "We got the ball to Shelden, and he relocated to Daniel and he knocked it down. It was worth more than three. It was like, okay, we're back."
Ewing's shot proved to be a dagger, as sophomore J.J. Redick--who finished with a game-high and season-high 23 points--continued his hot shooting from the floor and Duke never looked back.
Redick elicited perhaps the loudest cheer of the night from the frenzied crowd just minutes after Ewing's three. A defensive rebound by Deng led to a fast break the other way for the Blue Devils. Ewing appeared to be driving for a layup, but he instead kicked the ball to a wide-open Redick behind the arc, who knocked it down from the right wing to give Duke a 53-44 edge.
"I had a great time out there today, and I think we had a great time as a team," Redick said. "These are the games, these are the reasons you come to play for Duke, a game like this where Cameron's rocking."
Another long-range bomb by Redick with 11:47 left put the Blue Devils up by 11, and they kept their double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.
Duke's performance was especially impressive considering that it had only one day of rest after Thursday night's late 76-57 victory over N.C. State.
"We knew they were going to be on their best game, and if we used the excuse of not having energy, we were going to get embarrassed on our home court, and that's something we don't want to happen," said Duhon, who had a career-high 14 assists. "But you have to credit our fans. Our fans were amazing today. I don't remember the last time it was this loud in Cameron."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.