Duke Falls at Wake Forest
For the second time in a week, Duke faced an unranked in-state opponent in a road game and lost by double digits.
Six days after losing by 22 at NC State, the No. 7 Blue Devils fell to Wake Forest in double overtime, 113-101.
The loss was a costly one for the Blue Devils, who saw hopes of a top seed in the NCAA tournament fade.
Duke continued to struggle stopping opponents from dribble penetration, as Wake jumped out to an early lead that reached 12 points in the first half.
Duke made a late run before halftime to tie the game on a Tre Jones three at the buzzer. Then, in the second half, Duke appeared to take control of the game, leading by 12 with 10:30 to play.
Instead, Wake took advantage of foul trouble by the Duke big men. Vernon Carey, Javin DeLaurier and Justin Robinson all fouled out in the game. The Demon Deacons scored five points in the final 31 seconds of regulation to tie the score and force overtime. Jordan Goldwire lost the ball with 23 seconds remaining and Brandon Childress hit the game-tying three, his first made shot in 11 attempts in the game. Childress also went 0-6 in a scoreless effort in the first game between the teams, won by Duke 90-59.
Tre Jones then committed an offensive foul on the next possession, ending any chance of Duke winning at the buzzer in regulation.
“We gave it up two times in the last minute,” Mike Krzyzewski said. “We need to be stronger with the ball.”
Wake led for most of the first overtime period before Duke tied it on an Alex O’Connell three and two Tre Jones free throws.
Wake led the second overtime wire-to-wire, pulling away to get a 12-point victory. Childress made 6-of-10 in the final seconds of regulation and the two overtime periods to finish with 17 points.
For Duke, Wendell Moore had a career high 25 points on 15-of-16 shooting from the free throw line. Jones finished with 24 points and nine assists.
Robinson, who had played a total of 19 minutes in ACC games this season, was 3-of-6 in 14:40 filling in for the foul-saddled Duke bigs. He had six points, three blocks and two steals.
