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Duke 90, Wake Forest 61

Posted: Friday February 22, 2002 12:31 AM

Duke Related Info: Team Page Conference Page City Page: • Raleigh-Durham Message Boards: • Duke • ACC

Wake Forest Related Info: Team Page Conference Page City Page: • Winston-Salem Message Boards: • Wake Forest • ACC

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- If Mike Krzyzewski used some creative motivation this time, it worked again.

Mike Dunleavy scored a career-high 30 points and Jason Williams added 26 as third-ranked Duke pounced on No. 21 Wake Forest early and never let up en route to a 90-61 Atlantic Coast Conference victory.

Duke (24-2, 12-2 ACC) suffered its second loss of the season at Maryland on Sunday and made sure the outcome would be different this time. After the Blue Devils' first loss at Florida State on January 6, Krzyzewski emptied the locker room of its pictures and trophies and Duke won its next four games by an average of 22 points.

"Our guys played a heck of a defensive game after a poor night at Maryland," Krzyzewski said. "The communication was a lot better on offense and defense." Williams and Dunleavy did most of the damage in a 17-5 run that opened a 36-19 lead with 5:27 left in the first half. Williams drilled a 3-pointer for the Blue Devils' largest lead of the opening half at 45-25 with 55 seconds to go.

Wake Forest (18-9, 8-5) scored the next four points, but Dunleavy drilled a buzzer-beater from just beyond half-court for a 48-29 halftime edge and the Blue Devils merrily raced into the locker room.

"Dunleavy's shot was a big shot," Krzyzewski said. "It was a heck of a way to end the half. We were up 19 with the ball instead of being up 16." "I got a good run under it and had some rhythm with the shot," Dunleavy said. "It was relatively straight on. I got a good arc underneath of it and it went in." With the momentum clearly in Duke's favor, Williams hit another 3-pointer for a 67-40 cushion early in the second half. The Blue Devils led by as many as 35 points before the Demon Deacons scored the final six points.

"We have to play better individually and collectively," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. "It was a bad game. It's a bad time of year for a bad game." Dahntay Jones netted 13 points for the Blue Devils, who defeated Wake Forest for the 12th straight time. It is their first 12-game streak in the series since 1941-48.

Dunleavy was 11-of-15 from the floor with six 3-pointers to go with nine rebounds. He surpassed his previous career high of 27 points on January 13 at North Carolina State and bounced back after making just 3-of-10 3-pointers against Maryland.

"We didn't play like Duke has played all year," Dunleavy said. "In that fashion, we were upset and people had a right to say stuff. We really wanted to use this game to get back on track to get back to the old ways of Duke." Williams was equally superb, connecting on 10-of-18 shots with four 3-pointers. Duke made 12-of-23 from beyond the arc after connecting on just 7-of-33 against Maryland.

"The big thing for us and for me and Mike especially, was to go out there and play poised, play relaxed, not try to force the action," Williams said. "I think against Maryland, we kind of got into a thing where we thought, 'I have to do it,' instead of a team concept where we have to do it. Tonight was a primary example of how we have to do it." Darius Songaila scored 12 points for Wake Forest, which fell to 3-7 against ranked opponents. The Demon Deacons played their second straight game without starting forward Josh Howard, who was out with a high ankle sprain.

"Not having Howard was a major disadvantage for them," Krzyzewski said. "We thought we had to play really well." A lone bright spot for the Demon Deacons was the play of freshman Vytas Danelius, who came off the bench for 10 points and 11 rebounds.

"My job was to rebound and score inside," he said. "I just tried as hard as I could. It doesn't make me happy. I'm very upset." Prosser shuffled his lineup to include three guards to provide better ball handling but it backfired as Wake had a season-high 21 turnovers. Songaila had eight and freshman Taron Downey added four.

Duke was just as sloppy with 21 turnovers of its own with Carlos Boozer committing six and Chris Duhon five. But Duhon and Williams each had eight assists as Duke finished with 22.