Closer than normal
No. 2 Duke downs Wake Forest 72-62, 5-0 in ACC
Posted: Wednesday January 13, 1999 10:50 PM
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With Duke's Craig Dawson (42) and Shane Battier breathing down his neck, Wake Forest's Darius Songaila tries a reverse layup AP |
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- The nation's No. 2 team extended its winning streak to 11 games Wednesday night, and was promptly hit with questions about what's wrong.
An 82-72 victory over Wake Forest represented a step out of character for Duke, which came in with the highest-scoring offense and the largest average winning margin in the country.
The Blue Devils had won their previous two games by 41 and 46 points, pushing their average winning margin in Atlantic Coast Conference games to 31 points. Those kinds of numbers left almost everyone expecting more of the same against the Demon Deacons.
"It certainly didn't look like Wake Forest expected it," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the Blue Devils (16-1, 5-0 ACC) got a tough fight from a team dominated with freshmen and sophomores.
"I thought Wake played really well and we played well, too," Krzyzewski said. "I think overall we always have to be the judge of what we do and not let other people judge us. We're pretty happy that we're 5-0 in the conference."
Duke needed a strong finish defensively and 26 points from Trajan Langdon, who had 12 over the final 8:37. William Avery added 19 points and Chris Carrawell had 11 for the Blue Devils in what ended up being their smallest winning margin since a 73-67 victory over Michigan State on Dec. 2, the game that started Duke's winning streak.
"Anytime you can get a win in the ACC -- any win -- is huge," Langdon said. "It's not necessarily how much you win by, but just winning. And I think down the road, a game like this where maybe everything isn't going well for us and Wake Forest played really well, this is going to help us mature as the year goes along."
The Demon Deacons (11-5, 2-2) got 22 points from Robert O'Kelley in their bid for a second consecutive victory over a Top 25 team. Wake Forest shot 57 percent in the second half Saturday for a 64-61 victory over then-No. 21 Clemson, and the Demon Deacons held Duke 14 points below its Division I-leading average of 96 points. The outcome also was 19 points less than Duke's average winning margin.
"This game taught us that if we compete, we can play with anybody," O'Kelley said. "We're in a stage where we're improving right now, so we just have to keep focusing on getting better."
Duke limited Wake Forest to just 2-of-10 shooting over the last 4 1/2 minutes, but the Blue Devils hurt themselves by missing eight of 14 free throws over the final 1:42.
"We improved tonight, and I think the game may have helped Duke, too," Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. "That wasn't my goal -- to help them -- but I think that helped us to compete against one of the very best teams in the country."
The Blue Devils appeared to take control with a 17-4 run midway through the first half that helped them push their lead to 15. But Wake Forest responded by scoring on seven of eight possessions, and the Demon Deacons used some timely perimeter shooting to keep it close well into the second half.
O'Kelley's 3-pointer from the left wing cut Duke's lead to 71-65 with 4:57 remaining before the Blue Devils began to assert themselves.
Langdon answered with a 25-footer from the top of the key, Shane Battier added two free throws and Duke clamped down defensively on the Demon Deacons.
After O'Kelley's 3-pointer, Wake Forest missed its next four shots and turned it over once, holding the Demon Deacons scoreless until Craig Dawson's 3-pointer made it 76-68 with 67 seconds left.
Wake Forest also got 14 points from Dawson, 13 from Rafael Vidaurreta and 12 from Darius Songaila.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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