No. 5 Duke 75, Wake Forest 70: Mason Plumlee tallied a career-high 32 points and nine rebounds as the Blue Devils held off an inspired effort by the Demon Deacons to grab their first road win of the season.
Seth Curry added 21 points – including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:10 remaining – for Duke (18-2, 5-2 ACC), which won despite shooting 2-of-14 beyond the arc.
After the Demon Deacons watched the Blue Devils drain 11 3-pointers against them in an 80-62 loss on Jan. 5 and saw Duke do it again in Saturday’s win over Maryland, Wake Forest made a conscious effort to take away the Blue Devils' perimeter shot and force Plumlee to beat them - a plan that worked for most of the game.
Tyler Cavanaugh drew a fourth foul on Plumlee and converted a three-point play with 4:05 remaining to give Wake Forest (10-10, 3-5) its final lead of the game at 66-65. But a free throw by Plumlee and a 3-pointer from Curry over the next 55 seconds helped Duke pull ahead by three points. Plumlee and Rasheed Sulaimon each hit critical shots over the final 1:26 to preserve the victory.
Emerging freshman Devin Thomas finished with 15 points to lead the Demon Deacons, who dropped their seventh straight to the Blue Devils in the oldest rivalry in the ACC.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Duke, which averaged 7.8 3-pointers entering Wednesday, made its fewest 3-pointers in a game since going 1-for-12 on Jan. 13, 2010, against Boston College. … Wake Forest lost for the first time in four home conference games. … Plumlee committed a career-high seven turnovers.
Duke | Wake Forest | |
Mason Plumlee 32 | Scoring | Devin Thomas 15 |
Quinn Cook 7 | Assists | Madison Jones 5 |
Mason Plumlee 9 | Rebounds | Travis McKie 7 |
Mason Plumlee 8 | Free Throws Made | C.J. Harris 6 |
Mason Plumlee 2 | Steals | Madison Jones 2 |
Mason Plumlee 2 | Blocks | Travis McKie 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Duke | 75 | 51.9 | 2-14 | 17-22 | 13 | 27 | 4 | 5 | 15 |
Wake Forest | 70 | 48.1 | 3-11 | 17-21 | 14 | 25 | 3 | 4 | 17 |