RJ Barrett scored 28 points and fourth-ranked Duke broke a late tie to defeat visiting Wake Forest 71-70 in its home finale Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.
Alex O'Connell's 3-pointer for Duke broke a 62-62 tie with 3:39 left. That was part of a 7-0 spurt for a 67-62 lead.
A Duke turnover with 7.4 seconds remaining gave Wake Forest a final possession, with Brandon Childress missing a 3 and Chaundee Brown's shot off a rebound rolling off the rim at the buzzer.
Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson sat out his fourth consecutive game with a sprained knee suffered Feb. 20 against North Carolina.
While Duke honored a couple of players on Senior Night, it also figured to be the last home appearance for some of the team's heralded freshmen.
Freshman Tre Jones scored 13 points despite missing time late in the game after hobbling off the court before returning.
Duke (26-4, 14-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) is one game behind co-leaders Virginia and North Carolina going into Saturday night's regular-season finale at No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels defeated Boston College on Tuesday night.
Brown had 21 points with 10 rebounds, and Childress finished with 19 points for Wake Forest (11-18, 4-13), which dropped to 1-8 against ranked opponents this season and will finish the regular season Saturday at home against No. 14 Florida State. The Demon Deacons fell to 13th place in the conference.
Childress scored seven straight points and Sharone Wright Jr. drained a 3-pointer as Wake Forest quieted the crowd for a 49-39 lead with 16:15 to play.
Duke responded with a 10-0 run.
Duke led 35-34 at halftime despite nine turnovers and Barrett accounting for 15 of the 22 points from the team's starters.
Duke's Jack White, who missed 28 consecutive 3-point attempts until Saturday's 3-for-3 outing against Miami, bagged 3s on consecutive first-half possessions as Duke took a 26-23 lead -- the second of those banking in off the backboard.
Duke won 87-65 on the road in a Jan. 8 meeting with Wake Forest.
Wake Forest wrapped up its road slate with a 1-10 mark.
--Field Level Media
Wake Forest | Duke | |
Chaundee Brown 21 | Scoring | RJ Barrett 28 |
Brandon Childress 3 | Assists | RJ Barrett 4 |
Chaundee Brown 10 | Rebounds | Jack White 10 |
Chaundee Brown 4 | Free Throws Made | RJ Barrett 6 |
Chaundee Brown 1 | Steals | Tre Jones 3 |
Sharone Wright Jr. 1 | Blocks | RJ Barrett 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Wake Forest | 70 | 39.4 | 7-23 | 7-12 | 8 | 36 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
Duke | 71 | 41.4 | 7-22 | 16-26 | 10 | 38 | 7 | 3 | 15 |