Tuesday night, the Crazies were letting down their blue hair and bellowing their approval of a Duke mini-dynasty that put the final touches on its fourth straight outright Atlantic Coast Conference championship with a 96-78 win over Wake Forest.

No school has won four straight outright titles (North Carolina twice had runs of four if you count shared titles) in the ACC since Duke did it in 1963-1966.

“What’s really neat about this accomplishment is that we did it all ourselves,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who called the Crazies out to midcourt after the game to share the moment with his team. “We did it at home and we didn’t back into anything.”

“It’s satisfying,” said Duke’s Shane Battier,who scored a career-high 34 points. “With the guys we lost from last season, not many people thought we’d be in this position. We took that sort of thinking personally and worked our butts off.”

Duke (22-3 overall, 13-1 ACC) made it four in a row the hard way. It beat a desperate Wake Forest team that played about as well as it can possibly play. And it dumped the Deacons (14-13, 5-9) with a lineup that came straight from General Hospital.

Sixth man Mike Dunleavy missed the game with mononucleosis and is out indefinitely.

Starter Nate James should have missed it. James was sick as a dog and played like it. His only real impact on the stat sheet came in the form of four personal fouls.

Then there was Carlos Boozer, the freshman center. Boozer started the game with a face that looked like it had just been pounded in a meat locker by Rocky. Before long, he added a scratched eye and a twisted ankle to his medical chart. He was almost immobile at times and was worked over by Wake forward Darius Songaila, who scored a career-high 25 to lead the Deacs.

In a season that has been almost too easy at times, this was a night of battling adversity for Duke. Fortunately for Krzyzewski, the usual suspects answered the bell.

Senior Chris Carrawell, obviously a part of all four championships, scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half, mostly by converting 10 of 12 free throws. And all Battier did was shoot 11-for-17 from the field, hit five 3s and knock down seven straight foul shots.

Carrawell remains the front-runner for ACC Player of the Year, but if he has any serious competition — barring a rash of 40-point games from Maryland’s Juan Dixon — it’s the guy in the next locker stall — Battier.

“No slight on Carrawell,” said Wake Forest coach Dave Odom, “but Battier had a game for the ages. Tonight was his night. His focus, his leadership, his concentration were something to see. We really respect him.”

Respecting Battier and stopping him are two different things, however. He had 21 points by halftime and 32 with 11 minutes left when he stepped out of the spotlight and let freshman point guard Jason Williams, who had 17 points and 10 assists, take over.

Duke was incredibly hot early, scoring on 13 of its first 15 possessions and bolting to a 30-18 lead. But the Deacons, who also placed Josh Howard (11 points), Antwan Scott (11) and Craig Dawson (10) in double figures, were scoring in bunches, too.

Despite the combined 38 points of Carrawell and Battier, the Deacs were down only 51-41 at halftime and their superior depth looked like it might wear out paper-thin Duke as the game wore on.

“Given our health, I had to tell Carrawell, Battier and Williams they couldn’t come out of the game tonight,” Krzyzewski said. “I told them not to even look over at me.”

The Deacs had their big chance when second-ranked Duke failed to score on its first five possessions of the second half. The lead dropped to 51-45, but then Battier stepped forward to nail a key 3-pointer.

Two minutes later, with momentum again swinging Wake’s way, Devil freshman reserve Nick Horvath, who played 18 effective minutes and scored 13, dropped in a huge 3 to turn the game.

The straw that broke Wake’s back came, not surprisingly, from Battier, with 11:11 left.

Wake had crept within 66-58 and the shot-clock was about to expire on the Devils when Battier banked in an answered-prayer of a 3-pointer while being clobbered by Howard.

Howard watched the shot and walked away, laughing in disbelief. Odom sank into a chair, took off his glasses and turned his eyes toward the heavens. The Crazies raised the roof.

“That ridiculous shot,” said Odom, “was the story of our season.”

Battier calmly made the free throw and Duke’s lead was back to a dozen. And Wake, disheartened and dismayed, never threatened again.

“We played extremely well for the most part,” said Odom. “But anytime we got down to single digits, Duke found an open shooter and that shooter delivered.”

Krzyzewski was proven wrong about one thing. Battier didn’t have to go 40 minutes. He got to rest with exactly 52 seconds left, leaving the floor to a standing ovation.

Even Carrawell, who was on the line when the horn sounded to remove Battier, smiled, then dropped the ball and gestured at his long-time teammate. Then he led the applause.

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