In the meantime, there were other things he could do to help the Duke Blue Devils beat Wake Forest. When his defensive position turned a flying Niki Arinze slam dunk into an offensive foul, the Demon Deacons deflated and Duke went on to a 75-61 win.

The record-setting victory at Lawrence Joel Coliseum marked Duke’s 28th straight in the Atlantic Coast Conference and was the school’s 1,600th of all time. North Carolina State held the previous ACCmark of 27 straight wins from 1972-75, while the Blue Devils joined North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky as the only schools to top the 1,600 plateau.

“I was just told this was the 1,600th win for our school, and that makes me feel good for everyone associated with Duke basketball,”Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “And the 28 — every win for me is precious in the ACC. When I first got to Duke we didn’t win many.”

That’s because he didn’t have players like Battier and phenomenal freshman Jason Williams. Battier missed his first six shots and Duke trailed 39-38 after Arinze’s steal and layup at the 16:54 mark.

Chris Carrawell hit a jumper to put the Blue Devils (15-2 overall, 6-0 ACC) back in front, then Williams took over. He pulled up for a short jumper on the fast break, drove the lane and hit a floater, then nailed a 3-pointer for seven straight Duke points.

“Jason Williams really had an amazing second half,”Krzyzewski said. “His decisions on the break and some of his shots gave us some separation.”

Duke’s 47-43 lead immediately came under fire when Arinze stole another pass and headed down the floor. Only Battier, last season’s national defensive player of the year, stood between Arinze and the goal.

“I knew he was going to take off and I knew I was the only guy back,” Battier said. “So I just said, ‘Oh, well, it’s going to be on SportsCenter, it’s going to be on the local news, I might as well get a charge for it.’”

Arinze took flight and slammed home a monstrous dunk over Battier that brought the Wake crowd to its feet with a roar. The cheers changed quickly to boos as the referee signaled a charge.

“I just felt in the moment of the basketball game you’ve just got to let the game go on,”Arinze said. “I thought it was a pretty good play. I thought it was a block, and if not a block, then nothing. I didn’t run over him or anything.”

Wake head coach Dave Odom agreed with Arinze’s assessment, while Krzyzewski obviously sided with the official.

“It was such a great play because Shane was there for so long. I’m sitting there saying, ‘This kid’s got amazing guts. He sees it, he’s gonna step in front of him,’” Krzyzewski said. “It’s a huge play.”

Even more impressive was that Battier called the shot he was about to take.

“He just missed a charge the other time and the ref called a blocking foul on him,”Williams said. “He smiled and I was like, ‘What are you smiling for?’ He said, ‘I’m going to get the next one, watch.’”

Battier also got his next shot to fall, then the one after that. His 3-pointer following the charge gave the Blue Devils a seven-point edge, then a jumper the next time down made it 52-43.

“There’s only so many shots that Chris or Shane or me are going to miss,”Williams said. “After a while we’re going to start knocking them down.”

Duke shot 62.5 percent in the second half after opening the game at 34.6 percent. Wake’s field-goal fortunes did the opposite — from 42.9 percent to a dismal 27.9. Most disheartening of all was that too many of those misses came on chip shots in the closing minutes, letting Duke maintain the lead.

“Maybe about 12 missed layups,”Odom said to explain the low shooting percentage. “We clearly got to the basket, but they clearly make layups better than we do. We were around the basket as much as we’ve been all year.”

Senior point guard Robert O’Kelley kept the Demon Deacons (11-7, 2-4) alive with 10 second-half points but watched in frustration as shot after shot rimmed out. On consecutive possessions the Deacons missed five rebound shots under the rim.

“It just comes down to concentrating and focusing and putting the ball in the basket,”O’Kelley said. “They’re good shots and we’ve just got to put them down.”

Williams scored on a layup and 3-pointer to keep the lead at nine points, then Nate James scored eight of his 13 points in the last five minutes to put the lead as high as the eventual 14-point final.

Duke’s date with history appeared in jeopardy early as Wake jumped to a 7-0 lead behind an energized O’Kelley. The Devils rebounded later in the half and actually took a 33-31 halftime advantage after four Battier free throws in the final minute. He was 10-for-12 from the line and finished with 15 points, and the only numbers that mattered were 75-61, not 1,600 and 28.

“Streaks and history isn’t really the main focus of this team right now,”Battier said. “The history that this team wants to make and build is 2000 National Champions.”