DURHAM — Wake Forest seemed to be sitting pretty, trailing by only three points midway through the second half.
But that’s just when top-ranked Duke begins to hit its stride.
Just ask Maryland.
For the second straight game, the Blue Devils turned a nail-biter into a blowout with a flurry in the final 11 minutes.
This time, No. 14 Wake Forest was the victim in a 103-80 loss to Duke on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Demon Deacons trailed 76-73 with 10:36 left before Duke blew open the game. Two nights earlier, the Blue Devils led No. 3 Maryland 73-70 with 10:28 left but ended up winning by 21 points.
“We’re in good shape, and we don’t really let up,”Duke forward Mike Dunleavy said. “Teams are thinking they’re hanging around with us, but we kind of put it into that extra fifth gear at the end of games.”
The Blue Devils (16-1, 5-1 ACC) hit overdrive shortly after a personal 6-0 run by Wake’s Darius Songaila (16 points, 10 rebounds) cut Duke’s led to a mere three points.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called a 30-second timeout with 10:36 left, and the Blue Devils followed it up with a decisive 16-0 run over the next five minutes.
Point guard Jason Williams, who had 23 points and seven assists, keyed the outburst with three driving layups.
Duke hit 7 of 8 shots during the run, while Wake Forest (13-5, 3-2) missed all four of its attempts and committed five turnovers.
“Players really gutted it out in the last 10 minutes,”Krzyzewski said. “Our execution in the last eight to 10 minutes was sensational.”
Not that it was anything to scoff at for the first 30 minutes. Duke scored a season-high 61 points in the first half to lead the Demon Deacons by 12 at the break.
Dahntay Jones, the designated Juan-Dixon stopper on Thursday night, benefitted from a mismatch of his own on Saturday.
Wake decided to put Songaila — and later Vytas Danelius — on the 6-foot-6 guard and leave him open behind the 3-point arc.
Jones scored 18 points and collected five offensive rebounds in the first half alone.
He finished with 22 points and six offensive boards, which included two stick-back dunks.
“People keep playing off him, and we’re using that to our advantage,”Krzyzewski said. “It does give him free runs to the offensive boards.”
Boozer also reached the 20-point plateau, finishing with 20 points and 18 rebounds. Dunleavy (14 points) and Chris Duhon (15) reached double figures, as well.
Songaila led the way for Wake, while Josh Howard and Jamaal Levy had 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Wake was hampered with foul trouble and hammered by injuries throughout the game.
Howard, Songaila and Craig Dawson all had three fouls in the first half, while Broderick Hicks had two.
Hicks also missed most of the final 28 minutes after suffering a deep thigh bruise.
With Duke leading 36-33 with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half, Boozer and Hicks scrambled for a loose ball. Hicks smashed into the press table and laid on the court in pain for several minutes.
Hicks did start the second half but played only the first 1:09.
“This might sound trite, but we’ve got 10 guys on scholarship, and they have scholarships because they’re good players,” Wake coach Skip Prosser said.
Howard eventually fouled out, and Songaila finished with four fouls, including a first-half technical that forced him to the bench for the final 8:08 of the first half.
Songaila picked up his fourth foul at the worst time — just after the Deacons had closed to within 76-73.
“After that, he didn’t want to touch us at all, so we had driving opportunities,” Williams said.
Williams took them, and the Blue Devils were soon on their way to another convincing win against a top-15 team.
Said Krzyzewski, “We’re not much better than those two teams, if we are better.”
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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