DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Duke found itself in the rarest of situations: A tight game at home against Wake Forest. The 17th-ranked Blue Devils had the one player who always hangs big numbers on the Demon Deacons.
Grayson Allen scored 30 points in Duke’s 79-71 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday night.
It’s been a whirlwind of a past few days for Allen, who was publicly reprimanded by the Atlantic Coast Conference for his second tripping incident in a month — a late-game episode against Florida State six nights earlier that made him even more of a lightning rod for criticism.
Marshall Plumlee added 13 points and matched a career high with 17 rebounds, and freshman Brandon Ingram finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils (22-8, 11-6).
They overcame some cold early shooting and shot 46 percent in the second half to earn their 17th straight home victory over Wake Forest.
Devin Thomas had 16 points and 13 rebounds and freshman Bryant Crawford scored 15 points for the Demon Deacons (11-19, 2-16). Codi Miller-McIntyre added 13 points, and his layup with 38.6 seconds left pulled them to 76-70.
Allen followed with a free throw with 37.9 seconds left, Miller-McIntyre missed a rushed 3 and Allen hit two more free throws with 26.6 seconds remaining to ice it.
“They made plays down the stretch, and a couple guys, we couldn’t stay in front of,” Wake Forest coach Danny Manning said, “and that cost us the game.”
This was Allen’s third straight game against Wake Forest with at least 24 points. The breakout game of his freshman season came here in last year’s meeting, and he scored 27 against them last month in Winston-Salem.
Matt Jones finished with 14 points for the Blue Devils, who were playing their third game in six days. This one came two days after a 14-point loss at Pittsburgh in which Krzyzewski lamented his team’s fatigue.
“We’re in March now,” Allen said. “You have to find your energy for March. There’s no excuse for us to be tired or anything like. We’re kids in college, and it’s March.”
They needed every ounce of energy they could muster to hold off a Wake Forest team that hadn’t won here since Tim Duncan suited up in 1997. The Demon Deacons lost each of their last 16 here by double figures, and the last five by at least 18 points.
For much of the night, they didn’t play like a team that has lost 14 of 15 — with the lone victory coming against a Boston College team that’s winless in the ACC — or a group that hasn’t won a league game on the road in more than two full years.
For the first 11 minutes of the second half, the margin was never greater than three points either way. Wake Forest closed to 70-65 on Thomas’ free throw with 1:40 left before Chase Jeter hit a foul shot with 1:26 to go to put Duke back up by six. Jeter missed his second attempt and Thomas grabbed the rebound but immediately threw it away to Ingram. Allen then hit two free throws to stretch the lead to 73-65 with 1:14 left.
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STAT SHEET
Wake Forest had 18 turnovers, and Duke turned those into 19 points. … The Demon Deacons attempted just 17 free throws to the Blue Devils’ 38. Duke made 25 while Wake Forest made 10. … The Blue Devils shot just 29 percent in the first half.
TIP-INS
Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons, whose only victory over a Top 25 team came against then-No. 13 Indiana in the Maui Invitational, have not beaten two away from Winston-Salem since 2009-10. Facing a school-record 11th ranked opponent, they fell to 1-10 against them.
Duke: The Blue Devils played three freshmen aside from Ingram, and those three — Derryck Thornton, Luke Kennard and Jeter — were a combined 2 for 12.
UP NEXT
Wake Forest plays in the first round of the ACC Tournament on March 8 in Washington.
Duke hosts No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday night.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Malcolm Brogdon had no doubt of No. 4 Virginia’s fate if it faced this road challenge two months ago.
“This is a game we probably would’ve lost earlier in ACC play,” Brogdon said.
Instead, the Cavaliers recovered after losing a double-digit lead to defeat Clemson 64-57 on Tuesday night and keep alive their long shot bid for an Atlantic Coast Conference title.
“We’re resilient,” said Brogdon, who led Virginia (23-76, 12-5) with 18 points. “It just speaks to our maturity.”
The Cavaliers have indeed grown from the mess that was a 2-3 start — all three defeats on the road — to the ACC season. Now, they have won 10 of 12 and with the right set of circumstances could wind up with a share of first place when the weekend’s over.
“This year we’ve lost some tough ones and they haven’t made excuses,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “They’ve just showed up and played and realized it’s worth the fight. That’s what I like from them.”
The Cavaliers got off to a 12-0 start and looked ready to blow the Tigers out of the building. Instead, Clemson (16-13, 9-8) scratched away and led 47-46 on Gabe DeVoe’s 3-pointer with 6:29 remaining.
That’s when Virginia scored seven straight points, started by Anthony Gill’s three-point play, to gain control toward its third straight 12-win ACC season — a feat last accomplished from 1981-83 when Ralph Sampson patrolled the paint for the Cavaliers.
Gill had 11 points and 10 rebounds, his third double-double for Virginia this season. London Perrantes had 13 points, including a 3-pointer after Clemson closed to 53-52 with under 3 minutes remaining.
“We never stop fighting,” Perrantes said. “We’re hoping it helps in the long run and we feel that it has.”
Jaron Blossomgame led Clemson with 31 points.
Blossomgame finished two points shy of his career high, set two games ago in a loss at North Carolina State.
“We just aren’t great at any one thing,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “We’re pretty good at a lot of things, but one of them breaks down in games and we aren’t good enough or strong enough to overcome it.”
Clemson started 0 for 10 from the field and the Tigers looked like they were going to get blown out in their final regular-season home game. Instead, the Tigers rallied with a 19-9 run to get back in it.
But Brogdon and Perrantes blunted any charge Clemson would make.
When the Tigers sliced the lead to 18-13, Brogdon hit his fourth 3-pointer of the half to extend the margin.
Clemson closed to 28-25 on Blossomgame’s free throws with 2:15 to go, Perrantes connected on a long-range basket to keep Virginia on top.
Brogdon scored 14 points in the half as the Cavaliers led 33-27.
Clemson, as it did in wins here over ranked opponents Louisville, Duke and Miami earlier this season, rallied to move in front. The Tigers, though, could not sustain the run against the Cavaliers’ best-in-the-ACC defense.
Clemson has lost five of its past seven games by an average margin of four points.
TIP-INS
Virginia: The Cavaliers are looking to win at least 23 games for a fourth straight season, something they had not done in more than three decades since 1980-83 when they were led by Sampson.
Clemson: The Tigers will finish with more ACC victories than non-conference wins this season. Clemson has nine league wins so far. It went just 7-5 in its pre-ACC schedule.
VIRGINIA HISTORY
Bennett said his players aren’t concerned about matching Virginia’s elite basketball history, just about enjoying the ride they’re on at the moment. Bennett said the joy in the game comes from playing well and that’s what Virginia has done the past six weeks. “The accomplishments you get, ‘OK, that’s nice,’ and maybe you look back on it at some point,” he said. “We talk a lot about just being ready.”
BLOSSOMGAME’S RUN
Blossomgame had more than 50 percent of his team’s points (31 of 57), something that had not occurred for the Tigers since Skip Wise scored 38 of their 75 points in a game against Penn in 1974.
UP NEXT
Virginia closes the regular season against No. 11 Louisville on Saturday.
Clemson finishes ACC regular season play at Boston College on Saturday.
