Mark Williams Duke Blue Devils Wake Forest Spectacular Magazine Lawrence Davis III
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Duke Drops Wake Despite Losing Coach K

Lawrence Davis III @LawDavis13 @SpecMagSports

DURHAM, N.C. — The Duke Blue Devils defeated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 76-74 on Tuesday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium despite losing their long-time head coach at halftime.

The Blue Devils would lead Wake Forest 42-33 at the halftime break.

Coming out of halftime, Duke (22-4, 12-3 ACC) was missing a staff member on the bench as head coach Mike Krzyzewski left the game during halftime due to an alleged dehydration issue.

 

After Duke increased a nine-point halftime lead to 19 with 14:46 to go, the Demon Deacons (20-7, 10-6 ACC) roared back via a 23-6 run that cut the score to 63-61 at the 7:40 mark.

The Blue Devils were able to bump their advantage back to nine points coming out of the under-four media timeout, but missed shots coupled with five turnovers over the closing minutes allowed Wake to once again make it close.

Mark Williams hit a putback dunk with .4 seconds remaining to seal the game for Duke. 

Williams finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Moore Jr ended with 16 points, five assists, and six rebounds.

Wake Forest would get a late full-court shot from guard Alondes Williams to barely rim out and nearly pulled an upset.

 

Forward Jake LaRavia finished with a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Wake Forest in both respective categories. Alondes Williams ended the game with 18 points (nearly 21) and four assists.

Duke will return home on Saturday to face the Florida State Seminoles.