No.1 Duke Gets Caught Off Guard by Wake Forest

Top-ranked Duke has slowed the pace in its last five games since point guard Bobby Hurley went down with a broken foot.

Sunday, the Blue Devils hit the wall.

Anthony Tucker scored 24 points and made the go-ahead basket with 1:25 left to lead Wake Forest to a 72-68 upset, Duke’s second loss this season.

The Blue Devils, 21-2 overall and 11-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, led by as many as 10 points with nine minutes remaining, but were outscored 15-1 over the final 5:19. Wake Forest shot 62% in the second half.

“None of my teams in the last couple of years has made that many mistakes down the stretch,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Wake Forest put us in a position at times, but in other times we lost the game. We have to take full responsibility.”

In its 21 victories, Duke won by an average of almost 20 points. But in four victories without Hurley, it hasn’t won a game by more than 10.

“I have no problem with losing,” Krzyzewski said. “I do have a little bit of a problem with these give-away games.”

Duke, which turned the ball over 15 times, took its final lead at 68-67 after Brian Davis made one of two free throws with 1:45 left. But Tucker, who scored a personal-best 31 points in an upset victory over Duke last season, sank his 12-foot go-ahead jump shot 20 seconds later to put the Deacons up for good.

“Maybe I just get up for these games,” said Tucker, who made nine of 15 shots. “I went out being aggressive. Against Duke you can’t be passive because of the way they pressure the ball. If you are passive they will take it from you.”

Hurley’s replacement, Grant Hill, missed two free throws with 1:08 left, and Thomas Hill, who scored 20 points, traveled after being pressured by Tucker as the Blue Devils attempted to take the lead with 13.1 seconds remaining.

Chris King, a 66.7% free throw shooter, then made three of four foul shots in the final 11.8 seconds to secure the victory, after which Wake Forest’s fans stormed the court.

“There is no question we are not at the peak of our game right now,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s been a long month, and without Bobby it’s a longer month.”

Rodney Rogers, who was five for five in the second half, added 18 points for the Demon Deacons (16-7, 7-6).

Christian Laettner scored 18 points to move into third place on Duke’s all-time scoring list. He passed Danny Ferry on the Blue Devil scoring chart with 2,162 points and trails only Mike Gminski and Johnny Dawkins.

Laettner also received a technical foul for hanging on the rim in the second half after a dunk.

Duke led at halftime, 35-33, despite trailing 31-25 5 1/2 minutes earlier. Wake Forest committed five fouls and two turnovers during that stretch.

But in the end, Duke was the team making the most costly mistakes.

“Our players dug deep and they wouldn’t quit,” Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom said. “I believe this may have been in the cards, due to all the upsets this week.”

Duke won by only two points at home Thursday to last-place Maryland.

Said Duke’s Davis: “People are trying to kill us--not just beat us, but kill us. We have to play our best basketball.”