Duke Finally Reaches End of the Line : ACC tournament: Blue Devils will miss NCAA tournament for first time since 1983 after losing to Wake Forest, 87-70.

Trailed closely by his cameraman, the TV guy in the blue blazer and B-movie hair crouched in front of Duke’s Cherokee Parks, stuck a microphone toward the senior center’s face and hoped for the best.

“Cherokee,” he said, stumbling slightly over the postgame question, “can you describe this season in one word?”

Parks, his ninth-seeded team just eliminated from the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament by top-seeded Wake Forest, 87-70, started to say something--perhaps from the lexicon of four-letter words--paused and let it go.

“You can’t use that on TV, I think,” Parks said.

Anyway, one word would never do for Duke’s bizarre season, which came to a merciful end Friday at Greensboro Coliseum. As a sellout crowd of 23,311 looked on, the Blue Devils built an 18-point first-half lead against seventh-ranked Wake Forest and then collapsed. It wasn’t quite as painful as the 23-point advantage they blew against Virginia earlier this season, but close enough.

This time it was Demon Deacon point guard Randolph Childress--who else?--who added to Duke’s misery. The Wake Forest senior, a longtime Blue Devil nemesis, had 40 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals. He made 13 of 18 shots, eight of 12 three-pointers--an ACC tournament record--and six of seven free throws.

“It was like we weren’t even there,” Parks said.

Five Duke players were assigned to guard Childress. Freshman Ricky Price was first, then freshman Trajan Langdon, then freshman Steve Wojciechowski, then little-used sophomore Carmen Wallace and finally junior Chris Collins. Childress barely noticed.

“Whatever it was, it didn’t work,” said Duke assistant Tommy Amaker, who had not heard from USC as of late Friday afternoon.

Price fouled out. Langdon couldn’t keep up. Wojciechowski lasted four minutes. Wallace meant well. Collins had little chance.

“He just showed why he’s the best player in this league,” said Collins, ignoring the likes of Maryland’s Joe Smith, North Carolina’s Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace, and Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan. “I’m glad he’s gone. I don’t want to play against him anymore.”

Childress is the first player since 1970 to score at least 40 points in an ACC tournament game. He had only two free throws and a three-pointer in the first 8 1/2 minutes but finished with 27 first-half points. The scoring outburst helped turn a 31-13 deficit into a 46-45 halftime lead for Wake Forest (22-5).

“At that point, they were running away with the game,” said Childress, who has almost single-handedly beaten Duke in the last four meetings. “I had to do something.”

So Childress shot. He also used a first-half timeout to scream at his teammates.

“I had a lot of anger in me,” he said.

Duke (13-18) knows the feeling. The 18 defeats are the most for the Blue Devils since the program began in 1905. They also set some sort of unofficial record for most obstacles not overcome.

In a year, Duke has lost a national championship game, a preseason trip to Australia, Coach Mike Krzyzewski to illness, a player to knee surgery, another to transfer and a third to academic suspension. The Blue Devils have dealt with rumors, rancor and 16 losses in their last 20 games. Now they return home to Durham, N.C., where they will sit out the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1983.

“It’s over with now,” Collins said. “No reason to look back.”

Said Duke assistant Mike Brey: “I’d be lying if I said we weren’t a little mentally prepared for this.”

Brey and Amaker will be on the road today, recruiting. Krzyzewski will join them next week. The returning players will take a few days off and begin conditioning workouts soon thereafter.

As for Parks, he doesn’t quite know what he’ll do with his newfound mid-March time. One thing is sure, though.

“I doubt I’ll watch much of the (NCAA) tournament,” he said.

OTHER GAMES

No. 11 Virginia 77, Georgia Tech 67--Senior forward Junior Burrough scored a career-high 39 points as the fourth-seeded Cavaliers (22-7) defeated the fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets (18-12). Georgia Tech point guard Travis Best had 21 points but made only eight of 22 shots.

Virginia faces Wake Forest today in the semifinals.

No. 10 Maryland 71, Florida State 64--Playing for the third consecutive game without Coach Gary Williams, recovering from pneumonia, the third-seeded Terrapins (24-6) struggled past the sixth-seeded Seminoles (12-15).

Maryland All-American center Joe Smith, who didn’t score his first field goal until 10:12 remained, had 15 points and 16 rebounds before fouling out.