Wake Forest Is Out of Duke’s Range

Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom believed he had to make a choice of how to defend No. 2-ranked Duke for Wednesday night’s Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C.

He made the wrong decision.

Jason Williams, playing on a sprained foot but able to get numerous uncontested shots, scored 27 points as Duke relied on its three-point shooting for an 85-62 victory over No. 9 Wake Forest.

“We have the ability on this team to hit a lot of killer shots,” Duke’s Shane Battier said.

No need to remind Odom.

Duke came into the game leading the nation with 10.4 three-point baskets a game, and made 14 of 26 shots from behind the arc. Williams made five of eight three-point shots.

“One of our goals was to take away the inside game and make them go to the outside,” said Odom, whose team came into the game allowing opponents to shoot 25% on three-point attempts. “It’s very difficult to take away both. You have to pick your poison and hope whatever is happening on the other end goes in your favor. Tonight it did not.”

Battier had 22 points and Mike Dunleavy matched his career high with 21 for Duke, 18-1 overall and in a first-place tie with North Carolina in the ACC at 6-0. The Blue Devils also improved to 52-2 in their last 54 regular-season conference games and beat the Demon Deacons for the ninth consecutive time.

Wake Forest (14-4, 3-4) started the season 12-0, but has dropped four of its last six and fell to 0-4 on the road in the ACC.

Josh Howard, the Demon Deacons’ leading scorer at 14.5 points a game, didn’t play because of flu.

No. 3 Michigan State 74, Northwestern 58--Charlie Bell had 12 points and six assists in a Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill., to become the third Spartan player to get 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Steve Smith (1988-91) and Ken Redfield (1987-90) are the other two players to accomplish the feat.

Michigan State (16-1) shares the Big Ten lead with Illinois at 5-1, while Northwestern (7-12, 0-7) lost its 29th consecutive conference game.

No. 14 Florida 65, Auburn 63-- Udonis Haslem scored 26 points and Brett Nelson made five three-point shots in the second half as the Gators (12-4, 2-3) held on to beat the Tigers (12-7, 2-4) in the Southeastern Conference game at Auburn, Ala.

Auburn’s Adam Harrington missed a three-point shot with 2.5 seconds left but the ball went off a Florida player and out of bounds. Harrington couldn’t make an alley-oop try off the inbounds pass from Jamison Brewer and Marquis Daniel’s follow shot circled halfway around the rim before falling out.

No. 15 Wisconsin 57, Ohio State 42--The Badgers (12-4, 3-3) overcame 37% shooting in the Big Ten game at Madison, Wis., increasing its home win streak to 10.

Both teams combined to miss 28 of their first 34 shots, with Ohio State (12-7, 3-4) finishing at 25%.

Oklahoma 75, No. 20 Texas 68--Hollis Price made three free throws in the final 20 seconds and then made a steal after missing two foul shots as the Sooners (14-4, 3-3) held off the Longhorns (15-4, 4-2) in the Big 12 game at Norman, Okla.

Texas shot less than 38% for the sixth time in eight games, and its leading scorers Darren Kelley and Chris Owens didn’t get any points until midway in the second half.

No. 21 Iowa 87, Minnesota 74--Reggie Evans had 25 points and 10 rebounds--his 15th double-double of the season--to lead the Hawkeyes (15-4, 4-2) past the Golden Gophers (15-4, 3-3) in the Big Ten game at Minneapolis.

Iowa shot a season-high 53%.

Villanova 70, No. 24 Connecticut 59--In the Big East game at Harford, Conn., Michael Bradley had 20 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (12-5, 4-2) to their first victory in five games against the Huskies (13-6, 2-4).

Connecticut has lost four in a row--its longest losing streak since the final five games of the 1996-97 regular season.