Winston-Salem, NC (Sports Network) - Mason Plumlee scored a career-best 32 points, grabbed nine rebounds and steered fifth-ranked Duke away from an upset bid and past Wake Forest, 75-70, at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Wake Forest focused on stopping Duke's dynamic perimeter game, leaving Plumlee to work one-on-one, many times against smaller defenders. He took advantage with a 12-of-15 effort from the floor to go along with a pair of blocks. Seth Curry added 21 points and Quinn Cook donated 12 for the Blue Devils (18-2, 5-2 ACC), who made just 2-of-14 threes one game after connecting on 11 against Maryland.
"We did enough good things to beat a really good basketball team tonight," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Mason was big tonight with his presence, and obviously, 32 points."
Devin Thomas led Wake Forest (10-10, 3-5) with 15 points and six rebounds, while C.J. Harris and Travis McKie each added 14 points. The Demon Deacons nearly pulled off the upset just over a week after downing North Carolina State in the same building.
"He was making everything today," Thomas admitted of Plumlee. "He just got all the moves that you would want as a big man."
Duke scored the first six points out of the locker room, but in a quickly- developing theme, Wake Forest didn't wilt, fighting back to finally draw even at 58-58 on a pair of Arnaud Adala-Moto free throws. Harris' jumper just before the 8-minute mark gave the Demon Deacons their first lead of the half, but three Curry free throws and a Cook reverse layup in transition gave the Blue Devils the lead back.
Wake Forest again knotted the contest at 63-63 before Cook sliced his way through the Demon Deacons defense with a difficult lay-in. Tyler Cavanaugh answered with a traditional 3-point play, giving Wake a 66-65 lead just before the 4-minute mark. Plumlee's free throw, his first point since 12:26 left in the game, tied the contest with 3 1/2 minutes to go.
Curry then drained a three from above the top of the circle, the first trey of the second half for either team in 12 attempts, to give the Blue Devils a 69-66 lead. Madison Jones converted a layup, but Plumlee responded by absorbing contact and finishing off the glass to maintain the edge, 71-68.
After an empty possession for the Deacons, freshman Rasheed Sulaimon created space and drained a 17-footer for a 73-68 lead with 27.6 seconds left. That bucket gave Duke the breathing room it needed to hold on for the victory.
Wake Forest stood toe-to-toe with the Blue Devils in the first half, scoring five of the game's first seven points and taking and receiving blows in a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes.
Thomas' 3-point play opened a 10-6 edge and three Harris' free throws gave the home team a 25-20 edge with just under 9 1/2 minutes left in the half. Duke took the lead at 29-28 on Tyler Thornton's jumper, but Wake went back in front at 34-33 on Aaron Rountree's slam.
Harris' jumper with 17 ticks to go capped a fitting stalemate over the first half, as the teams went to the locker room tied at 40-40. Harris scored 10 points for Wake Forest, which made 54 percent of its shots, while Plumlee rolled to 19 points and five rebounds as Duke made a scorching 54.8 percent of its attempts.
Game Notes
