 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Suddenly, Duke's path to an unprecedented fourth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title has gotten a lot easier. Mike Dunleavy scored 18 points and Carlos Boozer added 17 and grabbed 16 rebounds as the third-ranked Blue Devils pulled away late to post a 79-64 semifinal victory over Wake Forest. "I want to congratulate Wake," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They played a sensational game. They are such a veteran good team and had us on the ropes." Alost everyone expected a final between Duke and second-ranked Maryland, which beat out the Blue Devils (28-3) for the ACC regular season crown. But North Carolina State upset the Terrapins, 86-82, in Saturday's first semifinal. The Blue Devils, of course, aren't taking anything for granted. "They are a very talented team," Boozer said. "They run a lot of cuts on offense and they are very athletic. I think we just have to focus on our defense, holding them to one shot, and rebound and just stay focused on the game." Darius Songaila scored 16 points and Broderick Hicks added 14 for the Demon Deacons (20-12), who suffered their 13th straight loss to Duke. Wake Forest, which should receive an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, stayed with the heavily-favored Blue Devils for more than 30 minutes and pulled within 51-50 on Craig Dawson's jumper with 11:12 remaining. But with Duke holding a 58-55 lead, Jason Williams and freshman Daniel Ewing hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Blue Devils some breathing room. Dunleavy dunked off a fastbreak to cap a 8-0 run and give Duke a 66-55 cushion with 7:54 left. Wake Forest closed to 72-64 on Antwan Scott's jumper with 2:16 left, but Williams and Chris Duhon each made two free throws, extending the Blue Devils' lead to 76-64 with 1:46 remaining. "They are very, very good," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. "That spurt they had in the second half just buried us and once we got down, we could not come back from it. Give Duke credit for that." Williams scored 15 points and Duhon added 10 for the Blue Devils, who shot 53 percent (28-of-53) from the field. They also wore down Wake Forest by making 10-of-26 3-pointers. The Demon Deacons shot just 41 percent (26-of-63) and converted only 4-of-17 from beyond the arc. Perhaps excited by Maryland's defeat, the Blue Devils came out on fire, hitting their first eight shots to open a 27-7 lead just over seven minutes into the contest. "Because we weren't playing up and down yesterday, I think we were all really excited to come out and play a more traditional style of basketball," said Dunleavy, referring to the Blue Devils' 60-48 semifinal victory over North Carolina. "I think that is why you saw us in the early going playing like that. That's why we came out so fired up." But the Demon Deacons responded, using a 15-2 spurt to close within 37-32 at the intermission. Three times they closed within one point in the second half but never got the lead. Wake Forest also ran into foul trouble in the second half and Songaila fouled out with 6:12 remaining. "It doesn't help to play Duke to be down 27-7 at the start," Prosser said. "I was proud of the way our kids battled back, especially when we made a mini-run there. We had three freshmen on the court." While Duke will be seeking to make more history Sunday, the Blue Devils likely have a top seed in the NCAA Tournament locked up regardless of the result. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
