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Duke

Wake Forest upsets Duke on last-second layup, 70-68

By Jake Lloyd

Jan 29, 2009

For the majority of Wake Forest's 70-68 win over Duke Wednesday night, the Blue Devils felt like they didn't play aggressively enough.

Then, after falling behind by 13 points, they became the fighting team they envision themselves to be and tied the game on a Gerald Henderson jumper with 11 seconds remaining.

But one last mistake, one defensive miscue, left James Johnson open right next to the basket. And the Wake Forest forward scored the game-winning layup with 0.8 seconds remaining.

"Just miscommunication," said Henderson, who had started off guarding Johnson on the play. "We wanted to switch everything and just (had a) miscommunication.

"(Jeff) Teague came around (a screen), so I went to switch out on him, and it just didn't unfold like we wanted it to."

But as heartbreaking as the final play was, the top-ranked Blue Devils (18-2, 5-1) knew afterward that they didn't lose the game solely in the last few seconds.

In a battle of the ACC's top two defenses, the sixth-ranked Demon Deacons (17-1, 4-1) stuffed the Devils, stripped the ball from the Devils, contested most of the Devils' shots and generally were in the Devils' faces all night.

Duke made 22 of 66 shots (33.3 percent), committed 15 turnovers and had a whopping nine shots blocks.

Kyle Singler (22 points) and Henderson (20 points) were the only Devils who got untracked offensively.

Wake Forest entered the game leading the ACC in field-goal percentage defense (.368) and blocked shots (7.3 bpg), and it didn't take the Deacons long to show why.

During one stretch about midway through the second half, David Weaver stuffed Henderson's dunk attempt — a rarity for the high-flying, 6-foot-4 Henderson. Ishmael Smith then picked up the ball, raced the other way and bounced the ball between his legs to Al-Farouq Aminu for a thunderous dunk.

On Duke's next possession, the 6-9 Johnson stripped the ball from Nolan Smith and proceeded to throw down another transition dunk for a 54-43 lead.

Aminu led the Demon Deacons with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Johnson added 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Teague, who averages 21.5 points per game, was held to 11.

"Our shots weren't falling like we wanted them to," Henderson said. "A lot of it had to do with us not playing strong, especially going to the basket.

"We didn't attack like we wanted to."

The Devils also didn't play smart at times on the offensive end. They attempted to put up shots against swarms of Wake's tall defenders – four Demon Deacons at least 6-9, and with long wingspans, logged at least 18 minutes – and the result was often predictable.

While Duke was 20-of-24 from the free-throw line, including 16-of-20 in the second half, too often it had its shots blocked. And after such plays, Wake was quick to push the ball up the floor in transition, when it scored 11 points to two for Duke.

"We should have been a little bit smarter," David McClure said. "We know that they're coming over to block.

"We should try to kick the ball out, get a second possession or a better shot because they were doing a good job of swarming and clustering around us once we got the ball inside or an offensive rebound."

The Deacons didn't really notice a less-aggressive Duke team than normal. They just made big defensive plays when they had the opportunities, knowing the Devils wouldn't back down from any chance to attack the rim.

"I'll tell you, (Johnson) and Al-Farouq, and David and Chas (McFarland) – they came up with some huge blocks," Wake's Smith said. "A lot of times we got beat off the bounce, and those guys came out of nowhere and made some huge blocks.

"I think (Duke is) always aggressive. Their defense was aggressive and their offense was aggressive. We just played great defense tonight and got the win."

After the Deacons extended their advantage to 61-48 on Weaver's layup with 8:50 remaining, Duke slowly clawed its way back into the game by – according to the players and coach Mike Krzyzewski – simply playing more aggressively.

The Devils made smarter plays as well. While Johnson and Aminu's long wingspans gave Duke's shooters trouble all night, allowing but a few open looks, Duke started to make extra passes in the final minutes to create space for Singler, Jon Scheyer (13 points) and Henderson on the perimeter.

When Scheyer fed Singler for an open 3-pointer with 2:52 left, Duke trailed just 67-63. Three free throws got the Devils with 68-66, setting up Henderson's game-tying basket.

"I thought our kids drove more aggressively and we hit some open shots," Krzyzewski said. "We're still not shooting the way I hope we'll be able to shoot."

Part of the reason for the poor shooting was how much Duke had to go one-on-one. Playing against Wake Forest's defense, which focuses on ball pressure and every player staying between his man and the basket, Henderson, Scheyer and Singler were often forced to try to get to the basket on their own.

The result was Duke finishing with just eight assists, compared with the 15 miscues.

"It's just disappointing that we knew that was what they were going to do (on defense)," McClure said. "We kind of went brain-dead a little bit. They did a great job being aggressive and just playing physical with us.

"Not to say that's what beat us, but it definitely knocked us back and we weren't who we should have been."

Still, Duke was never out of the game. In the first half, the Devils stayed close by grabbing 12 offensive rebounds and converting them into 12 second-chance points. The rebounds also prevented the Deacons from running their fast break much.

And late in the second half, the Devils gained their composure and slowly fought all the way back after Wake's defense-and-transition game reached its peak.

But in the end, the battle of top-six teams came down to one play. And, Krzyzewski said, "We were horrible in defending the last play."

Henderson went for Teague, Smith had his back to Johnson and the Wake Forest sophomore caught the short pass from L.D. Williams on the baseline and, in one move, scored the winning bucket.

"We knew everybody was going to key on Jeff Teague," Johnson said. "He's the man. He's the one who scores for us, puts buckets up for us.

"He said watch out for the slip (to the basket), I slipped and L.D. made a great pass. It was perfect. And I finished the play."

Luckily for Duke, the teams will play in Cameron Indoor Stadium – unlike last season – on Feb. 22. So what will the Devils do differently?

"Play with more heart, effort and intensity," Henderson said. "X's and O's, you can change stuff, but we need to play with more heart."