WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Already a positive force for Duke off the bench this season, freshman AJ Griffin celebrated his promotion to the starting lineup with his best scoring night of the season on Wednesday night.
A 6-7 freshman, Griffin scored 22 points in his first career start as he and fellow freshman Paolo Banchero led the No. 8 Blue Devils to a 76-64 ACC basketball win over Wake Forest at the Joel Coliseum.
Banchero, a 6-10 forward, led Duke (13-2, 3-1 ACC) with 24 points. He and Griffin combined to hit five of Duke’s seven 3-pointers.
A third freshman, guard Trevor Keels, scored 11 points for Duke.
The Blue Devils won despite not having Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski on their bench. A non-COVID-19 virus kept Krzyzewski from making the trip. Associate head coach Jon Scheyer, who will become Duke’s full-time head coach when Krzyzewski retires following this season, was the acting head coach against Wake Forest.
Alondes Williams scored 25 points to lead Wake Forest (13-4, 3-3 ACC). The Demon Deacons shot 44.8% and made just 2 of 16 3-pointers.
Paced by Griffin and Banchero, the Blue Devils outscored the Demon Deacons 22-1 over a nearly five-minute stretch that bracketed the final minute of the first half and the first four-plus minutes of the second half. That rush took Duke from a two-point deficit to a 49-30 lead with 15:54 to play.
The Blue Devils led by as many as 20 points in the second half.
Duke struggled to hit a shot for long stretches in the middle of the half, but a quick start and a strong finish propelled the Blue Devils to a 35-29 halftime lead.
The Blue Devils suffered through a stretch where they hit only 1 of 11 shots and Wake Forest unleashed a 12-2 run to jump ahead 18-15.
But the Deacons had trouble of their own on offense as they committed nine first-half turnovers. Because of that, they were never able to lead by more than three points over the first 20 minutes.
Duke closed the half with a flurry, aided by by two Wake turnovers. Keels stole Williams’ poor cross-court pass to start a fast break that he finished with a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left in the half to break a 29-all tie.
After Wake’s Isaiah Mucius committed an offensive foul with 7.7 seconds left, Duke called a time out. The set the Blue Devils ran hustled the ball up court to find Griffin open in the corner. He buried a 3-pointer giving the Blue Devils their six-point halftime lead.
Here’s what else we learned about Duke and Wake from the game:
New Duke lineup
The Blue Devils used the same lineup for the season’s first 14 games and it worked well as they won 12 of those games. But Scheyer switched things up at Wake Forest.
Griffin, who’s provided a big boost off the bench by averaging 11.7 points over the last six games, moved into the starting five along with usual starters Banchero, Keels, Wendell Moore and Mark Williams. Jeremy Roach found himself in a reserve role for the first time this season.
Obviously, it worked nicely.
Wake must care for the ball
The Demon Deacons hurt themselves with turnovers, finishing the night with 15 0f them.
The Blue Devils played a role in that as their aggressive defense netted them seven steals. But Wake made poor decisions with the ball too often to stay with Duke.
This was particularly true in the first half when Duke was having trouble scoring. Wake wasted an opportunity to build a lead and put pressure on the Blue Devils by committing nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Injury concern for Keels?
Keels left the game with 6:54 to play with an undisclosed injury. Jose Fonseca, Duke’s head athletic trainer for men’s basketball, treated Keels at the end of the Blue Devils bench for a few minutes. But the two left the bench area to head to the locker room.
Keels returned to the bench for the final 3:26 of the game.
