WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. _ In desperate need of a win and a team leader, No. 17 Duke got both Saturday thanks to Luke Kennard.
The sophomore scored 34 points and hit the game-winning shot with 6.6 seconds left giving Duke an 85-83 comeback win over Wake Forest at Joel Coliseum.
Kennard scored 30 points in the second half, and scored 11 points in the final 3:40 as Duke (16-5, 4-4) overcame Wake Forest's 81-71 lead.
Duke shot 63 percent in the second half.
Duke trailed by 10 points at halftime and the lead remained that margin as the Deacons held an 81-71 lead with 4:01 to play.
But Kennard wouldn't allow Duke to go down (easily).
He hit a 3-pointer and, after a Wake Forest offensive foul, drilled a deep two to cut the deficit in half.
Keyshawn Woods nailed a 16-foot jump shot for Wake Forest but Kennard answered with a 3-pointer at 1:49 to slice Wake's lead to 83-79.
Duke forced the Demon Deacons into a shot clock violation after Woods airballed a 3-pointer.
The Blue Devils worked to find an open shot, with Grayson Allen draining a 3-pointer with 52.5 seconds left leaving Wake Forest up 83-82.
Wood misfired on a contested 3-pointer with 23 seconds left, setting the stage for Kennard's 3-pointer with 6.6 left that gave Duke an 85-83 lead.
Early in the second half, Duke started sinking open shots after a poor-shooting first half.
A 3-pointer by Jayson Tatum and another by Kennard with 13:37 sliced Wake Forest's lead to 52-50.
Wake Forest extended it back to 59-53 when Crawford sank two free throws with 12:16 to play.
But Kennard zipped a pass under the basket to a wide-open Antonio Vrankovic for a slam dunk. As Wake's Woods tried to drive the baseline, Vrankovic protected the rim and Tatum stole the ball for Duke.
Tatum drove in transition and was fouled by Austin Arians. He split two free throws leaving Wake up 59-56.
Duke drew even closer with 8:58 to play when Kennard passed to Jackson for a layup in transition to leave Wake with a 63-62 lead with 8:58 to play.
At that point, Duke had made 11 of its first 15 shots of the second half (73.3 percent).
But the Blue Devils couldn't match that success on defense.
Wake Forest scored on its next four possessions, with Crawford and Mitchell Wilbekin hitting 3-pointers and Collins scoring two baskets. His slam dunk off a pass from Brandon Childress gave the Deacons a 73-65 lead with 6:41 to play.
A 3-pointer by Matt Jones and two Allen free throws pulled Duke within 75-70 with 5:04 left.
But Woods drilled an open jumper and Crawford added two free throws giving Wake Forest a 79-70 lead with 4:34 left.
When Crawford sank two free throws with 4:01 to play, Wake had its original 10-point halftime lead back at 81-71.
Wake Forest shot 50 percent in the first half and committed just four turnovers to build a 42-32 lead.
The Blue Devils had two extended stretches without a made field goal and finished at just 35.5 percent at half.
Duke found itself in foul trouble from the game's early minutes, which caused Capel to go deep into his bench. The results showed it impacted Duke negatively on both offense and defense.
Duke shot well in the game's early minutes, making four of its first five shots.
But a heavy reliance on jump shots due to an inability to pass the ball and find better shots in the half-court offense caused the Blue Devils to hit just two of nine shots over an eight-minute stretch.
At the 8:07 mark, Wake Forest had a 20-18 lead and three Duke starters _ Jefferson, Kennard and Tatum _ all had two fouls.
Wake Forest started to pull away from the Blue Devils over the final six minutes of the half.
Trailing 27-25, Duke scored on just one of its next five possessions. Bryant Crawford was successful in finding driving lanes and Wake Forest took a 34-28 lead on his driving layup with 4:27 to play.
Allen's 3-pointer left Duke trailing 35-31 with 3:10 to play but that would be Duke's final made field goal of the half.
Bryant sank a jump shot and, after Duke's Matt Jones missed an open jumper, Keyshawn Woods drilled an open 3-pointer from the corner to give the Deacons a 40-31 lead.
After Kennard split two free throws for Duke, Crawford's driving shot in the lane gave Wake a 42-32 halftime lead.
