WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. _ For the second time in as many road games, Duke didn't play its best and an underdog ACC opponent made it pay.
Wake Forest snapped an 11-game losing streak to the No. 7 Blue Devils, winning a wild one, 113-101, in double overtime. The Demon Deacons also snapped a two-game losing streak overall.
Wake Forest led by as many as four in the first overtime, but free throws and missed opportunities allowed the Blue Devils to tie the game.
Tre Jones tied it at 97 with a pair from the foul line after a Wake turnover. Cassius Stanley missed a half-court heave from the buzzer to send the game into the second overtime.
Brandon Childress, who started the game 0 for 10, hit a 3 to start the second OT and Ody Oguama followed that with a layup as the home team took a 102-97 lead. The Blue Devils missed their first four baskets from the field. Wake started the second overtime on a 7-0 run before Jones got Duke on the board with a pair of free throws.
But it was Childress again, knocking down another big shot, pushing the Demon Deacons' lead to eight with 57.7 remaining.
There was plenty of drama, though.
The Demon Deacons made a late push, pulling to within four with 55.3 seconds remaining in regulation. Stanley hit one of two from the foul line t push the lead to five, but Wake answered with a slam from Olivier Sarr, making it a three-point game with 31.7 left. Duke turned it over, Childress hit his first shot from the field, a 3 to tie it, and Duke turned it over again, handing the ball back to the Deacons with 8.1 remaining. Childress missed a runner at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Wake Forest went up three, 87-84, in overtime after a pair of free throws from Sarr. Wake Forest also got a big basket from Childress, who came alive late in the game.
After Tre Jones hit two freebies to make it a one-point game, Sarr scored in the paint, pushing the lead back to three. But Duke got points at the line, with the clock stopped, giving itself a shot. But Childress would not be denied in his last regular-season game against the Blue Devils. He scored while being fouled and the following free throw made it a four-point game with less than 50 seconds remaining.
Early on the fans in Lawrence Joel could sense an upset brewing.
Momentum was wearing black and gold for most of the first half. The Deacons forced the Blue Devils into eight turnovers in the first half, and Duke had a hard time slowing down Chaundee Brown and Jahcobi Neath, who each had 11 points in the opening 20 minutes. However, Neath only had one point in the final seven minutes of the first half, while Brown had Wake's last basket of the opening 20 minutes. But Jones hit a 3 at the buzzer to tie it at 39.
Duke got a spark from the most unlikeliest of sources in the first half. With Javin DeLaurier picking up his third foul, and Carey and Stanley each holding a pair of fouls, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski went deep in his bench to seldom used forward Justin Robinson.
In his six minutes of action, Robinson produced four points, one block, a rebound and an assist. His early first-half cameo was just three minutes off from his season high, but it provided the Blue Devils with a sudden spark.
Robinson's baseline dunk pulled Duke to within two and back-to-back 3s from Alex O'Connell and Jones tied the game at 39 at the break.
There was no question that Wake Forest dominated the first half, taking advantage of a sluggish start by the Blue Devils. The Demon Deacons shot 50% from the floor in the first half and led by as many as 12 (32-20). But Duke closed out the half by outscoring Wake Forest 19-7 and carried some momentum into the locker room.
In the second half Duke took its first lead of the game, 41-39, on a Cassius Stanley layup and never trailed again. The Blue Devils used a 7-0 run to go up by as many as 10. Their defense sparked the shift. Wake Forest had a stretch where they shot 1 of 10 from the floor, while Jones and company took over. Jones, who scored five points in the first half, answered a couple of baskets by the Deacons with shots of his own to quiet the crowd. When Wake pulled to within four with 5:19 remaining, Jones put his head down and drove to the basket, pushing the Duke lead to six.
