No. 2 Duke holds on to beat Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman forward Justise Winslow scored a season-high 20 points and No. 2 Duke held on to beat Wake Forest 73-65 on Wednesday night.

Jahlil Okafor added 12 points and 11 rebounds in his first Atlantic Coast Conference road game, and Quinn Cook had nine of his 12 points in the final 5 minutes for the Blue Devils (14-0, 2-0).

They shot 44 percent and pulled away by scoring on eight straight possessions down the stretch to keep pace with No. 1 Kentucky and No. 3 Virginia as the last unbeaten teams in Division I.

This was Duke's closest game all year; the Blue Devils had won each of their first 13 games by double figures.

Devin Thomas scored 24 points and Codi Miller-McIntyre added 13 for the Demon Deacons (8-8, 0-3).

They shot nearly 56 percent in the second half and gave a top-five opponent fits for the second straight game before fading.

Miller-McIntyre gave Wake Forest its first lead since the opening minutes — and gave the Blue Devils their first second-half deficit of the season — when his three-point play with 6:04 remaining made it 56-55. He added a free throw on the next possession to push the lead to two.

Cook — the Blue Devils' lone scholarship senior — countered with a three-point play two possessions later to make it 58-57 and put Duke back on top to stay. Matt Jones converted a pretty layup two possessions before his 3-pointer stretched the lead to 64-59 with 2 1/2 minutes to play.

Cook added a jumper with 51.9 seconds left before going 4 for 4 from the free throw line in the final 41 seconds — the first two of those pushing Duke's lead to double figures for the first time, 71-61.

Rasheed Sulaimon added 10 points for the Blue Devils, who dropped four of their previous five ACC road openers and lost in their last visit to Winston-Salem in March.

TIP-INS

Duke: The Blue Devils faced their deepest deficit of the season after allowing Wake Forest to jump out to a 6-0 lead.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons, who lost to No. 5 Louisville three nights earlier, were playing host to top-five teams in consecutive games for the first time in school history.

UP NEXT

Duke is at North Carolina State on Sunday.

Wake Forest hosts to Georgia Tech on Saturday.