With Coach K back, Duke overtakes Wake Forest basketball
Duke welcomed coach Mike Krzyzewski back to the bench on Saturday and continued its shared success over Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
On the bench after exiting a coronavirus quarantine earlier in the day, Krzyzewski saw Matthew Hurt score a career-high 26 points and DJ Steward added 21 as the No. 21 Blue Devils beat Wake Forest 79-68 in ACC basketball at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils (5-2, 3-0 ACC) kept Wake Forest winless at Cameron since 1997.
Krzyzewski had not coached the Blue Devils in a game since Dec. 16, when Duke beat Notre Dame 75-65. On Jan. 1, Duke announced that Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, had close contact with a COVID-19 positive family member and would enter quarantine.
The Hall of Famer did not coach Duke when the Blue Devils beat Boston College, 83-82, on Wednesday night at Cameron. Krzyzewski and his wife were tested daily and consistently tested negative. When Krzyzewski tested negative early Saturday morning, Duke medical officials ended his quarantine and allowed him to return to the bench.
Hurt led the Blue Devils to their third consecutive win by hitting 10 of 15 shots from the field, including 4 of 7 3-pointers. Senior guard Jordan Goldwire added 14 points while freshman Jeremy Roach scored 12 for Duke.
The Blue Devils shot 50.8 percent and helped themselves with strong offensive rebounds. Duke grabbed 15 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second-chance points.
Daivien Williamson and Ismael Massoud led Wake Forest (3-3, 0-3 ACC) with 17 points apiece.
Here are our earlier updates from the game:
Under-8 timeout of second half: Duke up by seven
Wake Forest is hanging tough but the Blue Devils hold a 64-57 lead with 7:36 to play in the game.
Matthew Hurt’s 21 points pace Duke while freshman guard DJ Steward has 17 points. Wake Forest lead three times by a point each in the second half, which has also seen two ties.
Halftime: Duke up by four
Behind 12 points from DJ Steward and 11 from Matthew Hurt, Duke took a 37-33 lead over Wake Forest at halftime.
The Blue Devils continue to use defense to get its offense going. Duke recorded six steals in the first half as Wake Forest turned the ball over nine times. The Blue Devils scored seven points off those turnovers.
Turnovers, though, also plagued the Blue Devils. Duke also committed nine turnovers.
Carter Whitt, who graduated from Raleigh’s Leesville Road High School last month and enrolled at Wake Forest for the spring semester, scored eight points in the first half for the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest made 10 of 21 first-half shots (47.6%).
Under-8 timeout update, first half
Both teams are shooting well as the Blue Devils lead 22-20 with eight minutes left until halftime. Duke is shooting 66.7 percent (10 of 15) but has been slowed by seven turnovers. Matthew Hurt already has 11 points for the Blue Devils.
Wake Forest is shooting 50 percent (7 of 14)
Johnson, Tapé remain sidelined
Freshman forward Jalen Johnson and graduate student center Patrick Tapé both missed the Wake Forest game with injuries.
Johnson has been sidelined with a foot injury since Dec. 15. This is the third game the preseason all-ACC selection has missed due to the injury.
Tapé has a back injury that also caused him to miss the Boston College game.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 10:05 AM with the headline "With Coach K back, Duke overtakes Wake Forest basketball."