Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Tennessee on October 26, 2025 at 7 p.m.
/
7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
at Tennessee
.png&width=24&height=24&type=webp)
Duke Seniors Will Try For First Win At Lawrence Joel Coliseum Sunday
1/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By John Roth, Blue Devil Weekly
DURHAM, N.C. - When Duke travels to Wake Forest for this week's edition of ACC Sunday Night Hoops, the Blue Devils have a chance to do something no member of the current team has experienced: win a game at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
Given its unearthly 71-18 ACC road record since 1998 and the fact that it has been ranked in the top 10 in all but two of the last 114 national polls, Duke's three-year losing streak in Winston-Salem seems like a misprint. Over the last eight years, the Blue Devils have a better winning percentage in ACC road games than all but two teams have in ACC home games. They just don't lose very often anywhere.
Still, there it is: three straight L's at LJC, by the offensive counts of 94-80, 90-84 and 92-89. Strangely, the game with the widest margin, in 2003, went into double overtime.
Duke has beaten Wake Forest at Cameron in each of those three years, so it is not like the Deacons suddenly came up with a magic formula after losing to the Blue Devils 14 straight times. But their home-court atmosphere is highly charged, to say the least, and their team has been excellent overall under Skip Prosser with four straight NCAA bids and a pair of national top 10 finishes over the last three seasons.
Wake Forest students stormed the floor when the Deacs ended that long losing streak to Duke in 2003. Earlier in the year, Duke had beaten Wake by 19 points when the two met as the only undefeated teams remaining in the country, spurred on by silent point guard Chris Duhon, who was suffering from laryngitis. Duke freshmen J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams combined for only 11 points in that Cameron contest, while Wake freshman Justin Gray suffered a broken jaw that sidelined him for weeks.
Gray made his return against the Devils in Winston and was the catalyst with 18 points. Given that Redick and Williams were among five Duke players who fouled out and that the team shot only 31 percent (with 50 misses!), it's somewhat amazing the Devils were able to last past regulation.
Duke won again in Cameron in 2004 when both teams were ranked in the top five of the polls, thanks to another great playmaking day from Duhon, 23 points from Redick and a strong game from Williams on a double-double plus eight blocked shots. Wake freshman guard Chris Paul fouled out with just seven points, but that would be his only sub-par showing in two years against the Devils.
When the teams met at LJC, Paul drove into the Devils for 23 points and eight assists, while Redick was held without a field goal for the only time in his college career (0-of-5). Despite Daniel Ewing's best efforts, Wake took over that contest in the second half and again the Wake students stormed the floor.
Last year Duke had difficulty keeping Paul from turning the corner for the first 30 minutes and he had Wake on top at the half. He totaled 23 points again, and the Deacs were up by 14 with 6:40 to go. But during a timeout, Redick heard the Screamin' Deacons chanting “Blowout, blowout,” and it flipped a switch. The Duke sharpshooter began hitting from everywhere, deflating the partisan cries and lifting his own team.
Redick scored 15 of his 33 points in the last 5:30 to knife into that 14-point deficit. In the last 2:15 alone he nailed a trio of three-pointers and scored on a drive to make it 90-89. On one of those threes, he was draped by a Wake defender in front of the Duke bench, then dribbled once behind his back and took a step to the left for an open look. He even got off a 30-footer at the buzzer that just missed sending the game into overtime.
“I thought that last shot might go in,” Prosser said. “I thought up until the end we did a good job of guarding him. But when he's shooting from the 919 area code and we're in the 336 area code, that's saying something.”
“His desire to win could not have been exemplified in any higher fashion. He was magnificent,” added Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Duke didn't win, but Wake fans didn't storm the court either. Chris Paul suggested that they had become accustomed to winning big games, but there was also the escape factor at work. After Redick's show, there was little the home crowd could do but exhale.
And Redick was even better when the two met in Durham later in perhaps the most important game of the regular season. Coming on the heels of two straight losses, Krzyzewski altered the lineup by inserting reserves Patrick Davidson, Patrick Johnson and Reggie Love as starters. Redick delivered his then-career high of 38 to pace a 10-point triumph.
Paul is now running NBA floors but there will be plenty of other familiar faces on hand for this Duke-Wake game. Redick and Williams still anchor the Blue Devils, while Gray and Eric Williams remain the senior stalwarts for Wake. Gray has averaged 16 points against Duke since that freshman year jaw-breaker, while Eric Williams has posted double-doubles against Duke in LJC the last two years (though he has been less conspicuous in Cameron).
The Deacs have been a solid defensive team thus far, holding opponents to 37 percent shooting, and they've been impressive on the boards. They've out-boarded all but one opponent and had 66 rebounds against Bob Knight's Texas Tech team. Duke owns a negative rebounding margin to date.
Gray ranks second in the ACC in scoring, lodged between Redick and Shelden Williams, and had a 37-point outburst against Wisconsin in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Eric Williams, who gets a quarter of his field goals on dunks, leads the league in shooting percentage. Trent Strickland has improved all of his numbers after playing behind Josh Howard and Jamaal Levy in the past. Last week Prosser gave Shamaine Dukes his first start and the freshman dealt 10 assists on Charleston Southern to tie Paul's school record for rookies.
Duke-Wake games have been extremely physical over the last couple of years. That 2003 double overtime game “featured” 76 free throws and eight players disqualified on fouls. Last year there was the Paul-Ewing technical foul scuffle, another technical on Strickland and two Duke foul-outs. At the Cameron game last February, Duke shot 33 free throws and Wake 35; fortunately for Duke, Redick made 14-of-15. During the three years of Redick, Gray and the Williamses, the six Duke-Wake games have seen eight technical fouls and 19 players foul out.
Wake had a 21-game home winning streak come to an end earlier this season when former Deacons assistant Jerry Wainwright coached DePaul to an 84-81 victory at LJC. Wake may have been rusty from a 10-day layoff, but that won't be the case this week. With Duke coming to town ranked No. 1, Wake's team and crowd will likely be at their best. With three straight home wins over the Blue Devils, Wake's veterans may not view it as an upset to continue the string.
This particular Duke team has been in a true road game just once this year, at Indiana, and handled it well especially during crunch time. The Blue Devil veterans won't define their season based on ending a losing streak at one enemy arena, but on their list of short-term goals it's No. 1 this week.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballCoach Scheyer Media Availability
Wednesday, September 24
Jon Scheyer Press Conference: Summer 2025
Tuesday, July 08
Duke vs Houston: Press Conference
Sunday, April 06
Duke vs Alabama: East Region Champions Press Conference
Wednesday, April 02
