Cameron Boozer racked up 22 of his 32 points in the second half as No. 5 Duke ran away from visiting Wake Forest for a 90-69 victory Saturday at Durham, N.C.,
Patrick Ngongba II added 13 points and Isaiah Evans had 11 for the Blue Devils (18-1, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot 50% from the field and enjoyed a 43-22 rebounding advantage.
Boozer shot 11-for-20 with three 3-pointers from the field to go with 7-for-7 free-throw shooting. He also provided a team-high nine rebounds.
Juke Harris’ 23 points and Cooper Schwieger’s 12 points paced Wake Forest (11-9, 2-5), which lost its second game in a row. Omaha Biliew added 11 points and Tre’Von Spillers had 10.
Harris, who led the team in scoring for the fourth time in a five-game stretch, connected on five of the Demon Deacons’ 14 baskets from 3-point range. He had 15 points during a 10-minute stretch.
The problem for Wake Forest came in large part because it shot 8-for-22 on 2-point attempts in the only scheduled meeting of the season between the two in-state rivals.
Wake Forest, which lost for the fourth time in five games, has given up more than 80 points in all except one of its losses.
Duke’s lead grew to 53-36 early in the second half before Wake Forest closed within 61-51. Boozer’s three-point play ignited a 10-0 run. That was followed by an 8-2 spurt that pretty much put the game out of reach.
Duke shot 21 of 24 on free throws.
More than nine minutes into the game, Duke had only nine points, but the Blue Devils built a 42-31 lead by halftime. Nine offensive boards in the opening half helped Duke get rolling.
The game was moved up nearly six hours because of concerns about a wintry storm striking the area.
–Field Level Media
