January 8, 2006
http://www.wakeforestsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/010806aab.html
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - J.J. Redick had plenty of help, even if he appeared to be a one-man team at times.
With old nemesis Chris Paul watching from a front-row seat, Redick scored 32 points to help No. 1 Duke hold off Wake Forest 82-64 Sunday night, leaving the Blue Devils one of only three unbeaten teams in Division I.
Lee Melchionni added 17 points for Duke (14-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which played a large part of the game without star center Shelden Williams. He picked up his third foul with about 5 minutes left in the first half, then got his fourth soon after the break. Williams played only 17 minutes but hardly was missed, thanks mostly to Redick. He finished 12-of-21 from the field - 5-of-13 on 3-pointers - against a variety of defenses used by the 23rd-ranked Demon Deacons (11-3, 0-1). A handful of players tried guarding Redick man-to-man, and when that failed, they went to a seldom-used triangle-and-two. Even that didn't stop Redick, who scored at least 30 points for the fifth time this season. He also moved into fourth on the career scoring list at Duke, passing Mark Alarie and Danny Ferry while closing in on Mike Gminski for third place.
Wake Forest center Eric Williams took advantage of Shelden Williams' absence to score 17 points, and Justin Gray matched that total. It still wasn't enough for the Deacons, who honored Paul at halftime as the school's male athlete of the year. Before the game, the New Orleans Hornets rookie guard took the court along with former teammates Taron Downey and Jamaal Levy to urge the crowd to be as raucous as possible. Paul then moved to a seat among the fans in the first row across from Duke's bench, looking dapper in a dark suit.
In the end, none of it mattered.
Wake Forest had its best chance at a comeback early in the second half, when four consecutive points from Gray cut the deficit to three. Greg Paulus got loose for a layup on the other end, and later, when Redick missed a 3, Trent Strickland had a breakaway that would have made it 53-50.
But he missed a reverse dunk, and Redick - who else? - swished a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. Later, with the shot clock winding down, freshman Josh McRoberts took only his second shot of the season from beyond the arc. It caught nothing but net, and suddenly the Blue Devils were up 11 and cruising. They got a spark from the return of DeMarcus Nelson, who missed the previous nine games with a broken ankle. He had two points in limited playing time.