Wake Forest University
13-4,3-3ACC
Duke
13-2,3-1ACC
Wake Forest Falls to No. 8 Duke
1/12/2022 9:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Alondes Williams tallied a game-high 25 points in front of the largest home crowd since 2019.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's basketball team fell to Duke 76-64 on Wednesday evening inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Despite the loss, Wake Forest (13-4, 3-3 ACC) won the battle on the glass by a 36-to-29 margin and prevented Duke (13-2, 3-1 ACC) from notching any second-chance points. In total, the Deacs held Duke to just five offensive rebounds, tying their season-low. The team also forced 18 Blue Devil fouls, marking their second-most of the season,
Alondes Williams continued his high scoring, finishing with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-21 shooting, the Milwaukee native's third-straight game of 20-plus points and ninth of the season. Williams also grabbed seven rebounds and four assists.
With 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, Jake LaRavia has scored in double figures in each of the Demon Deacons' six ACC contests. The Indianapolis native is averaging 15.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists so far in conference play.
The Demon Deacons took the court in front of their largest home crowd of the season with 14,213 fans in attendance, the largest crowd in LJVM since the Deacs hosted North Carolina February 16, 2019. Additionally, the student crowd of 3,028 was the largest since at least 2008.
How It Happened
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Dallas Walton's hook shot opened up scoring for the Deacs just under two minutes into the contest.
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Wake Forest entered the under-16 trailing Duke 11-4.
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Alondes Williams thundered down a dunk in transition, cutting the Deacons' deficit to six (12-6) with 13:37 remaining in the opening period.
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Williams knocked down his first three-pointer of the evening in stride to cut the Duke lead to four (13-9) with just over 12 minutes left until halftime.
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Isaiah Mucius capped off an 8-0 Demon Deacon run with a layup that gave the team its first lead (18-15) with 7:54 to go until intermission.
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Cameron Hildreth (two points) and Williams (four points) also found the net during the run.
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Hildreth's second basket knotted the game up at 20 apiece with 4:24 remaining until the half.
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Daivien Williamson went 3-for-4 over two straight trips to the free throw line to retake the lead with three minutes left in the first half.
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Following a Duke triple, Williamson stepped to the line again and went 2-of-2 to tie the game at 25 with two minutes left on the clock.
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Williams rifled a pass to Walton under the basket for a dunk, giving the Deacs 29-27 lead with under a minute remaining in the opening period.
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Wake Forest entered halftime trailing Duke 35-29.
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Six Deacs found the bottom of the net in the first half, led by Williams' 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Williamson contributed six first-half points, all coming from the free throw line.
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Williams ended a 10-0 Duke run early in the second half with a jumper, cutting Duke's lead to 17 (49-32) with 15:45 left in the contest.
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A 9-0 run courtesy of Jake Laravia (five points) and Williams (four points) brought the Deacs within 11 of the Blue Devils' lead (55-44) with 10:36 to play.
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Khadim Sy's layup cut Duke's lead down to 14 (61-47) with nine minutes until the final buzzer.
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A 7-0 run capped off by Isaiah Mucius' first triple of the game cut Wake Forest's deficit to 13 (67-54) with 5:16 left in regulation.
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LaRavia added a pair of buckets at the rim during the run.
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LaRavia netted two free throws following two buckets by Williams to cut Duke's lead to 12 (72-60) with 2:32 to play.
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Wake Forest fell to Duke 76-64.
Stat of the Game
Alondes Williams' 25 points against Duke tie Virginia Tech's Keve Aluma (12/22/21) for the most scored against the Blue Devils this season.
Coach's Comments
"Duke did an unbelievable job imposing their will on us at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half. They went four-for-four to start the second half and we played behind the rest of the time. I thought they were the tougher team when the game was on the line. We didn't shoot the ball well, we have to make more shots. Shooting 2-of-16 from three is going to make it really difficult to beat an elite team. But, there was a great crowd, a great energy in the building, and Duke did what they had to do to get a road win." - head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will head to Charlottesville, Va. for a matchup against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday, January 15.
Tipoff in John Paul Jones Arena is set for 4:30 p.m. and the game will air live on Bally Sports South and other regional sports networks.
