Sports > February 21, 2008

By Ryan Durham | Senior writer

Despite the rain, Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Skip Prosser, meeting the students on the Quad to celebrate the Deacons’ shocking 86-73 win over the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils Feb. 17.

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Freshman guard Jeff Teague drives to the basket in the Deacons’ 86-73 upset victory over Duke University on Feb. 17. Teague finished with a game-high 26 points. (Jeff Merski/Old Gold & Black)

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“(Wake Forest) played with incredible energy tonight,” Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They played with more energy than we did and the crowd was great. I thought they played great basketball.”

The story of the night proved to be the play of the Deacon freshmen. Between guard Jeff Teague and forward James Johnson, the Wake Forest freshmen combined for 50 points, 20 rebounds and three assists.

Teague lead the Deacs in scoring with 26 points and two steals. Teague had 11 of his points coming in the early minutes of the game.

“It was a great win for us,” Gaudio said after the game. “Teague is a really courageous young guy, and he got us off to just a terrific start. And let us know that we can play with these guys.”

Johnson, recording yet another double-double, threw down 24 points and picked up 16 rebounds en route to the upset.

“James sometimes has been floating in and out a bit,” Gaudio said. “He really stepped up tonight.”

The freshmen were not the only Deacs to have big games though. Sophomores L.D. Williams and Jamie Skeen provided a huge lift for the team.

In only his second game back after sitting out for three weeks, Williams put up nine points and seven rebounds in the game, but that is not all he brought to the Deacs.

“L.D. is really an emotional leader for us,” Gaudio said. “He does a lot of intangibles for us.”

Williams provided that emotional lift by getting the crowd into the game multiple times, whether he was on the court or on the bench.

“It just feels great getting back on the floor with my teammates,” Williams said.

The outstanding offensive play of Teague, Johnson and Williams provided was not the only key to the Demon Deacon victory. Wake Forest’s defense also shut down the Blue Devils on multiple possessions. They forced 22 turnovers and nabbed seven steals.

“In the first ten ACC games we’ve had plus seven in turnover margin, that’s been one of the great stats,” Krzyzewski said. “Tonight we had 22 turnovers and forced 19, that was a key stat in the game. You don’t get 22 turnovers unless someone is playing hard against you. I just think they played really hard.”

Skeen was a large part of this defensive effort and had some extremely productive minutes offensively off the bench as well. He gave Wake Forest 10 points, nine rebounds and a block, helping to make up for the absence of sophomore big man Chas McFarland, who was in foul trouble.

Sophomore guard Ishmael Smith proved once again to be the heart of the offense, dishing out four assists and putting up six points of his own.

“That was a huge win,” Smith said. “I remember going up to Duke last year and they just embarrassed us. I remember going home and tearing up and saying I can’t wait to play those guys again.”

Smith and the Deacs used that motivation to defeat what was the second ranked team in the country.

“Hopefully in March that’s a good win that might get us off of the bubble,” Gaudio said.

Before their victory over the Blue Devils, the Demon Deacons traveled to Tallahassee, Fla. to face the Florida State Seminoles.

Wake Forest jumped out quickly to a 10 point lead thanks in part to a trio of three-pointers.

The Deacs kept FSU at arm’s length in the first half, with strong defense and three-point shooting. Wake Forest shot eight of nine behind the arc and produced seven turnovers in the first half alone.

Freshman Gary Clark factored largely into the first half push, shooting three of four from three-point land and providing a few solid defensive plays.

Skeen was perfect from behind the arc at two for two, as were Williams and Johnson.

In the second half the Seminoles slowly chipped away at the Deacons’ lead.

A 21-8 run in the opening 10 minutes took the Seminoles to within three points of Wake Forest, but a 9-0 Deacon run gave Wake Forest yet another double-digit lead, which they maintained for most of the remainder of the game.

The Seminoles could not find an answer for the Deacon attack, falling 78-70.

Four Demon Deacons scored in double figures, including Clark and the newly recovered Williams.

Clark’s 13 points were a career high for him and he also had a steal, proving that his role for the Deacs is quickly expanding.

Williams did not act like he had been gone for three weeks. Scoring 10 points and pulling down four rebounds, he looked as he did before a fractured hand put him on the bench.

For the sixth time on the season, Teague led the Deacons in scoring with 18 points and was followed closely by McFarland, whose 17 points and 10 rebounds gave him his first double-double of his career.

They now sit at 16-8 and 6-5 in the ACC, with hopes of a NCAA tournament berth still alive.

If the Deacs can repeat the feat when they travel to UNC Feb. 24, they may just get that final push into post season play.