Mike Krzyzewski usually hides his emotions pretty well on Duke's bench, but Coach K couldn't help himself for this one. He pumped his fist to fire up his players, then ditched the sportcoat that he's never seen without.
"I told them, 'I'm not going to tell you we have to win it,"' Krzyzewski said. "'I'm going to tell you we're going to win it."'
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Video: Gerald Henderson had a career night and Duke avenged a bitter defeat in a thriller vs. Wake Forest. Watch the highlights.
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Then, Gerald Henderson went out and proved him right.
Henderson scored a career-high 35 points and the ninth-ranked Blue Devils held on to beat No. 8 Wake Forest 101-91 on Sunday night.
Jon Scheyer added a career-high 30 points in his second straight start at point guard for the Blue Devils (22-5, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). They twice led by 22 points in the first half and let the Demon Deacons creep within two points before finally putting them away with a late 16-6 run keyed by Henderson.
He led Duke to a critical victory that moved it into a three-way tie for second in the league standings behind North Carolina. Now, the Blue Devils finish the season with three of its final four games away from cozy Cameron Indoor Stadium.
That's why Coach K made it a point to impress the importance of this game on his players.
"You could tell (Krzyzewski's) intensity level had risen a little bit," Henderson said. "We want to win this league, and we're still fighting for first place. His intensity and his passion is something that leads us, and we just follow his lead."
Jeff Teague scored 28 points and James Johnson added 26 for the Demon Deacons (20-5, 7-5). They shot 61 percent but allowed Duke to hit 54 percent of its attempts - the worst performance of the season by the ACC's stingiest defense.
