Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 17, 1991 TAG: 9102170087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Tucker scored 31 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds as the Demon Deacons took a big step toward their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1984.
"I just wanted to go out and I didn't think about the individual part of the game - the rebounds and the points," Tucker said. "I just wanted to beat Duke and do it any way I could."
Tucker, who transferred to Wake Forest from Georgetown two years ago, put an exclamation point on the triumph - the fifth in the past six games for Wake Forest - with a two-handed slam dunk with eight seconds left.
Wake Forest (15-8 overall, 6-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) had won just one of the past 14 games between the two schools. That victory was in 1989 and was the final blow to knock Duke out of its then-No. 1 ranking.
The Demon Deacons snapped their bad luck against the Blue Devils with a 56 percent field goal shooting performance, including 60 percent in the second half.
Randolph Childress scored 14 points, Robert Siler 11 and Chris King and Derrick McQueen 10 each for Wake Forest.
"Last year at this time, we didn't have an ACC victory. It's really gratifying to beat an ACC team like Duke or Georgia Tech," said Tucker, whose team beat Tech last Saturday.
Duke (22-5, 8-3 ACC) fell into a first-place tie with North Carolina with three regular-season games left before the league tournament. The Blue Devils hit just 44 percent of their shots.
"I don't think there's any question that Wake Forest deserved to win," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They played very hard and it was not that our kids laid down and died. I thought Wake was fresh and aggressive."
Krzyzewski also had praise for Tucker.
"It was a sensational performance by Tucker," he said. "He asserted himself early and he gave a lot of strength to his team."
The Blue Devils chipped away at a 58-49 deficit at the 12-minute mark behind Christian Laettner, who led Duke with 29 points. He scored seven points in a 15-8 surge that drew Duke to 66-64 with 6:30 left. But Duke couldn't tie the score, and Tucker's interception of Greg Koubek's pass led to McQueen's layup at 6:08. Siler added a 17-foot jumper at 5:18 for a 70-64 edge.
But Tucker was the focus of the day for Wake Forest and Coach Dave Odom.
"Anthony Tucker was sensational," Odom said. "He scored 31 points and that matches his uniform number. I've been telling him for two years that he couldn't score, and that shows what I know. I thought he was able to take what the defense gave him. There were a lot of favorable matchups for him."
DUKEMPFGFTRAFPT G.Hill202-40-03244Koubek193-40-01017Laettner379-159-12100429Hurley382-82-21328 McCaffrey212-82-20147T.Hill254-92-491412Lang50-00-00030Davis293-84-441410Palme r60-00-00000Totals20025-5619-242982677 WAKEMPFGFTRAFPT King295-90-010410Tucker3711-179-11114231Rogers224-61-45139Siler284-72-244211Mc Queen314-61-345310Childress244-94-712214Doggett10-00-00000Wise60-00-11010Owens 140-11-22121Medlin80-20-02040Totals20032-5718-3033172386
Duke 3542-77 Wake Forest3947-86
Three-point goals-Duke 8-22 (Koubek 1-2, Laettner 2-4, Hurley 2-6, McCaffrey 1-5, T. Hill 2-5); Wake Forest 4-9 (Tucker 0-1, Siler 1-2, McQueen 1-1, Childress 2-5).
Turnovers-Duke 19, Wake Forest 18.
Technical fouls-None.
Officials-Wirtz, Rose, Edsall.
A-14,560 (at Wake Forest).
by CNB