Wake Forest turns back Blue Devils, ties for No. 2 in ACC

Chris Paul scored 23 points and Wake Forest withstood a flurry of late 3-pointers to hang on for a 92-89 victory over Duke on Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C..

The seventh-ranked Demon Deacons (18-3, 6-2 ACC) led by as many as 14 in the second half and appeared headed to an easy victory.

But J.J. Redick made a trio of 3-pointers in the final 2:14 and Sean Dockery also hit one as No. 4 Duke (16-2, 6-2) cut it to 90-89 with 3 seconds to play.

Redick finished with 33 points for Duke and made five 3s in 13 attempts.

The Deacons pulled out the victory and into a second-place conference tie with the Blue Devils, with each team trailing first-place North Carolina (17-2, 6-1) by a half-game.

(9) Louisville 77, (18) Cincinnati 70: At Louisville, Ky., freshman forward Juan Palacios scored 17 points and banked in an unlikely 3-pointer to seal the Cardinals’ (19-3, 7-1, C-USA) victory over the Bearcats (17-4, 6-2). Taquan Dean scored 19, and the 6-foot-8 Palacios shot 8 for 10 and grabbed 10 rebounds for Louisville, which has won eight in a row and 13 of its last 14. Eric Hicks matched a career high with 21 points to lead Cincinnati.

(10) Oklahoma St. 77, Kansas St. 57: Joey Graham scored 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, John Lucas III had 19 points and 10 assists and the Cowboys (16-3, 6-2 Big 12) beat the Wildcats (13-5, 3-4) at Stillwater, Okla.

(14) Oklahoma 69, Texas A&M 65: At Norman, Okla., Taj Gray scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half and the Sooners (17-3, 6-1 Big 12) overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the Aggies (14-5, 3-5). Terrell Everett scored 20 points for Oklahoma, which rebounded from a surprising loss at Iowa State that snapped a 10-game winning streak.

(19) Wisconsin 73, Northwestern 58: Kammron Taylor’s 18 points led five Badgers (15-4, 6-2 Big Ten) in double figures, and Wisconsin beat the Wildcats (9-11, 2-6) at Madison, Wis.

(23) Connecticut 81, (24) Villanova 76: At Hartford, Conn., Rashad Anderson scored 21 points and made a key block in the closing seconds, leading the Huskies (13-5, 5-3 Big East) to a win over the Wildcats (12-5, 4-4).

(25) Georgia Tech 64, Florida St. 61: Will Bynum made up for a poor first half by hitting a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to give the Yellow Jackets (13-6, 4-4 ACC) a victory over the Seminoles (11-10, 3-5) at Atlanta. Bynum finished with 19 points.

Women’s Top 25

(6) Notre Dame 64, (16) Boston College 57: Jacqueline Batteast scored all 15 of her points in the second half, and the Fighting Irish (19-3, 7-2 Big East) held the Eagles (15-4, 6-2) scoreless for 5 minutes down the stretch in a victory at South Bend, Ind. … (8) Baylor 72, (15) Kansas St. 62: At Waco, Texas, Stephanie Blackmon had 21 points and Sophia Young added 15, leading the Bears (16-3, 6-2 Big 12) to a win over the Wildcats (16-4, 7-2) that broke Kansas State’s seven-game conference winning streak. … (13) Texas 77, Texas A&M 62: Tiffany Jackson had 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Longhorns (13-6, 6-2 Big 12) over the Aggies (11-8, 2-7) at Austin, Texas. … (19) Iowa St. 103, Colorado 76: At Ames, Iowa, Megan Ronhovde scored a career-high 24 points for the Cyclones (17-2, 7-1 Big 12) in a victory over the Buffaloes (8-11, 1-7).