DURHAM, N.C. — Freshman Grayson Allen scored a season-best 27 points, and No. 3 Duke routed Wake Forest 94-51 on Wednesday night for its 10th straight win.
Matt Jones added 17 points for the Blue Devils (27-3, 14-3), who shot 58 percent and forced 19 turnovers in locking up the No. 2 seed in next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Duke had a double-figure lead before the Demon Deacons managed their first basket, scoring the first 12 points and rolling to their 16th straight home victory in the ACC’s oldest series.
Codi Miller-McIntyre scored 20 points for Wake Forest (13-17, 5-12), which has lost four of five.
Quinn Cook had 13 points in his Cameron Indoor Stadium farewell and Justise Winslow also had 13. Jahlil Okafor finished with six — his first single-digit scoring game — after some early foul trouble.
The Blue Devils didn’t need much from him at all.
Okafor has been the biggest name in a gifted freshman class of possible one-and-dones that also includes Winslow and Tyus Jones. One of those three has led the team in scoring in 21 of the first 29 games.
And then Allen got hot and upstaged everyone.
His previous scoring best was 18 points — but he blew past that by halftime, with 19 in just eight minutes.
In the opening 20 minutes, he hit two 3-pointers and converted a four-point play — one of two by the Blue Devils in the opening 20 minutes. His free throw with 58.5 seconds before the break put Duke up by 30 at 45-15 and led the Cameron Crazies to chant “Grayson’s winning.”
The other four-pointer came when Tyus Jones banked in a 3 at the buzzer through contact from Madison Jones, then hit the following free throw to make it 52-15.
Tyus Jones finished with 10 points.
Mitchell Wilbekin, who had 11 points, was the only player to score for Wake Forest in the opening 11½ minutes — while the Demon Deacons fell behind by 26.
NO. 12 NOTRE DAME 71, NO. 16 LOUISVILLE 59
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Demetrius Jackson scored 21 points and No. 12 Notre Dame made its final seven shots to pull away for a victory over No. 16 Louisville that clinched third place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Jackson’s 3-pointer with 7:52 left gave the Irish a 53-48 lead. He then added consecutive jumpers to twice provide nine-point cushions that sealed the victory for the Fighting Irish (25-5, 13-4 ACC).
He also had plenty of help from other teammates such as Bonzie Colson, who made a big jumper down the stretch en route to 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting.
Jerian Grant added 12 points and Steve Vasturia 10 as Notre Dame finished 54 percent from the field and made 20 of 25 from the free-throw line.
Montrezl Harrell had 23 points for the Cardinals (23-7, 11-6), but missed several free throws as they tried to rally. Louisville finished 11 of 18 from the line.
NO. 23 OHIO STATE 77, PENN STATE 67
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — D’Angelo Russell scored 28 points and coach Thad Matta tied the school record for wins in No. 23 Ohio State’s victory over Penn State.
Matta is 297-91 in 11 seasons at Ohio State, tied with Fred Taylor. Matta’s next win would give him the Buckeyes mark as well as his 400th career victory overall.
Jae’Sean Tate and Shannon Scott each added 13 points for the Buckeyes (22-8, 11-6 Big Ten). Russell was 5 of 8 from 3-point range.
Seniors D.J. Newbill (17 points) and Ross Travis (14) led Penn State (15-15, 3-14) during their final home game for the Nittany Lions. Newbill eclipsed the 2,000-point mark for his career; he has 2,011 points.
NO. 24 PROVIDENCE 79, SETON HALL 66
NEWARK, N.J. — Ben Bentil scored a career-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds and No. 24 Providence shot 67 percent from the field in the second half in rallying from a big first-half deficit to defeat Seton Hall.
LaDontae Henton also scored 21 points and Kris Dunn scored all 17 of his points in the second half when the Friars (21-9, 11-6 Big East) hit 13 of their first 17 shots to turn an upset bid by the Pirates (16-13, 6-11) into a runaway. The win was the fourth in five games for Providence.
Freshman Isaiah Whitehead and senior Brandon Mobley had 13 points apiece to lead Seton Hall, which lost for the 10th time in 13 games. Sterling Gibbs returned from a two-game suspension and added 11 points.