DURHAM, N.C. — Mike Krzyzewski usually hides his emotions pretty well on Duke's bench, but he 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.' "

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, last 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 (20-5, 7-5) 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 their 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."

Jeff Teague scored 28 points and James Johnson added 26 for the Demon Deacons. 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.

"If somebody would have said we were going to score 91 points and we'd lose, I think I would have called him a liar," Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio said.

Yet his team managed to twice close within two points down the stretch, the last coming when freshman Al-Farouq Aminu's alley-oop dunk from Johnson made it 80-78 with 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

"You lose the lead in a game like this, and you might lose the game," Krzyzewski said.

Scheyer and Henderson wouldn't let that happen.

Scheyer knocked down three free throws roughly 30 seconds later to start the decisive run in which Duke hit 6 of 7 attempts from the foul line. Henderson and Scheyer then capped the run by hitting 3-pointers about a minute apart, with Scheyer pushing it to 96-84 with 2:12 left.

No. 6 Michigan State 61, Wisconsin 50: Kalin Lucas scored 17 points to help the Spartans (21-5, 11-3) keep a one-game lead in the Big Ten with a come-from-behind victory over the visiting Badgers (17-10, 8-7).

No. 12 Villanova 89, No. 24 Syracuse 86: Dwayne Anderson scored a career-high 22 points to lead the visiting Wildcats (22-5, 10-4 Big East) to a season-series sweep over the Orange (19-8, 7-7).

No. 13 Clemson 81, Georgia Tech 73: Trevor Booker had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the visiting Tigers (22-4, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) over the Yellow Jackets (10-16, 1-12).

No. 14 Arizona State 70, Arizona 68: Rihards Kuksiks scored 17 points and hit a pair of late 3-pointers as the host Sun Devils (21-5, 10-4 Pac-10) beat the Wildcats (18-9, 8-6) despite blowing a 17-point second-half lead.

No. 16 Xavier 71, George Washington 53: C.J. Anderson led five players in double figures with 14 points and the host Musketeers (22-5, 10-3) beat the Colonials (8-16, 2-10).

No. 18 Illinois 70, Ohio State 68: Mike Davis scored 22 points to lead the visiting Illini (22-6, 10-5 Big Ten) past the Buckeyes (17-8, 7-7), giving coach Bruce Weber his 150th win at the school.

TOP 25 WOMEN

No. 1 Connecticut 76, No. 24 Notre Dame 66: Renee Montgomery scored 20 points as the top-ranked Huskies (27-0, 13-0 Big East) beat the visiting Irish (18-7, 7-6) to remain the nation's lone undefeated team.

No. 3 Auburn 65, Georgia 59: DeWanna Bonner scored 22 points and the host Tigers (26-2, 11-2 Southeastern Conference) made 9 of 10 free throws over the final 44 seconds to beat the Lady Bulldogs (15-12, 5-7) and clinch at least a share of their first SEC title in 20 years.

No. 9 Maryland 77, Duke 59: Kristi Toliver scored 34 points and Marissa Coleman added 24 as the host Terrapins (23-4, 10-2) rolled past the Blue Devils (22-4, 9-3).

No. 11 Florida State 59, Miami 58: Alysha Harvin hit two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining to lift the host Seminoles (23-5, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) over the Hurricanes (13-14, 2-10).

No. 13 Tennessee 82, Mississippi State 68: Kelley Cain scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help the Lady Vols (19-8, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) beat the Lady Bulldogs (19-8, 6-6) and avoid their first three-game losing skid since 1986.

No. 15 Florida 82, South Carolina 66: Sha Brooks scored 24 points and Marshae Dotson added 18 as the host Gators (23-5, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) snapped a three-game losing skid with a victory over the Gamecocks (10-15, 2-10).

Mississippi 71, No. 18 Vanderbilt 69: Kayla Melson's layup gave the host Rebels (16-12, 5-8 Southeastern Conference) the lead with 6 seconds left, and what seemed like a game-tying shot by Jence Rhoads was overturned, preserving Mississippi's win over the Commodores (21-7, 10-3).

No. 20 Ohio St. 79, Indiana 67: Star Allen tied a career high with 22 points as the visiting Buckeyes (22-5, 13-3) beat the Hoosiers (17-9, 10-7) to move into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.

Kansas 58, No. 21 Iowa St. 47: Danielle McCray scored 16 of her 24 points in the second half as the host Jayhawks (14-11, 3-9 Big 12) snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over the Cyclones (19-7, 7-5).

No. 23 Virginia 90, Boston College 70: Lyndra Littles and Monica Wright scored 27 points apiece as the host Cavaliers (21-8, 7-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Eagles (18-9, 6-6).

ELSEWHERE

Oklahoma: Preseason All-American Blake Griffin's status was uncertain for No. 2 Oklahoma's game against Kansas today after he sustained a concussion in a loss to Texas. Sooners coach Jeff Capel said Griffin would be held out of practice yesterday, but he won't know until game day whether Griffin will be able to go against the 15th-ranked Jayhawks.