DURHAM, N.C. - J.J. Redick dismissed the performance of his career. He simply wanted a victory for Duke.

"What means something to me is that we won," Redick said. "This team was really struggling, and we've had a rough couple of days. I would have the same feeling right now if we'd won and I'd scored two."

He did much better than that.

The junior guard scored a career-high 38 points, and reserve Lee Melchionni added 15 to lead the seventh-ranked Blue Devils past No. 5 Wake Forest 102-92 on Sunday night.

Duke (19-4, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coming off consecutive losses for only the fourth time in eight seasons, had its way with the Demon Deacons in the second half. After trailing by two at the break, the Blue Devils shot 61 percent in the final 20 minutes to reach their highest point total of the season.

"You saw a lot of points with guys really playing hard defensively," Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "That takes a game to another level."

Chris Paul had 27 points and Trent Strickland scored 17 for Wake Forest (22-4, 10-3), which fell out of a first-place tie with North Carolina.

Duke center Shelden Williams more than held his own in his matchup with Eric Williams, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. And Melchionni, a junior who played very little during his first two seasons, came up with big play after big play when the Blue Devils needed it most.

He came in averaging only 6.8 points a game, but beat that total during a 90-second span of the second half. The left-hander swished a 3-pointer for a five-point lead, jumped in the passing lane for a steal that led to his own dunk, then spun in the paint for a short jumper.

"We feed off our defense as an offensive team," Melchionni said. "We really executed that."

On the other end, he drew a charge from Wake Forest guard Justin Gray, who went to the bench with his fourth foul with 141/2 minutes left. Duke eventually went ahead 88-69 before the Deacons staged a furious rally to make the final respectable, getting within seven with 1:15 remaining.

The Blue Devils closed it out at the free-throw line to win for only the third time in the past six games. They last lost three in a row to complete the 1995-96 season.

"I just though Duke played great and my hat's off to them," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. "They shot the ball well. Part of that is a function of our defense, I'm sure, but part of it is a function of they just shot the ball well, too."

Redick certainly did. He hit his first six shots after starting the game with some unfamiliar teammates, joining Shelden Williams in a lineup that included Reggie Love, Patrick Johnson and little-used guard Patrick Davidson. On the opening possession, Davidson repeatedly bumped Paul until the whistle finally blew, and Krzyzewski was up off the bench screaming for an offensive foul on Paul.

The infraction went against Davidson, and he left after about two minutes to a raucous ovation, and, as expected, Prosser had a different view of Davidson's effort.

"Would it have irritated you?" he said in a postgame session with reporters. "You guys make that call, you saw what was going on out there."

So did Paul.

"That's the oldest trick in the book," he said. "I've been seeing that since junior high."

That was the start of a gritty, physical first half during which the teams combined for 24 fouls, a total that included offsetting technicals on Dockery and Wake Forest's Jamaal Levy. Later, the usually unflappable Paul got a technical when he shoved the ball in the face of Melchionni, helping Duke take its big lead.

"He fouled me, and I just reacted when I shouldn't have," Paul said. "It was right in front of the referee. That was my fault."

Through it all, Redick continued making shots. He beat his previous best of 34 points from last season and shot 9-of-15, including 6-of-10 on 3-pointers.

"It was as good as our offense has looked all year, and it wasn't one guy or just me," Redick said. "It was everybody."

At Tucson, Salim Stoudamire sank a school-record nine 3-pointers and scored 31 points in his final home game. Channing Frye added 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Wildcats (23-4, 13-2 Pac-10) stayed atop the Pac-10.Nick DeWitz and Jason Fontenet scored 16 for the Beavers (14-11, 6-8), 0-7 on the road in the Pac-10.

At Louisville, Taquan Dean made five 3-pointers and Larry O'Bannon scored 17 points for the Cardinals (23-4, 11-2 Conference USA), who finished with their highest point total since a 105-69 win over Tulane on Jan. 29.Izik Ohanon scored 18 to lead Saint Louis (7-18, 4-8), which played most of the game without Coach Brad Soderberg, who was ejected in the first half.