DURHAM — Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski missed Saturday’s game against Wake Forest because of a virus.
But he wasn’t the only ailing Blue Devil.
Freshman Gary Trent Jr. — who said he was dealing with light-headedness and nausea — decided to play, offering the Blue Devils plenty of motivation in an 89-71 win over the Demon Deacons.
Trent, a game-time decision, left the game in the first half to throw up in a bucket on the sideline.
But he was plenty healthy enough to give the short-handed Blue Devils (15-2, 3-2 ACC) an offensive spark, finishing with 19 points and six 3-pointers.
“Just have to play through it and get a win,” he said. “That’s the most important thing.”
School officials announced Krzyzewski’s absence about 45 minutes before tipoff.
Associate head coach Jeff Capel said Krzyzewski woke up Saturday feeling ill and decided “he didn’t want to get our guys sick, didn’t want to put anyone else in jeopardy, but he’s better.”
“Great win for our guys in the midst of this adversity with coach being out,” Capel said.
“Gary was very sick. We weren’t sure really up until tip if he was going to be able to play. But a big-time win for us. Our guys played terrific. Again, Gary, it’s an understatement saying how good he was, especially if you saw him right before the game — how he was in the locker room. For him, first and foremost, to be able to go out there and give it a try and then to play how he did was pretty incredible.”
Marvin Bagley III, who made ACC history with the fifth 30-point game of his rookie campaign, tallied 30 points and 11 rebounds for another double-double performance.
Still, he turned the spotlight to Trent’s effort.
“To have somebody like that on your team, who’s throwing up on the bench on the side, not feeling too good, to have somebody like that come out and still play the way he did and give everything he had, that’s just amazing,” Bagley said.
“That makes me just want to go harder, too, if I see my teammate fight for me like that and fight for the rest of us like that. I think everybody really went off of that and played hard for him.”
Wendell Carter Jr. also logged a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Grayson Allen was limited to two points but had a career-best 12 rebounds.
It was a new experience for the freshmen, but Allen has become accustomed to unexpected adversity. Capel stepped in not only in 2016 at Georgia Tech but the seven games Krzyzewski missed after back surgery last season.
“It is a little bit different, but we’re used to seeing this before,” Allen said. “And one, (Krzyzewski’s) still in the building somewhere, and two, we have faith in Coach Capel.”
Alex O’Connell seemed unaffected by Krzyzewski’s absence, providing a lift off the bench to finish with 13 points for the Blue Devils. He knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and finished 5 of 6 from the charity stripe.
Duke attempted 34 free throws, making 27. Wake Forest (8-9, 1-4) had just nine foul shots and made seven of them.
“Our sideline leader was out but our leaders on the court were present,” O’Connell said. “They were very present with their voices and how they played.”
Bryant Crawford scored 21 points and Keyshawn Woods had 15 to lead the Demon Deacons, who haven’t won at Cameron Indoor Stadium in 21 years.
Now, Duke faces a quick turnaround with a game Monday night at No. 18 Miami, where the Blue Devils haven’t won since 2014.
Bagley is hopeful the team will be back to 100 percent sooner rather than later.
“Gary was sick. Coach (Krzyzewski) was sick. I don’t know about anybody else, but we’ve been putting sanitizer on every time we come into the locker room and just trying to keep everybody healthy,” Bagley said.
“We need every last one of these guys in this locker room. It’s very important for them to get better and I just hope they get better.”
Trent is going about it with a simple approach.
“We’ve got to contain it,” he said. “Make sure we wash our hands.”
