The most unlikely victory of Duke's season materialized Saturday afternoon.
For that to happen, it required Blue Devils sophomore Luke Kennard to have the greatest statistical second half in college basketball this season. He saved his team from catastrophe while ending once for all the idea that anyone but No. 5 is Duke's MVP.
Without Kennard, Duke isn't even in the game. Hell, without Kennard, Duke isn't anything better than a No. 8 seed in March. There once was a time -- all of two weeks ago -- when that notion would've been ridiculous to me, to you, to most in college basketball. Now, I've never been more sure of it. Without Kennard, Duke is an ACC afterthought. Without Kennard, Duke loses in blowout fashion at Wake Forest. It should have lost at Wake Forest, but the quick-footed shooting guard channeled the ghosts of J.J. Redick and sparked Duke to a dramatic win while vaulting himself back into the player-of-the-year conversation in the process.
Kennard -- who has indisputably been Duke's best player this season, and this was the type of performance to loudly remind his teammates of that reality -- led the Blue Devils with a 34-point showing, including 6-of-6 from 3-point range, to lift the Devils past Wake Forest 85-83. It was the most important performance of the season for No. 17 Duke, and will go down as one of the signature intra-conference games by any player this season.
Kennard put up 30 (!) points in the second half, played all 20 minutes, was 10 for 10 from the field. He was magnificent. He was everything Duke needed him to be. His 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left gave the game its final margin and also put the Blue Devils ahead for the first time since it was 18-17.
It was an unlikely push. Duke trailed by seven points with less than two minutes remaining. It ended the game on a 15-4 run, punctuated by Kennard and Grayson Allen cashing 3-pointers as part of a 9-0 run to close the game that saved Duke ... for now. Allen had five treys on Saturday and finished with 19 points. No other Duke players hit double figures. Duke's far from clear of trouble. It shouldn't need a lionhearted effort from one guy to steal a win in Winston-Salem.
Duke roared back on Wake Forest despite massive foul trouble. Freshman Jayson Tatum played perhaps the worst game of his college career, fouling out midway through the second half and finishing with just eight points on six shots. Four other Blue Devils had four fouls. Duke committed 30. Some Duke fans were probably thankful Tatum wasn't on the floor for the final possession, as the talented freshman has been spotty with shooting.
The ball had to be in Kennard's hands. Prior to his winning shot, as Duke was in timeout, interim coach Jeff Capel told Kennard to "go win the game."
So he did. Capel drew up a great play. Mike Krzyzewski couldn't have done better.
If Duke's players know what's good for them, then Saturday's Kennard-from-behind win should be an inflection point on the team's season. Because the most important issue surrounding Duke this season hasn't been Allen's melodrama and tripping incident. It hasn't been the health of Krzyzewski. It hasn't been the progress of five-star, lottery-bound freshmen.
It's been about Kennard. He was the guy averaging 20.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists through the first 10 games, the surprise player in college basketball who was carrying Duke amid an injury-plagued non-conference run.
Duke is now 4-4 in the ACC and 16-5 overall. Krzyzewski has not coached the Blue Devils since the team's home win over Boston College one Jan. 7. Since then, Duke has gone 2-3. A lot to fix. What doesn't need tinkering is finding the alpha. Kennard is Duke's best player. Kennard is Duke's most valuable player. Kennard is the leader, the guy who can save this once-promising season. He knows it, you know it, I know it. We all know it. Maybe, finally, because of what he pulled off on Saturday, his teammates will finally come to embrace it as well. Because they've known it for a while.
Once the score hit 83-82, it finally looked like they accepted it.