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DURHAM — The chant rang down from the rafters of old Cameron Indoor Stadium in the moments after No. 8 Duke's 90-70 victory over Wake Forest.

The 300th sellout crowd in a row at the cozy little gym shouted the name of the game's star over and over and over.

Kyle Singler, for his 21 points and 15 rebounds? Nope. Nolan Smith for his 20 points? Uh-uh. Jon Scheyer? Not this time, not after nine points on 3-for-11 shooting.

On this night, the cheers belonged to mild-mannered Miles Plumlee, the 6-foot-10 sophomore forward who put the Blue Devils (15-2, 3-1 ACC) on his broad shoulders in the first half and finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds in a wrestling match of a game Sunday.

Al-Farouq Aminu scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Wake Forest (12-4, 2-2), which came unglued after the hardest of several hard collisions in the second half.

"On both sides — our kids and their kids — it was like a football game," Demon Deacons coach Dino Gaudio said. " ... The game is just so incredibly physical now, it's unbelievable. I've been to a couple of NBA games this year, and I don't think it's this physical in the League."

One physical play stood out above the rest, when a little guard and a beefy big man raced for the basket in the second half, crashed into one another and fell hard to the floor.

After Aminu finished a fast break with a two-handed dunk to tie the score at 55, Duke responded with Singler's 3-pointer and Scheyer's old-fashioned three-point play to take a six-point lead.

Then Mason Plumlee, Duke's 6-foot-10 freshman forward, tracked down a loose ball at midcourt and headed for a breakaway dunk. Ish Smith, Wake's speedy 6-foot point guard, raced after him, leaped and appeared to block the shot.

But their torsos collided. They hit the floor hard. Plumlee stayed down rubbing his hip, and referee Ray Natili whistled Smith for an intentional foul.

Miles Plumlee shot his kid brother's free throws with 13:15 left, and Duke's Lance Thomas hit a foul-line jumper off the inbounds play.

When Nolan Smith's 3-pointer from the corner went in, the Duke run was 13-0 and the game was history.

"I think that little sequence there in the second half after we tied it 55-55 was big," Gaudio said. "&ellipses; Maybe when I watch the tape I'll see Ish killed him. But, I'll tell you what: He'll go up and block some shots. ... I don't know. When kids are up in the air, maybe we should let them go."

Ish Smith fouled out with just seven points, and C.J. Harris -- who came in as the ACC's top-scoring freshman — had just two on 1-for-5 shooting.

This game was all about big men, and for the second game in a row, Duke's forwards came through. Known as a 3-point shooting team, the Blue Devils shot just 4-for-13 from behind the arc — and still won by 20.

"I think (inside play) makes us a complete team," Miles Plumlee said. "Our perimeter has been there and they are always going to be there for us. Now we've got a real strong inside game. I mean, there are not many people who can stop that."

The big guys ruled the first half.

Wake got 12 points from Aminu, and 7-footer Chas McFarland had 10 on his way to a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Duke's Plumlee brothers combined for 23 points and 17 rebounds in the first half — when Wake's defense blanketed Duke's big three of Scheyer, Singler and Smith — helping the Blue Devils to a 46-38 halftime lead.

"Miles had his best game at Duke," Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "&ellipses; We were in so much foul trouble, and to see those (Plumlee) guys so aggressive and getting points for us &ellipses; they kept us in the ballgame."

Duke closed the first half on a 16-4 scoring run, but Wake caught up with a 17-5 run early in the second half.

Then an already physical game got really physical. And Duke's tight defense got even tighter.

"It's the hardest game we've played this year," Krzyzewski said. "That was a hard-fought game. ... I don't think that game is indicative of how all games are played, but certain games are just played at a higher level. And tonight was one of them."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

WAKE FOREST (12-4) — Aminu 7-18 8-11 22, Williams 1-7 0-0 3, McFarland 6-11 5-7 17, Smith 3-12 1-2 7, Harris 1-5 0-0 2, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 6-11 0-2 14, Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, Woods 2-2 1-3 5. Totals 26-66 15-25 70.

DUKE (15-2) — Singler 7-19 5-7 21, Mi.Plumlee 6-9 7-8 19, Thomas 2-4 0-0 4, Smith 6-17 7-7 20, Scheyer 3-11 2-2 9, Ma.Plumlee 4-6 3-4 11, Dawkins 1-3 1-2 3, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Davidson 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Zoubek 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 30-70 26-32 90.

Halftime—Duke 46-38.
3-point goals—Wake Forest 3-8 (Stewart 2-4, Williams 1-1, Aminu 0-1, Harris 0-2), Duke 4-13 (Singler 2-4, Smith 1-2, Scheyer 1-6, Dawkins 0-1).
Fouled out—Smith, Woods, Zoubek.
Rebounds—Wake Forest 41 (Aminu, McFarland 10), Duke 48 (Singler 15).
Assists—Wake Forest 8 (Smith 4), Duke 12 (Scheyer 6).
Total fouls—Wake Forest 24, Duke 23.
A—9,314.