Duke’s Cooper Flagg dunks during the second half of the Blue Devils’ 63-56 win on Saturday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Flagg finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Ben McKeown/Associated Press

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Star freshman Cooper Flagg, a Newport native, had 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists as second-ranked Duke pushed past Wake Forest 63-56 on Saturday.

Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel had 15 points for the Blue Devils (17-2, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who missed their first 13 shots after halftime and went 1 for 19 through the first 12 minutes of the second half.

That helped Wake Forest rally from 15 down before halftime to push ahead 45-39 on Juke Harris’ basket at the 9:55 mark. Duke responded with seven straight scoring possessions, going up 53-47 on Flagg’s two free throws with 3:53 left.

Harris scored 14 points to lead the Demon Deacons (15-5, 7-2), who had the backing of a loud and festive home crowd eager to storm the court against Duke for the second straight year. This time, they couldn’t close it when Duke wobbled.

The Blue Devils had yet to play an ACC game closer than 11 points, but responded in a big test.

The Demon Deacons had won six straight, but missed on adding an impressive win to their NCAA Tournament resume.

Flagg stepped up in the key sequence, starting with a face-up jumper. Knueppel followed with a bucket in the paint, followed by a pick-and-pop 3 from Mason Gillis.

Flagg handled most of the rest, scoring on a spin move, then beating Tre’Von Spillers off the dribble to throw down a two-handed slam as Duke made its move.

Duke’s Tyrese Proctor was 1 of 11 from the field and 0 for 6 from 3-point range before burying a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, pushing Duke to a 56-49 lead with 2:18 left.