updated 12:37 a.m. ET Feb. 18, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Freshmen Jeff Teague and James Johnson showed no fear of Duke. Instead, they helped coach Dino Gaudio claim a victory that surely would have made his late best friend proud.

Teague scored 26 points and the Demon Deacons shocked the No. 2 Blue Devils 86-73 on Sunday night, snapping the Blue Devils’ 12-game winning streak and giving the first-year coach his signature victory as the heir of the late Skip Prosser’s program.

“I watched them on TV (and) I dreamed about (North) Carolina and Duke,” Teague said, adding that he and Johnson “talked about that when we first got here, ’Playing Duke, they’re going to pressure you.’

“That’s why I want to play. I’m not an All-American or nothing, but I want to go out and try to beat one.”

Johnson added 24 points and a personal-best 16 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (16-8, 6-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who claimed their first victory against a top-five team since Chris Paul’s sophomore season in 2004-05. This time, the tie-dye-clad “Screamin’ Demons” student section poured onto the court to celebrate the program’s biggest win since they knocked off the then-No. 4 Blue Devils on Feb. 2, 2005.

The Demon Deacons’ third straight victory improved them to 14-1 on their home court and snapped a five-game losing streak in the series. They did it on the strength of a 17-2 run midway through the second half and some smothering defense, forcing Duke into a season-high 22 turnovers.

“(Teague) did a great job on defense, but I think it was just us not being as aggressive as we’ve been all year, taking the right shots, and just passing up a lot of shots that we should have taken, and second-guessing ourselves early,” freshman Nolan Smith said. “Lackadaiscial turnovers, out of bounds, that’s what happens.”

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The Blue Devils (22-2, 10-1) entered this one only a one-point overtime loss to Pittsburgh away from a perfect record, and had won their previous 12 games by an average of 14.3 points.

But this time, the Demon Deacons held Mike Krzyzewski’s team without a field goal for more than 7 minutes in building the first double-figure lead of the game for either team, with Teague’s three-point play with 4:58 left making it 72-62.

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After Kyle Singler’s layup at the 11:20 mark gave the Blue Devils their largest lead of the half at 60-55, they missed 11 consecutive shots before Paulus ended the drought with a 3 with just over 4 minutes left. They didn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way.

“Tonight, we played like we’ve already done something, and the team that had to win won,” Krzyzewski said. “We have to always play like we have to win. That’s the sign of a champion. That’s a part of learning. We have some young guys who haven’t been champions before, and they’re trying to learn how to be that. Sometimes the best lessons are ones that are taught in defeat.”

Smith, a freshman, scored a season-high 21 points, DeMarcus Nelson had 18 points and Singler finished with 17 for the Blue Devils, who had all five starters foul out in the closing moments in losing for the fourth time in five visits to Winston-Salem.

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