MSG NYC -- Kyle Singler showed up from the start this time, scoring 15 points and leading Duke #5 to a 71-56 victory over Michigan in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic.
Nolan Smith led Duke with 16 points and Gerald Henderson had 12 for the Blue Devils, who won their four games in the 2K Sports Classic by an average of 28.5 points. Duke has won seven straight in-season tournament games after sweeping through the Maui Invitational last season.
Manny Harris scored 25 to lead Michigan (3-1), which will get another crack at the Blue Devils (5-0) when they visit Ann Arbor on Dec. 6. DeShawn Sims added 10.
Singler was on target early, going 3-for-3 from the field in the first half and hitting key shots whenever Michigan threatened to tighten things up. He also had eight boards and earned the tournament MVP award.
The game figured to hinge on Michigan's ability to slow down Duke's high-flying offense, and early on coach John Beilein's patented 1-3-1 zone defense seemed to confuse the Blue Devils.
Then Smith and freshman Elliot Williams combined for eight straight points, giving Duke a 25-15 lead with just under 9 minutes left in the first half, forcing the Wolverines to eventually switch to a man-to-man defense that kept the game close for a while.
Duke has won 14 straight in November and improved to 108-16 in the season's first month, including 94-10 under Mike Krzyzewski. His teams are 17-6 at Madison Square Garden, where another heavily pro-Duke crowd showed up in droves to see the title game of the tournament benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
In the consolation game earlier in the night, Alfred Aboya and Darren Collison led the Bruins to a 77-60 victory over Southern Illinois.
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