Duke defense holds Gonzaga to 25yr low

Nolan Smith scored 24 points, point guard Jon Scheyer added 20 points and eight assists and No. 7 Duke held No. 15 Gonzaga to its lowest point total in 25 years in a 76-41 victory Saturday in the Aeropostale Classic.

Among those in the crowd of 14,554 on a snowy day were Jason Williams, Chris Duhon, Greg Paulus and current assistant Steve Wojciechowski, all players who ran the point successfully at Duke for coach Mike Krzyzewski.

"I didn't know who was here until after the game and that's a good thing because you play a little differently if you do," Scheyer said. "I'm not one of those guys. They were obviously great guards and it was fun for Nolan and I to have a game like that."

Fun was not a word heard much in the Gonzaga locker room with the Bulldogs being held to their lowest point total since a 62-40 loss to Iowa on Nov. 28, 1984.

"We got throttled in every aspect of basketball," coach Mark Few said. "Their physical play bothered us as far as finishing shots around the rim. They outrebounded us. We turned the ball over more and they took more free throws. They beat us in every aspect. It was an old-fashioned take you out to the woodshed and beat you down."

Duke pounds Gardner Webb on Scheyer's 36

Scheyer had career highs of 36 points and nine assists to lead No. 7 Duke past Gardner-Webb 113-68 on Tuesday night.

He was 11 of 13 from the field, had 24 points by halftime and finished with a personal-best seven 3-pointers to lead the Blue Devils (8-1). And as his stat line inched closer to a triple-double, his teammates joked that he earned a taste of the silent treatment.

"You don't talk about it," forward Mason Plumlee said with a smile. "If he's not missing, don't mess with him."

Auryn MacMillan scored 14 points and C.J. Hailey added 11 to lead Gardner-Webb (3-5). The Runnin' Bulldogs turned it over 23 times and went more than 6 minutes without putting the ball through the rim in losing their fifth straight.

Freshman Andre Dawkins scored 16 emotional points while playing for the first time since his sister was killed in a car accident 1½ weeks earlier while driving to see Duke's game against St. John's.

Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek had 13 points apiece, while Nolan Smith added 11 and Kyle Singler, playing through a sprained right ankle, also finished with 11 — all in the second half.

Duke defeats St Johns

Singler scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half, and the sixth-ranked Blue Devils bounced back from their first loss by beating St. John's 80-71 on Saturday.

Nolan Smith added 16 points, Jon Scheyer added 15 on 4-of-14 shooting and Duke (7-1) had enough big bodies to clean up those misses, outrebounding the Red Storm 41-31. That helped the Blue Devils score 17 straight points in the first half, then produce another big run in the second and claim their NCAA-record 73rd straight nonconference victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"We're going to miss shots, but we don't really want to focus too much on that, just because we know we've got guys that can rebound the ball," Singler said. "One of the reasons why we had such a big lead in the first half was, our bigs did such a great job rebounding our misses and getting them back in the basket."

Wisconsin takes down Duke, 73-69

Hughes had 19 of his career-high 26 points in the second half and Wisconsin's 73-69 win over No. 6 Duke on Wednesday night snapped the Blue Devils' perfect mark in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

"The Big Ten's never won, and I think we won it?" teammate Keaton Nankivil asked postgame.

There was Hughes, right on cue: "Yeah, and the first time Duke lost."

With Illinois' 76-74 rally over Clemson and Ohio State's 77-64 victory over Florida State in the final game, the Big Ten won the 11-year series for the first time, 6-5.

"I'm proud to be a part of the conference when they win something," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "We're in it to try to win it."

It was especially sweet for the Badgers (5-1), who never trailed and got a measure of payback against Duke (6-1) after being routed 82-58 two years ago in a challenge game in Durham, N.C. Wisconsin's win ended the Blue Devils' 10-0 streak in the annual event and helped end the ACC's perfect 10-0 record as well.

"It's a point of pride to know that we had something to do with that in a game a lot of people probably didn't think we were going to win," Nankivil said. "It was pretty special."

Duke defeats UConn for NIT Title

Duke and Mike Krzyzewski won another NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday with a 68-59 victory over No. 13 Connecticut and Jim Calhoun.

The Hall of Fame coaches set the record for total career wins in a game and Krzyzewski now has 839, fourth on the all-time list. Calhoun still has 809, good for sixth place.

"It was a big-time game, shots were so hard to come by, open shots. Both teams are very, very good defensively and you know, you get by one guy and it's hard to get to the bucket," Krzyzewski said. "But we rebounded very well and we played outstanding defense."

The Blue Devils (6-0) dominated the Huskies (4-1) in every category except shooting in extending their winning streak in the tournament to 12 games with a third straight title (2000, 2005) and fourth overall (1985).

Duke shot 28.4 percent (21-of-74) compared to Connecticut's 37.3 percent (22-of-59), but the Blue Devils finished with a 56-43 rebound advantage, including 25-14 on the offensive boards.

"We missed 53 shots and we had 56 rebounds, you know?" Krzyzewski said. "It's a very unusual game, but it's a game where both teams played with a lot of heart, and we feel very fortunate to win this game and win the NIT championship."

Duke advances to NIT final -vs- UConn

The Blue Devils turned up the defensive intensity in a 19-3 run that led to a 64-53 victory over the Sun Devils.

Jon Scheyer had 16 points and six assists, and he was the one who found Singler for the two field goals that tied the game and put the Blue Devils ahead for good.

"I don't think looking for him any more than usual and I'm always looking for him when he's open," Scheyer said. "Crunch time is always Kyle's time and those were two big shots for us."

Nolan Smith had 14 points for Duke (5-0), which led by only four at halftime.

The Sun Devils (4-1), who managed to stay close behind their patient offense and pesky zone defense, tied it at 43 on two free throws by Derek Glasser with 13:11 to play only to see Duke break it open with the deciding run.

"I thought defensively after the first 5 minutes was the key to the ballgame," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "And Singler, who was not having a good shooting night, after that timeout in the second half he came out and hit those two buckets right away. It's nice if you're 9 for 12 but when you're whatever he was, when the score is tied, that's very good."

The Blue Devils will face No. 13 Connecticut in the championship game Friday. The Huskies beat LSU 81-55 in the other semifinal.

"A championship here would mean a lot because this is like a Final Four or a Sweet 16 because you play two games in three days against two good teams," Scheyer said. "We'll be ready and so will they."

Duke to face Arizona St in NIT semi-final

The Opening Tip
Duke (4-0), ranked ninth in the AP poll and eighth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, faces Arizona State (4-0) on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 9:00 p.m. in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Wednesday's contest will be aired by espn2 with Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale and Doris Burke calling the action.

The Last Time Out
Duke is coming off a 104-67 win over Radford on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Junior Nolan Smith and freshman Andre Dawkins each scored 20 points to pace the offense.

The Blue Devils knocked down 18 three-point field goals, including six by Dawkins, to match a school record. Duke drained 13 three-pointers in the opening half to jump out to a 59-34 advantage.

Senior Jon Scheyer added 18 points and seven assists, while Kyle Singler (13) and Miles Plumlee (12) also reached double figures in scoring. Plumlee added a team-high 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. Singler added seven rebounds and seven assists for his third career game with seven or more points, rebounds and assists. He is just the 10th Blue Devil to accomplish that feat three times in a career.

Duke cruises past Coastal and Charlotte to advance to MSG

Mike Krzyzewski settled in at the podium between his two veteran guards, gesturing first toward Nolan Smith and then toward Jon Scheyer.

"I know these guys are happy to be together again," Coach K said.

Especially when things click like this.

Smith scored a career-high 24 points in his return to the lineup, Scheyer added 20 and the ninth-ranked Blue Devils routed Charlotte 101-59 on Tuesday night in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Kyle Singler finished with 17 points for the Blue Devils (3-0) — who never trailed, hit 12 3-pointers and shot 52.9 percent in advancing to next week's semifinal matchup at Madison Square Garden against the TCU-Arizona State winner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kyle Singler had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Duke routed the equally short-handed Chanticleers 74-49 on Monday night in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Freshman Andre Dawkins had 13 points and Jon Scheyer and Miles Plumlee added 10 apiece for the Blue Devils (2-0), who in the final game of guard Nolan Smith's two-game suspension held Coastal Carolina to three field goals during a 14-minute stretch of the first half.

Duke rolls over UNCG 96-62

Singler scored 20 points, Scheyer added 18 and the Blue Devils shrugged off a pair of key absences to rout North Carolina-Greensboro 96-62 on Friday night.

Singler, the ACC's preseason player of the year, had 14 points in the first half and wound up playing 38 minutes. Scheyer, the only true guard in the starting lineup, logged 37 turnover-free minutes for Duke (1-0).

"There's no middle reliever," coach Mike Krzyzewski said, referring to his temporarily shorthanded team. "There's no (Mariano) Rivera coming in at the end, or any setup guys, so they have to play like that."

The Blue Devils shot 59.7 percent and used two huge first-half runs to extend their NCAA record home nonconference winning streak to 69. The ACC's preseason co-favorites with defending national champion North Carolina improved to 28-2 in openers under Coach K.

And once they got rolling, they made it look easy - even without guard Nolan Smith, who was suspended for the first two games of the season for playing in unsanctioned summer league games, and 6-foot-10 freshman forward Mason Plumlee, who's out indefinitely with a broken left wrist.

Have a great season and Go Duke!

Bobcats take Duke's Henderson with 12th pick

North Carolina's most famous basketball star turned to archrival Duke in hopes of giving the Charlotte Bobcats the boost they need to reach the playoffs for the first time.

The Michael Jordan-led Bobcats selected shooting guard Gerald Henderson with the 12th pick in Thursday's draft, putting aside that fierce college rivalry to give Charlotte an athletic, defensive specialist.

"It's something about our blood that makes it very hard to choose a Duke player," Jordan said, smiling. "But this is a business. ... The thing that we saw in Henderson was he's a very capable player who provides us with a lot of different opportunities."

In Charlotte's second draft teaming Jordan, and coach Larry Brown - a fellow North Carolina alum - the Bobcats filled a glaring need. The 6-foot-4 Henderson, who averaged 16.5 points a game as a junior last season, will start as Raja Bell's backup.

Bell, who turns 33 before the start of next season, was plagued by injuries in the second half of last season and the Bobcats had no clear alternative after numerous in-season trades.

"He was injured quite a bit for us last year down the stretch. I think that really prohibited us from making that strong push for the playoffs," Jordan said of Bell. "We felt like if we could secure that a little bit it would put us in a better position to try to finish off the season."

In the second round, Charlotte took small forward Derrick Brown of Xavier 40th overall. The Bobcats sold the 54th pick to Oklahoma City for an undisclosed amount.

The Bobcats went into the night weighing several options with their first-round pick, including moving down in the draft. Charlotte had targeted Henderson and fellow shooting guard Terrence Williams of Louisville, bringing in each player for two pre-draft workouts. Williams went to New Jersey with the 11th pick, clearing the way for Henderson.

Jordan acknowledged the choice was between those two players said if both were gone at No. 12, they would have entertained offers to give up the pick.

"We probably would have traded down," said Jordan, a part-owner with the final say on basketball decisions.

The son of former NBA player Gerald Henderson Sr., the former Duke star has been criticized for making just 33 percent of his 3-point shots in college. But Henderson provides the defensive intensity Brown craves.

"I think it'll be a good situation for Gerald to learn from Raja and not have pressure on him right away," Brown said. "I think he has a big upside. He's really athletic and kids that are athletes that have a good ethic and want to get better have a real good chance.

"We had trouble when the ball got on the floor and loose balls like that. I think with his athleticism, he can do that."

While Henderson will probably have to wait to be a starter, he's expecting no wait in catching plenty of grief for being an ex-Blue Devil playing for Jordan and Brown.

"They are my bosses now, so I'm going to have to put up with them," Henderson said. "It'll be fun. I know I'll be getting all the Tar Heels stuff every day, which is very unfortunate."

Best of luck and fortune G, thanks for the great games at Duke!! Peace!

Duke Falls to Villanova on 26% Shooting

Villanova was playing on the tournament's second weekend for the fourth time in five years, though Jay Wright's Wildcats have yet to reach the Final Four. But the fans could sense another chance, chanting "We want Pitt!" when Corey Stokes hit a 3-pointer with 2:27 left to give Villanova a 71-50 lead — its biggest thus far in of the game.

"We were never in a flow," said Kyle Singler, who led Duke with 15 points. "From the start, it was a snowball effect. When something got bad, it just got worse."

Duke (30-7), which spent a week at No. 1 in the nation earlier this season, failed to reach the round of eight for the fifth consecutive year.

Jon Scheyer had 13 for the second-seeded Blue Devils, but he and Gerald Henderson combined to make just four of 32 attempts as Duke shot a season-low 26.7 percent from the floor.

"We just didn't hit, didn't hit," Scheyer said. "We were getting the shots we wanted. We just weren't hitting. Obviously, we thought we played terrible in the first half and we were only down 3 points, and we were encouraged by that."

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, already the winningest coach in tournament history, became the all-time leader in NCAA games coached with 93 — one more than Dean Smith, though the current format with six full rounds has only been in place since 1985. But it became obvious early on that he wouldn't be padding his lead.

After jumping to a 5-0 lead, Duke gave up the next 11 points and never led again. The Blue Devils trailed 26-23 and hit the first basket of the second half, but Villanova scored 12 of the next 13.

Worse, the 3-point shooting that got Duke past Binghamton and Texas abandoned the Blue Devils against the Wildcats. After making 45 percent and 50 percent of their 3s in the first two tournament games, Duke hit three of their first 18 attempts and 5-of-27 overall.

"Coach K plays to win, not to try and keep it close," Wright said. "I was concerned they were going to start drilling 3s and we were going to be in trouble. But we just did a great job."

Scottie Reynolds scored 16 and Reggie Redding had 11 points and nine rebounds as Villanova won the rebounding battle 49-34 and set a school record with its 29th win. The Blue Devils had beaten Villanova five straight times since the Wildcats' last victory in 1958.

Good season Duke! We look forward to a better next year..

Duke Takes ACC Crown for 17th Time!

Losing wasn’t an option for the Blue Devils when they arrived in Atlanta for the ACC Tournament on Thursday evening.

Tonight the team heads back home to Durham following their 79-69 win over Florida State in the ACC Championship game with their head held high.

“It’s a great day and we are really excited about have that taste,” senior Greg Paulus said. “We want to get more now.”

What the Blue Devils are after next is a run in the NCAA Tournament with Duke slated to go up against Binghamton in the opening round.

“Now we are starting a new season because it’s your one and done,” Kyle Singler said. “We have to keep the same mindset, stay healthy and whatever [momentum] we have now just carry over because we know we are playing good basketball.”

The Duke Blue Devils (28-6, 12-5) were crowned kings of the ACC for the eighth time in 11 years winning their first Conference Tournament since 2006.

“Night and day” is the way Lance Thomas described the difference between the Blue Devils previous two conference tournaments and this year’s.

“I feel like we underachieved last year,” Thomas said. “We had a way better mindset coming into this tournament. Losing wasn’t an option.”

Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson each put together strong performances in the team’s three tournament games, each earning first team all-tournament honors.

But today’s game belonged to Scheyer, who led Duke with 29 points going 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three. He also managed to reach the free throw line 15 times connecting on 13 of his attempts while playing 38 minutes.

His final’s performance was good enough to net the junior guard the tournament’s MVP award.

“He had a heck of a tournament,” Greg Paulus said. “He did a great job for us and made big time plays.

It wasn’t surprising to see Scheyer play well throughout the tournament.

Since becoming the starting point guard the junior guard has averaged 19.1 points per game and 3.3 three-point field goals made per game over his last eight contests including the first two games of the ACC Tournament. He also has 19 assists, 14 steals and just eight turnovers during this stretch.

“He makes plays for himself and others,” Singler said. “That spot for us, when Jon has been there, has been huge for us.”

Duke and Scheyer has been steady with the basketball throughout the tournament committing just 11 turnovers as a team in the win over Maryland and 12 in the win over Boston College.

Today Duke committed their fewest turnovers of the season turning it over just four times. Scheyer committed just five in three ACC Tournament games running the offense.

The win today ties Duke with North Carolina for most ACC Tournament Championships all-time with 17 and most all-1time wins in the tournament with 84.
This was their 28th ACC Championship game all-time.

But for most of the current Duke players this was the first chance they have had to cut down the nets. Nolan Smith, who did his best Gerald Henderson impression in the first half throwing down a thundering dunk, said it took a moment for him to cut down his piece of the net during the victory celebration.

Singler had an easier time with the net.

“I won a lot of championships in high school so I had a lot of practice,” Singler said. “For the first time in college it feels good.”

In the first two games in ACC Tournament games Singler averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 14 points today in the win, and played 40 minutes for the third straight game.

Henderson finally went off on the offensive end today scoring 27 points, after scoring 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting against Boston College and eight points on 3-of-14 shooting against Maryland.

Henderson, Scheyer and Singler all hit big shots in the first half during a stretch where the Blue Devils connected on five straight from 3s ending the first half shooting 7-of-14 from long range.

“Everyone was shooting the ball well,” Singler said. “It was big for us. It was a big confidence booster to see the ball go in the basket. We didn’t want to have the mindset that we were going to outscore them. We wanted to play defense for 40 minutes and I think that’s what won the game for us.”

Duke held the Seminoles without a field goal just over eight minutes in the first half.

Brian Zoubek play on the defensive end was crucial as the 7’1” center disrupted the play of the Florida State bigs inside after they were able to score a few buckets inside early.

“It’s hard for somebody to shoot over somebody who is 7’1” even if the other person is 7’1”,” Zoubek said.

“I think they got a little discouraged after that first blocked shot,” he added.

The Blue Devils will hope to discourage Binghamton in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. on Thursday.

“We have players that play as well as any players in the country,” Singler said. “We have a team, we have a coaching staff, and with that we are a very confident team.”

Duke Falls Short to UNC, 79-71

Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 points in his final home game to help No. 2 North Carolina beat No. 7 Duke 79-71 Sunday and win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

Ty Lawson added 13 points and several key plays late for the Tar Heels (27-3, 13-3 ACC), who earned the top seed for next week's league tournament in Atlanta. North Carolina shot 53 percent for the game and led most of the second half for its sixth win in seven meetings with Duke.

Jon Scheyer scored 24 points for the Blue Devils (25-6, 11-5), while Kyle Singler added 23. But they never could overtake the Tar Heels once they fell behind midway through the second half, falling short in their bid to clinch at least a share of the league's regular-season crown for the first time since 2006.

North Carolina swept the Blue Devils for the second time in the past 13 years. The Tar Heels also won the ACC outright for the third time in five seasons.

Wayne Ellington added 16 points and Deon Thompson had 14 for North Carolina.

While Hansbrough had another strong performance, it was Lawson — who had 25 points in the first meeting — who took control when the Tar Heels were clinging to a 70-68 lead with 3½ minutes left. First he drove into the paint and kicked out to Danny Green for a 3-pointer, then drove past Scheyer for a layup and drew the foul for a three-point play that made it 76-69 with 1:03 left.

Duke led 39-38 at halftime behind 15 points from Singler, who repeatedly found himself open on the perimeter as the Blue Devils penetrated and kicked out for open looks. But they didn't fare much better defensively than the Tar Heels, with both teams shooting 56 percent in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, however, only the Tar Heels were able to continue that kind of efficiency.

Duke Upends Fla St, 84-81

The final moments of this meeting of two of the Atlantic Coast Conference's top scorers lived up to the hype, with Henderson scoring nine of his 21 points in the final 2 minutes to help No. 7 Duke beat Douglas and No. 24 Florida State 84-81 on Tuesday night.

"I just knew it was a pressure situation — the game hadn't been decided and they were right there," Henderson said. "I have a lot of confidence in myself, as my teammates and my coaches have in me, and those situations, I feel like I can make something happen."

Kyle Singler scored 20 points, Jon Scheyer had 17 and Henderson added a career-high 10 rebounds for Duke (25-5, 11-4 ACC), which won its fifth straight, matched the NCAA record for most wins in a decade with 286 and moved a half-game behind No. 2 North Carolina in the league standings.

Douglas finished with 27 points for the Seminoles (22-8, 9-6), and his 3-pointer from the right wing gave Florida State a 76-74 lead with 2:25 remaining.

That's when Henderson took over.

"'G' trumped it," coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

He countered with a 3 from the right corner with 1:39 remaining to put Duke up 77-76. After the Blue Devils forced a stop on Douglas, he knocked down two free throws to make it a three-point game with 57.3 seconds left.

"Toney Douglas is a really good player — probably the best in our league," Henderson said. "He hit some really big shots."

So did Henderson.

Douglas was being bothered by two defenders as he missed a 3 with about 45 seconds remaining, and the rebound made its way to Henderson — who hustled downcourt, sidestepped one defender and drew contact from the 7-foot-1 Solomon Alabi as he hit a layup.

Henderson hit the free throw that followed to make it 82-76, then added another with 5 seconds left. That sent Duke on the way to its 16th victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium. During the past two seasons, the Blue Devils' only defeats there have come against rival North Carolina.

Duke Knocks Down Virginia Tech, 72-65

Kyle Singler stood on the end line trying to inbound the ball late in a tight game and suddenly found himself reaching back for his days as a high school quarterback.

Seeing Greg Paulus waving at him and wide open on the other end of the floor, Singler threw a long pass that Paulus took in for an easy layup on Saturday, one of several critical second-half plays for Singler that helped boost No. 7 Duke past Virginia Tech, 72-65.

"It was kind of a football-football thing," Singler said of the pass that sent Paulus, also a former quarterback, in for the basket that gave Duke a 68-63 lead with 33 seconds left.

"You get a layup at that point, God Bless America," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Singler scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half after foul trouble forced him to watch much of the first half, and he made the Hokies pay for focusing too much on Gerald Henderson. He scored 17 of his 21 points before halftime, before Singler got rolling.

"I felt like I needed to give the team a boost because I hadn't done much in the first half," Singler, the Blue Devils' second-leading scorer with a 16-point average, said.

Doing it in a game that was tied with six minutes to play, and against a team that was fighting desperately for another victory to boost its NCAA tournament hopes, made it better.

"A team like that that's hungry for a win, fighting, those are the games that you're going to play towards the end of the season in March," Singler said. "Game pressure like that is definitely big and it shows that this team has a lot of confidence and character."

Duke Tops Maryland, 78-67

Gerald Henderson scored 19 points, Jon Scheyer hit a key 3-pointer with 1:54 left, and the seventh-ranked Blue Devils spoiled Maryland's bid for another upset with a 78-67 victory Wednesday night.

Duke blew away the Terrapins 85-44 last month, but Maryland was coming off a surprise win over then-No. 3 North Carolina. So the Blue Devils had a feeling it wouldn't be nearly so easy this time around.

"The last time we played them they were really going in a different direction," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We knew it would be a vintage Maryland team and we knew it would be a vintage Maryland crowd. This is a tough place to win."

The fans were on their feet long before the opening tip, and many of the students remained standing throughout. Several carried signs, one of which read, "DUKE HATES PUPPIES."

It was 60-all with 5:44 left, but by the time Scheyer's pivotal shot from beyond the arc made it 72-63, the volume of the sellout crowd had already dropped several decibels.

"We kind of seized the game there," Krzyzewski said.

Elliot Williams had 15 points and Scheyer added 12 for the Blue Devils (23-5, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who ended a three-game road losing streak in the conference. Duke has won four straight over Maryland for the first time since 1997-2000.

"It was definitely a big, big win for us," Duke's Kyle Singler said. "We knew coming in it would be a tough game. Maryland is playing well after their big win against North Carolina, but we stuck together and at the end of the game, we hit big shots."

Landon Milbourne scored 19 points for Maryland (17-10, 6-7), which played much of the second half without leading scorer Greivis Vasquez, who was saddled with foul trouble.

"It was a big impact," Milbourne said of the loss of Vasquez. "Greivis is definitely a leader on this team. He's the leading scorer, he's almost leading in every category. You can definitely see a difference when he's not on the court."

Despite the loss, Maryland coach Gary Williams lauded his team's performance.

Duke Downs Wake Forest, 101-91

Henderson scored a career-high 35 points and the ninth-ranked Blue Devils held on to beat No. 8 Wake Forest 101-91 on Sunday night.

Jon Scheyer added a career-high 30 points in his second straight start at point guard for the Blue Devils (22-5, 8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). They twice led by 22 points in the first half and let the Demon Deacons creep within two points before finally putting them away with a late 16-6 run keyed by Henderson.

He led Duke to a critical victory that moved it into a three-way tie for second in the league standings behind North Carolina. Now, the Blue Devils finish the season with three of its final four games away from cozy Cameron Indoor Stadium.

That's why Coach K made it a point to impress the importance of this game on his players.

"You could tell (Krzyzewski's) intensity level had risen a little bit," Henderson said. "We want to win this league, and we're still fighting for first place. His intensity and his passion is something that leads us, and we just follow his lead."

Jeff Teague scored 28 points and James Johnson added 26 for the Demon Deacons (20-5, 7-5). They shot 61 percent but allowed Duke to hit 54 percent of its attempts — the worst performance of the season by the ACC's stingiest defense.

"If somebody would have said we were going to score 91 points and we'd lose, I think I would have called him a liar," Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio said.

Yet his team managed to twice close within two points down the stretch, the last coming when freshman Al-Farouq Aminu's alley-oop dunk from Johnson made it 80-78 with 7½ minutes remaining.

"You lose the lead in a game like this, and you might lose the game," Krzyzewski said.

Scheyer and Henderson wouldn't let that happen.

Scheyer knocked down three free throws roughly 30 seconds later to start the decisive run in which Duke hit 6-of-7 attempts from the foul line. Henderson and Scheyer then capped the run by hitting 3-pointers about a minute apart, with Scheyer pushing it to 96-84 with 2:12 left.

Wake Forest didn't get closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Duke Knocks Off St.Johns 74-69

Freshman Elliott Williams, who Krzyzewski said added some "verve" in recent practices, made just his second start of the season and he was the early spark Duke needed on the defensive end, pressuring the ball and improving the team's speed.

"I found out I was starting two days ago after a couple of good practices," said Williams, who had a career-high 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting at Madison Square Garden. "I tried to be a spark for the veteran guys. I tried to think of it as just a game but it was pretty exciting."

Gerald Henderson scored 19 points for the Blue Devils as the starters scored all but four points.

The Blue Devils (21-5) looked more like the team that has spent the entire season in the top 10, including one week at No. 1, hitting 3-pointers and converting turnovers into points.

Jon Scheyer had 18 points, Kyle Singler scored 15 and Lance Thomas added nine for Duke.

"This has been a tough time for us, the last couple of weeks but that's what the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East does to its members," Krzyzewski said. "We were knocked back a little bit and we have to recover. This was a big step in the right direction."

The Blue Devils finished 7-for-15 on 3s (46.7 percent), the first time since Jan. 24 they shot better than 33 percent from beyond the arc. They were 3-for-16 in the loss to Boston College on Sunday.

"We weren't in a slump, it's a game of percentages and they come around," Singler said, sounding like the shooter he is. "We got good shots tonight and we made good shots."

D.J. Kennedy had 20 points for the Red Storm (12-14), who have lost five straight overall and six in a row to Duke. The Blue Devils have won 13 of the last 15 meetings and this win improves their record at Madison Square Garden in the series to 5-1.

With Singler and Scheyer both going 2-for-3 on 3s in the first half and St. John's matching its season average for a game with 14 turnovers, Duke was able to take a lead as big as 32-18 with 4:48 left and the Blue Devils led 37-26 at halftime.

They led by as many as 16 points in the second half, the last time at 60-44 on a jumper by Thomas with 10:09 to play. St. John's closed to 74-69 on two free throws by Malik Boothe with 15.6 seconds to play, but Scheyer made two free throws to seal it.

BC Downs Duke, 80-74

Boston College shocked another one of the top Atlantic Coast Conference teams.

Reggie Jackson broke the game's final tie with a drive with 47.2 seconds left and the Eagles scored the final six points in an 80-74 victory over No. 6 Duke on Sunday, their first win over the Blue Devils in 24 years.

Tyrese Rice had 21 points, including a key 3-pointer, and Joe Trapani added 20 for the Eagles (19-8, 7-5). Jackson finished with 15 points.

"We always felt that we had the talent," Boston College coach Al Skinner said. "It's getting them to understand what it takes."

It was BC's second win over a highly ranked team this season. The Eagles handed then-No. 1 North Carolina its first loss, 85-78, in Chapel Hill on Jan. 4.

After that game they lost to Harvard.

"I would say, 'In a perfect world we're beating Duke and Carolina in my first year in the league,'" said a smiling Trapani, who sat out last season after transferring from Vermont.

With Rice seemingly handling the ball nearly every key play down the stretch, BC pulled out one of its biggest home wins in years.

"They're good and they have one of the best players in the country," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, referring to Rice.

Rice, who became the seventh Boston College player to reach 2,000 points, grabbed a key rebound on a Duke miss before hitting two free throws that made it 78-74.

"This is a big stage," Skinner said. "He showed the type of player he is. I'm not sure I'd certainly take some of those shots, but you've just got to let him."

Kyle Singler had 25 points for the Blue Devils (20-5, 7-4), who have lost three of four, while Gerald Henderson added 20.

Duke, you have to figure out who else can score besides the same 3 guys.. Someone needs to STEP UP!!! MAN UP or you will face the same fate as last year, an early trip home from the NCAA's..

UNC tops Duke, 101-87

Ty Lawson scored 21 of his season-high 25 points in the second half while helping No. 3 North Carolina rally past No. 6 Duke 101-87 on Wednesday night.

Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 points for the Tar Heels (22-2, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their eighth straight while becoming the first team in nine seasons to hit triple digits against Duke.

They came on strong down the stretch, using late runs of 25-11 and 14-0 to first take the lead for good and then stretch it to 17. In the process, they snapped the Blue Devils' 14-game home court winning streak while claiming first place in the ACC standings.

Wayne Ellington and Danny Green added 15 points apiece. Green and Hansbrough joined former Wake Forest standouts Tim Duncan and Rusty LaRue as the only players to beat Mike Krzyzewski four straight times on the Cameron court that now bears his name.

"Each year it's been different," Hansbrough said. "Our freshman year, no one thought we could come in here and win. ... Tonight was one of those things where you didn't want to think about the record. We just wanted to come out and play."

Kyle Singler scored 22 points and Jon Scheyer added 20 to lead Duke (20-4, 7-3), which kept up with the uptempo Tar Heels for about 30 minutes before spiraling to its fifth loss in six meetings with the hated rival located 8 miles down Tobacco Road.

"In the second half, we kind of had the mindset that we were going to outscore them," Singler said. "But you're not going to outscore Carolina."

Gerald Henderson finished with 17 points — but was just 1-for 9 in the second half, and that's when they let this one get away.

Duke led 56-48 in the early moments of the half before North Carolina took command, with Hansbrough hitting a short jumper with just under 18 minutes remaining. That started the Lawson-led 25-11 burst in which the efficient Tar Heels took the lead for good, coming away with points on 12 of 15 trips downcourt.

"We did not hit shots for a short period of time there," Krzyzewski said. "And they did, and they got away from us."

Duke Wins Over Miami in OT

Gerald Henderson scored the go-ahead basket with 3:16 left in overtime, and #4 Duke rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to beat Miami 78-75.

Henderson had 18 of his 19 pts after halftime for the Blue Devils (20-3, 7-2 ACC), who struggled in the first half to bounce back from a blowout loss at Clemson.

Jon Scheyer led Duke with 22 pts, while Kyle Singler shook off a terrible shooting day to come up with a key overtime basket that helped the Blue Devils stay in front late.

Duke trailed by 13 at halftime and 38-22 early in the second half before rallying.

Jack McClinton scored 34 to lead Miami (15-8, 4-6), including a 3 to force overtime with 14.8 seconds left. Duke had a chance for the win in regulation, but Scheyer missed a 3 in the final seconds.

Once in overtime, Henderson scored over Dwayne Collins inside for a 70-68 lead, then Singler — who finished 5-for-23 from the field — drove in for a score two possessions later to push the margin to four. Then, Henderson added a tough stepback jumper over Collins to make it 74-68 with 51.9 seconds to play.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, missed their first five shots before McClinton buried a 3 with 31.1 seconds left that cut the lead to three. Miami got no closer, with Greg Paulus burying two free throws with 10.2 seconds left to seal the win.

Paulus, making his first start at the point in nearly two months, finished with 18, while Singler had 17. Duke also got a boost from reserve David McClure, who had 13 rebounds — including six on the offensive glass after halftime.

Duke won despite shooting 33% from the floor — 19% in the first half — and going 12-for-39 from 3 range against the Hurricanes' determined zone defense.

The Hurricanes were coming off a notable performance of their own. Miami turned a three-point halftime lead against seventh-ranked Wake Forest into a 79-52 win to end a three-game losing streak.

Clemson Embarrasses Duke, Wins by 27

Duke Coach K called a timeout in the final minute, gathered his beaten Blue Devils around him and let them listen as the Littlejohn Coliseum crowd celebrated a Clemson win like few others.

"They shouldn't forget this loss," Krzyzewski said. "This is as bad as you can play."

Trevor Booker scored 21 and Terrence Oglesby had five 3's in the 10th-ranked Tigers' 74-47 victory over #4 Duke.

Krzyzewski, typically a bright-side coach, found nothing satisfying about this defeat. The Blue Devils (19-3, 6-2 ACC) hadn't had a loss like this since the 1990 NCAA title game when UNLV beat the Blue Devils 103-73.

Kryzyzewski and his team stored that away and responded by winning the next two NCAA championships.

"What you take from anything," he said, "is the responsibility of what you've done."

"There are no excuses," he said.

For Clemson (19-2, 5-2), it was further proof this is a far different club.

It's different from the one two years ago that opened 17-0 yet failed to make the NCAAs tournament. It's different from the one three weeks ago that fell apart in an earlier top 10 showdown, falling 78-68 to Wake Forest.

"I've said all along you get better as a team by taking lessons from seasons before, from games before," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. "You'd like for all those lessons to be positive, but sometimes you've got to learn from losses.

"I thought that really applied tonight," he continued. "I thought we were ready for this atmosphere, we embraced it. Yet we narrowed our focus to what we needed to do to beat Duke."

And that was an end-to-end defense that disrupted the Blue Devils.

Gerald Henderson was the only one of Duke's four double-digit average scorers to hit that mark with 16, the rest, either sucked or stayed on the bus..

"It was 40 minutes of them dominating," Krzyzewski said. "They just kicked our butts."

Clemson used a 20-8 run over the last 8 minutes of the first half to take a 33-21 lead. The Tigers kept extending the lead until the final buzzer.

"It's going to be tough to top that," Booker said. "We just played great. ... They quit at the end. We just got the job done."

Duke had won 22 straight over Clemson — most in blowout fashion — since the Tigers won three straight in the series in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.

Duke Rolls Over Virginia by 25.

Duke's brief run at #1 is nearly over. But if the Blue Devils keep playing like this, they'll probably be back on top soon enough.

Gerald Henderson scored 16 of his 18 pts in the first half to lead #1 ranked Duke past Virginia 79-54.

Nolan Smith added 15 on 7-of-10 shooting for the ACC-leading Blue Devils (19-2, 6-1). They wrapped up what surely will be a one-week run as the nation's top-ranked team with a dominating effort that helped them bounce back from a final-seconds loss to Wake Forest.

"There's got to be some kind of fire in you after a loss, and it's nothing like you just try to show," Henderson said. "It's just something that's there. Because the last time you played, the last time people saw you play, you were a loser. We don't want to be seen as that."

Jon Scheyer finished with 11 points for Duke, which never trailed, shot 46% and forced 23 turnovers -- 17 in the first half. And for a while, at least, its tough defense frustrated star freshman Sylven Landesberg in his first visit to Cameron.

Landesberg recovered from a rocky start and scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half. After turning it over three times on his first six trips downcourt and picking up two early fouls, he wound up leading the Cavaliers in scoring for the 11th time in 20 games while hitting the 20-point mark for the 10th time -- the most by a freshman in school history.

"I sat a lot on the bench in the first half and had to try to find a way to get back in my rhythm," Landesberg said.

Wake Tops Duke By a Bucket, 70-68.

Everybody figured Wake Forest would ask star scorer Jeff Teague to take the shot that would knock off #1 Duke. That's why coach Dino Gaudio instead drew up a play for the player whose defensive lapse let the Blue Devils tie it.

Johnson made up for a horrible final minute on defense by hitting the layup with 0.8 seconds left that helped #6 Demon Deacons upend Duke 70-68 in a matchup of the two most recent top-ranked teams.

"We knew everybody was going to key on Jeff Teague — he's the one who scores for us, puts buckets up for us," Johnson said. "I finished the play."

And, more importantly, the game. Johnson had 13 pts and 11 rebs and freshman Al-Farouq Aminu finished with 15 and 10 for the Demon Deacons (17-1, 4-1 ACC).

They bounced back from last week's home loss that knocked them from #1 by forcing the Blue Devils into their worst shooting night of the season and making a statement for a second chance at the top spot.

"Pittsburgh goes down, then we go down, then Duke — I mean, whoever's #1, they've got a rude awakening," Teague said.

Wake Forest led nearly the entire way, before letting a late 13-point lead slip away and recovering just in time to claim the fifth victory over a top-ranked team in school history.

Kyle Singler had 22 pts and 12 boards for Duke (18-2, 5-1), which had its 10-game winning streak snapped.

"I didn't think we had the aggressiveness or toughness that we've shown. Then, all of a sudden, we had so much of it, it was unbelievable," Duke Coach K said. "Our kids played so hard to put themselves in a position to win."

Especially Gerald Henderson, who had 20 points — including a jumper over Johnson with 10 seconds left that tied it at 68 and capped the Blue Devils' late 20-7 rally.

The Demon Deacons raced downcourt, with Teague and Aminu missing layups in traffic — but during the rebound, Henderson was called for traveling. That gave the ball back to Wake Forest with 2.6 seconds left, and L.D. Williams inbounded it under the basket to Johnson, whose layup in the final second banked through to the delight of a juiced-up crowd at Joel Coliseum.

Singler's full-court inbounds pass for Henderson was tipped by Williams, and that sent Wake Forest's tie-dye-clad student section spilling onto the court for the second time this month. They whooped it up in similar fashion 2½ weeks ago when they beat down then-No. 3 North Carolina.

Jon Scheyer had 13 pts and David McClure finished with 12 rebs for Duke, which was playing its first game as #1 since 2006 and wound up becoming the latest top-ranked team to fall in Winston-Salem.

Duke Blows Out Maryland, 85-44.

Gerald Henderson scored 17 pts to help the #2 Blue Devils rout Maryland 85-44, a victory that could propel the Blue Devils to the #1 ranking next week.

Scheyer scored 12 for Duke (18-1, 5-0 ACC), which dominated from the opening tip and led 40-15 at halftime. From there, the lead only grew, including a couple of dazzling transition scores that pushed the Blue Devils to a 60-20 lead less than 4 minutes into the second half.

Duke led by as many as 44 pts, handing the Terrapins (13-6, 2-3) their worst loss under coach Gary Williams. It was the fourth-largest margin of defeat in school history.

The Blue Devils haven't been ranked No. 1 since the final poll of 2005-06, but that could change after Wake Forest's home loss to Virginia Tech on Wednesday. Duke had been ranked No. 1 at least once every season from 1998-2004 under Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, but had not reached the top spot in the past two seasons.

Fittingly, the Blue Devils' next game is at Wake Forest on Wednesday night.

"It'll be a big deal for our guys and it's a big deal for us because it means we're playing really well," Krzyzewski said of a No. 1 ranking. "We talked about it last week that, just don't worry about anything, let's just play. It's the same thing we're going to tell them going into this next week.

"It's an honor and it says you're playing real well. You don't get anything from it except a really big headline when you lose."

Henderson leads Duke over NCState by 17

It took a while, but Gerald Henderson and #2 Duke finally starting shooting well enough to impress even J.J. Redick.

Henderson scored 21 pts and the Blue Devils shot 77% from the floor in the second half for the 73-56 victory over NC State.

Nolan Smith hit consecutive 3's 30 seconds apart to start the decisive run for the Blue Devils (17-1, 4-0 ACC).

But it wasn’t until Henderson took the game over by hitting jumpers and driving the lane for authoritative dunks that his teammates started to find the rips in the Wolfpack’s defense. As a result, Duke’s athletic swingman finish with his fourth straight game with at least 19 points.


“G’s play gave the team a big lift—when, someone plays with that much assertiveness and confidence, it kinds of feeds down to the whole team,” forward Kyle Singler said. “Guys kind of get shots and feed from that.”

With Redick—the ACC’s career scoring leader— watching from behind the Duke bench, Singler scored 14 of his 17 pts in the second half and Smith finished with 13 to help the Blue Devils close the game on a 27-5 run. Their 20-for-26 shooting matched the best performance in a second half in nearly 30 years under Coach K.

“When we’re sharp and running our stuff and executing it … if we’re doing it sharp, we’re going to make shots,” Henderson said. “We’re going to get open shots and we have good enough players to knock them down.”

Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley both scored 15 points for the Wolfpack (10-6, 1-3), who led much of the game but hit just one field goal over the final 7:45.

“We were in it, and we couldn’t close it,” McCauley said. “We had them where we wanted them, and guys were playing tremendous ball. … Unfortunately, guys that were in the end couldn’t come through.”

The Wolfpack’s cold spell helped Duke claim its 12th straight victory at Cameron over NC State, which hasn’t won inside the Blue Devils’ famously hostile arena since 1995.

“You can see how it lifts their spirits up,” Costner said. “It’s up to us as a visiting team to pick up our level of intensity and match it, and we didn’t.”

For a while, they had the streak in serious jeopardy—until Henderson, Smith and the rest of the Blue Devils heated up.

“That game just turned during the last 8 minutes,” Coach K said.

The second of Smith’s two big 3s made it 52-49 with 9 1/2 minutes left, put Duke up to stay and started the game-ending burst in which the Blue Devils came away with points on eight straight possessions.

Henderson, Duke D Too Strong for Georgetown

This was the kind of game that had the feel of a matchup between two final four teams.

It was hard-nosed, between two teams from the top two conferences in college basketball. In the end the #2 Blue Devils (16-1) prevailed, outworking the #12 Hoyas for a 76-67 win.

It featured two Blue Devils making animated gestures toward the crowd bringing the Cameron Crazies to deafening levels of cheers.

Gerald Henderson, whose game high 23 pts on 10-of-15 shooting including 3-of-5 from 3-land, continued his streak of putting together remarkable performances scoring 17 in the first half, surging Duke to a 40-29 halftime lead.

His third and final 3 of the half, was a long pull up from the left edge that saw Henderson raise his arms up to his side in jubilation as the ball swooshed through the net.

“I hit a shot that I normally don’t hit,” Henderson said. “A long pull up three is not a shot that I am taking a lot, but it went in and it was great for us.”

“I think he is completely over that wrist injury,” Coach K said. “He was out for four months... The last month he has gone up. He is in the best shape that he has been in since he has been here.”

During this 15-0 run, that seeped over into the second half; the Blue Devils held the Hoyas without a point for 6:07 as Georgetown would enter the half shooting 42.9%.

“With the crowd and the intensity of the game, the way we wanted to play defense, we played some pretty good defense, they have got some pretty good players over there,” Henderson said. “It was a good effort and a great win for us.”

“We know we are going to beat teams with our defense,” Henderson added. “Every game our defense is what has to drive us.”

The second crowd inspiring gesture came from Greg Paulus, who scored 10 off the bench in 23 mins knocking a pair of threes.

“I thought Greg had by far his best performance this year,” K said. “What he showed was fight. He was playing really good defensively, he was attacking, and he was playing with emotion, huge boost. We don’t win the game without Greg today. No question about that.”

Midway through the second half, Paulus scored five in the middle of a 15-3 Duke run that pushed the lead, which had been cut to 4 by Georgetown, up to a 16 pt advantage for the Blue Devils.

The senior point guard followed up a running floater in the lane with a 23-foot three, slapping the floor repeatedly after to fire up the Blue Devils on the defensive end.

Duke Puts Down GT

Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler scored 19 points each and the third-ranked Blue Devils overcame their worst shooting game of the season for its seventh straight victory, pulling away for a 70-56 win over sloppy Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.

Duke (15-1, 3-0 ACC) was just 23-of-59 from the field, a 39% performance that would have been enough to get them beat on many nights. Not this one.

Georgia Tech (9-7, 0-3) countered with 18 turn overs, went only 7-of-19 from the free throw line and starts the year with 3 ACC losses for the second straight season.

Lewis Clinch hit a 3 that pulled the Yellow Jackets within 5 with just over 8 minutes remaining. But Jon Scheyer hit twice from beyond the arc and Henderson also swished a 3, stretching the margin far beyond comeback range for GT.

Zachery Peacock, with 13 pts, was the only player in double figures for the Yellow Jackets, who were a little more accurate from the field (41%) than they were from the line (37%).

Duke's previous worst shooting effort was a 41 % against Virginia Tech on Jan. 4. But the Blue Devils, who also started dismally at the line, hit enough free throws down the stretch to bury the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech led most of the first half, building its largest lead when Peacock laid it in off a pass from Lewis Clinch to make it 23-15 about 12 minutes into the game.

The Yellow Jackets made only one more field goal the rest of the half, enduring a scoring drought of nearly 6 minutes. During that span, they missed 8 straight shots, clanked 4 straight freebies and turned it over 4 times before Alade Aminu finally made one from the line.

Duke goes on to face Georgetown at home on Saturday.

Wake Pounds UNC as Tarheels SUCK, Now 0-2 in ACC

Behind Jeff Teague's career-high 34 pts, the #4 Demon Deacons pounded UNC all night for a 92-89 triumph over #3 North Carolina on Sunday that marked the first big victory of the season for coach Dino Gaudio's young but talented team.

"I remember these last three years, we'd try to be like the Chris Paul team. You try to fulfill that role. ... We had everybody trying to fulfill a role, but us as a team, we have our own identity," said guard Harvey Hale, the team's only senior. "That's why we're good."

Chas McFarland matched a season high with 20 pts for the Demon Deacons (14-0, 1-0 ACC), who remained one of three unbeatens in DI and matched the 1980-81 team that also won its first 14 games.

Danny Green scored 22 pts, and Wayne Ellington and Tyler Has-been added 17 each. Hansbrough's came on 3-of-12 shooting, and he missed all five of his shots (LOL POY ESPN!!) in the second half for the Tar Heels (14-2, 0-2).

"It seems like teams are playing me more physical and trying to push me outside," Has-been said. "But it's on me to get inside and get my position." So ESPN, Is this still your FAVORITE BOY for POY? Punks... get punked, repeatedly..

The rest of his teammates probably have lost their prime position in the polls, too.

UNC is now 1-2 for the season.. oh damn, thats right we HAVE to include the other 13 cupcake wins that roy 'CHOKE' williams padded his stats with this season.. Hack, 14-2.

Great game WAKE!! Awesome win Deacs!!

Choke williams, Tyler HAS-BEEN and the rest of UNC, as if you didnt already know, YOU TOTALLY SUCK!!! Don't worry though, you'll rank high in the NIT!!!

Seriously UNC, fire that piece of SHIT roy 'choke' willaims, Bob Knight will resurrect your program and make you a respectable team again...

Henderson Leads Duke Over Fla State

Duke's Gerald Henderson was just about the only player on target Saturday and that was the difference for the Blue Devils.

The 6-foot-4 junior swingman scored a career-high 25 pts, leading the #2 Blue Devils to a 66-58 victory at Florida State.

Duke (14-1, 2-0 ACC) ran off the first nine points of the second half during a 41-11 run to build their largest lead of the game, 46-21 with 12:45 left.

Toney Douglas led Florida State (13-3, 0-1) with 18 pts, but was just 7-of-23 from the floor as the Seminoles shot just 31%.

"We struggled all night against their pressure," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We drove the ball hard into the lane, but couldn't execute. We had periods where we just didn't execute well offensively."

The first half was believed to be one of the lowest scoring in the ACC since a 45-second shot clock was introduced in the 1985-86 season. It was later cut to 35 seconds.

Duke led 19-14 at the break, making just five field goals — one on a goaltending call to go along with four baskets by Henderson. Florida State scored only 4 pts in the final 13:07 of the half, going scoreless for 8 minutes at one stretch.

In the second half, the Blue Devils went 7:14 without a basket until Henderson's layup with 5:31 left gave Duke a 53-42 lead.

"His athletic ability to create shots was huge," Duke Coach K said. "When they got it down to 10 pts, toward the last 15 seconds on the shot clock, we got the ball to him four straight times and we scored."

Derwin Kitchen scored 16 points and Uche Echefu 10 to get Florida State back into the game in the final minutes. Both players scored all of their points in the final 13 minutes as the Seminoles pulled to single digits, 51-42, with 6:03 left on a pair of free throws by Douglas.

Henderson's 9-of-14 shooting helped Duke shoot 42.9% from the field. Kyle Singler chipped in with 15 and Nolan Smith added a 12 more.

Duke Holds Off Davidson

Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler both scored 22 pts, and Duke held off a late Curry-led charge to beat Davidson 79-67 on Wednesday night.

Gerald Henderson added 11 pts on 3-of-11 shooting for the #2 Blue Devils (13-1). They never trailed, outscored the Wildcats 20-7 to start the second half and won their 67th straight non-conf home game by withstanding a furious comeback attempt that for a while seemed destined to add to Curry's legend.

"All was good in Krzyzewskiville. And then, all of a sudden, the clouds came," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "The story's going to end bad. But you don't win every round against good teams. They're going to make you look bad, stop you, or you're going to stop them and we stopped them a little bit more than they stopped us."

Curry, the nation's leading scorer, scored 29 points — the most Duke has allowed any player this season — on 10-of-22 shooting but was just 1-for-8 from 3-point range and turned it over six times for Davidson (10-3).

He scored 21 points in the second half as he tried to rally his team from a 25-point deficit, including eight in a 90-second span that came during a 14-2 spurt midway through the half to help the Wildcats close within 13.

"After they made that big run in the second half and got up 20-plus, we didn't panic," Curry said. "We've been in that situation before — kind of too often now — and we just got back to hitting singles, as coach would say, and making the easy play."

Davidson then pulled to 69-61 on Lovedale's basket in the post with 3:53 left, but couldn't get any closer. Lance Thomas hit two critical free throws and Scheyer scored six pts in the final 2 minutes — including the 1,000th of his career — to help Duke pull away late.

"I've been doing this for 20 years against Duke," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "They expose you. They undress you. And unless you stay in the center ring and fight from the center of the ring, instead of backpedaling and getting caught on the ropes, you're never going to be successful against Duke."

Duke Dominates VT by 25 to Begin ACC Play

It takes a lot to please Coach K, but there might be only one way for #5 Duke to top the dominance of its defense after halftime against Virginia Tech.

"Probably (allowing) single digits, he would have been really happy," guard Jon Scheyer quipped.

Coach K will just have to settle for allowing 13 points in the second half of his team's 69-44 rout of the Hokies to open ACC play.

Kyle Singler scored 19 pts and keyed Duke's decisive late burst. Gerald Henderson added 15, Nolan Smith had 13 and Jon Scheyer finished with 11 for the Blue Devils (12-1, 1-0 ACC).

"We want to have that be our staple — we want to bring defense and rebounding to every game," Singler said. "We know we can rebound the ball and play defense. If we do that, we'll have a good enough chance to win as many games as we want to."

They did it this time with a punishing defensive performance in the second half, when they held the Hokies to 6-for-18 shooting and out-rebounded them 22-10. Duke also outscored VT 30-9 over the final 17 minutes of the game.

"Our defense the last 17½ minutes was outstanding — we're talking, switching, guys were rebounding," said Krzyzewski, calling it his team's best defensive half of the season.

Malcolm Delaney scored 12 to lead Virginia Tech (9-5, 0-1). Leading scorer A.D. Vassallo was held to 7 — 12 below his average. Those two and Jeff Allen were a combined 2-for-8 in the final 20 minutes.

"No one's stopping them from getting shots except the guys in the white shirts," VT coach Seth Greenberg said.

The Hokies shot 36.7% and committed 18 turnovers in losing its 8th straight game against AP Top 25 teams.

Singler finished 7-of-11 from the field and almost single-handedly made sure the Blue Devils wouldn't need any Sean Dockery-like heroics to take care of the Hokies this time, scoring 9 and dishing out two no-look passes that led to layups during the game-breaking run that put Duke up by 20 pts to stay.

On a side note, cross town rival UNC got dealt a beat down by unranked BC in their first conference game. A fitting welcome to ACC play by the once #1 fluff team in the country. As usual they start each year undefeated during their perennial cupcake schedule, and will follow up this devastating defeat by tackling a tough and gritty foe in Charleston, SC. Wow, way to man up! Dont hurt yourself there roy 'choke' williams.. Hey! See if you can knock off a few community colleges and church teams on your way back up, eh?

Duke Rolls Over Loyola

Kyle Singler scored 20 pts to help #5 ranked Duke beat Loyola of Maryland 92-51 on Wednesday despite playing much of the game without starting point guard Nolan Smith.

Gerald Henderson added 19 for the Blue Devils (11-1), but Duke lost Smith midway through the first half to an apparent left-knee injury, leaving the sophomore to spend most of the day sitting on the bench and wearing an ice bag on his knee.

Still, Duke had too much depth and size against the smaller Greyhounds (4-9), taking a double-digit lead in the first 6 min and never looking back. The Blue Devils shot 55% and scored 34 pts off 24 turnovers to extend their non-conf winning streak at Cameron to a national-best 66 games, a span of nearly nine years.

Brian Zoubek had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Duke, while Jon Scheyer added 12.

Brian Rudolph had 13 points to lead Loyola, which shot 32% for the game.

Duke led 48-23 at the break and quickly pushed the margin past 30 a few minutes into the second half.

Enough fluff, practice is OVAH!

Bring on the ACC baby!! Looks like a good start to a better year, good luck Duke and Coach K!!