Encore: Duke Beats Michigan Again : College basketball: In a repeat of last season’s title game, Hurley leads Blue Devils to 79-68 victory.

Fourth-ranked Duke’s 79-68 victory over No. 1 Michigan might not have lived up to the hype, but for an early-season game filled with mistakes, it was exciting.

“I know someone is going to say it wasn’t a pretty game and you’re right, it wasn’t a pretty game,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “You put all those athletes out there and kids who want it, it’s tough to score. Nobody got easy shots except on the break.”

The two-time defending NCAA champion Blue Devils (2-0), who won their latest title at the expense of Michigan, led by as many as 14 points in the second half and, despite not scoring a field goal in the final 5 1/2 minutes until a layup at the buzzer, were never really threatened.

The victory was the third in a row over a No. 1 team by Duke, which extended its home winning streak to 31 games. The Blue Devils have won 74 consecutive games at home against nonconference opponents, dating to January of 1983.

Duke took its largest lead, 58-44, with 11:54 left to play on a baseline turnaround by Grant Hill and the crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium brought the already unbearable noise to an even higher level.

Michigan (1-1) then held Duke scoreless for 4:06 and cut the deficit to 58-52.

Enter point guard Bobby Hurley.

Duke came out of a TV timeout with the ball and swung it around to Hurley, who made a three-pointer to end Duke’s scoring drought. His three-point play with 6:08 left gave the Blue Devils a 66-56 lead.

“Hurley was, well, Hurley,” Krzyzewski said. “He always seems to come up with the big play when we need it. He makes me look like a good coach. I thought his three-pointer was the biggest bucket of the night. It came when we were struggling. Michigan was outplaying us and we were in foul trouble. I thought they were wearing us down.”

So did Hurley.

“That made me feel good because I hadn’t made a shot in a while. That one picked up my confidence,” he said. “The play could have gone to anybody. It’s up to me to create something and it just happened my shot was there.”

Duke would score only two more field goals the rest of the way, but nine of 10 free throws and Hurley’s layup at the buzzer were enough to hold off Michigan, which never got closer than 73-68 with 41 seconds to play.

“We battled back the whole second half and even late in the game we still had a chance but didn’t get it done,” Michigan Coach Steve Fisher said. “We’re going to get better as a result. We still made too many turnovers and missed too many free throws.”

The Wolverines committed 19 turnovers and made only four of 11 free throws. Duke committed 11 turnovers and made 21 of 25 foul shots.

Thomas Hill led Duke with 21 points, and Hurley had 20.

Jimmy King led Michigan with 20 points, Jalen Rose had 15, and Chris Webber had 14 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.