Brand Helps Put Duke’s Name on a Rout

Elton Brand, a 6-foot-8, 270-pounder using his power inside, scored a career-high 33 points and No. 2 Duke won its 31st straight home game, routing Virginia, 115-69, Sunday at Durham, N.C.

Duke, 15-1 overall and 4-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, reached the 100-point mark for the sixth time this season. The Blue Devils’ home winning streak is the second-longest in the nation and five shy of the ACC record.

The Cavaliers (9-7, 0-4) have lost 14 of their last 16 in Cameron Indoor Stadium and are off to their worst ACC start since 1989-90.

Brand made 12 of 14 shots from the field and nine of 11 from the foul line. His previous high was 26 earlier this season against North Carolina State.

Duke freshman Corey Maggette scored a season-high 21 points and Trajan Langdon had 17. Duke outrebounded the smaller Cavaliers by 20 and blocked 17 shots.

Donald Hand matched his career high with 24 points to lead the Cavaliers, while ACC scoring leader Chris Williams was in foul trouble and had 15 points.

Virginia Coach Pete Gillen was impressed, saying Duke has nine potential pros in its lineup. “You name them--everybody,” he said. “[Taymon] Domzalski was a high school All-American and he can’t even get into the game. We would build a monument to him at Virginia, right next to Thomas Jefferson.”

No. 5 Maryland 94, North Carolina State 48--Steve Francis made all nine of his shots and scored 22 points as the Terrapins (15-2, 3-1 ACC) bounced back from two lackluster performances in a big way by routing the Wolfpack (10-5, 1-3) at College Park, Md.

It was the Terrapins’ most lopsided ACC victory in school history and followed an 18-point home loss to Duke and a narrow win at Virginia.

No. 24 Wisconsin 61, No. 9 Purdue 56--Sean Mason scored 25 points to lead the Badgers (14-3, 2-2) to a Big Ten victory over the Boilermakers (13-3, 1-1) at Madison, Wis.

The Badgers beat No. 12 Michigan State last Wednesday.

North Carolina Charlotte 82, Memphis 77--The 49ers (9-6, 1-2) opened the game with a 16-0 run on their way to a 40-14 halftime lead, then withstood a second-half three-point barrage by the Tigers (6-8, 0-4) at Charlotte. Memphis has lost six in a row.

WOMEN

No. 3 Purdue 71, Iowa 69--Katie Douglas drove for a key basket in overtime, then intercepted Iowa’s final inbounds pass as the Boilermakers (11-1, 3-0) held off the Hawkeyes in a Big Ten game at Iowa City.

Iowa (7-7, 2-2) sent the game into overtime when Amy Herrig made a five-foot shot with .5 seconds left in regulation. Herrig finished with 23 points and a school-record 25 rebounds.

No. 4 Georgia 73, Louisiana State 60--The Lady Bulldogs (14-0, 3-0) turned in a lackluster effort but still got a Southeastern Conference victory over the Lady Tigers (11-3, 3-1) at Baton Rouge, La.

LSU got within 44-42 with 13:20 left.

Tawana McDonald had 10 points and 12 rebounds to lead Georgia.

No. 6 North Carolina 87, Maryland 58--Chanel Wright scored 21 points and Juana Brown had 17 to lead the Tar Heels (18-2, 5-1) to an ACC victory over the Terrapins (1-12, 0-5) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 8 Colorado State 63, Rice 45--Becky Hammon scored 22 points to lead the Rams (17-1, 2-0) over the Owls (8-6, 1-1) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Fort Collins, Colo.

No. 9 Notre Dame 79, Providence 56--Sophomore center Ruth Riley scored a career-high 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Irish (12-2, 4-2) over the Friars (2-11, 1-5) at South Bend, Ind.

No. 11 Old Dominion 80, Virginia Commonwealth 48--Lucienne Berthieu’s career-high 21 points helped the Lady Monarchs (9-2, 3-0) jump out to a quick lead and cruise to a Colonial Athletic Assn. victory over the Rams (5-8, 2-1) at Norfolk, Va.

No. 12 Clemson 61, Georgia Tech 56--Natasha Anderson shot 10 for 15 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Lady Tigers (13-2, 4-2) to an ACC victory over the Yellow Jackets (9-6, 2-4) at Atlanta.

No. 14 Virginia Tech 74, George Washington 65--Tere Williams scored 18 points as the Hokies (15-0, 5-0), off to their best start in school history, defeated the Colonials (9-5, 3-2) in an Atlantic 10 game at Washington.

No. 15 Rutgers 90, St. John’s 60--Shawnetta Stewart scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Scarlet Knights (13-3, 6-0) to a Big East victory over the Red Storm (8-9, 2-4) at Piscataway, N.J.

No. 25 Boston College 75, Georgetown 66--The Eagles (13-1, 5-1), ranked for the first time, used a balanced attack to beat the Hoyas (8-6, 2-4) in a Big East game at Boston.