Williams, Duke Go Higher

Mike Krzyzewski put top-ranked Duke’s winning streak in Jason Williams’ hands.

“I rode him as hard as a jockey can ride a horse,” the Blue Devil coach said. “I just kept calling his number.”

On his uniform that would be 22, and on the stat sheet that would be a career-high 38 points that carried Duke to a 95-92 overtime victory over No. 7 Kentucky on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic at East Rutherford, N.J.

“He was phenomenal,” Krzyzewski said. “He put on one of the really sensational performances under pressure that you’re going to see.”

The junior guard scored 23 of his team’s final 31 points in regulation.

Duke, the defending national champion, was down, 59-47, with 12:30 remaining when Williams took over. He scored every way imaginable and his three-point basket with 5:10 left gave Duke (10-0) a 68-67 lead, its first since being up 31-30 in the first half.

The Wildcats (6-2), who had a six-game winning streak of their own, closed to 93-91 on two free throws by Keith Bogans with 43 seconds left, but Dahntay Jones iced it for Duke when he converted an offensive rebound with 9.6 seconds left.

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No. 4 Florida 103, High Point 49--Matt Bonner had 18 points and 11 rebounds and the Gators (8-1) scored the first 26 points of the second half against the Panthers (3-7) at Gainesville, Fla.

No. 9 Illinois 87, Illinois State 73--Frank Williams shot four for eight from three-point range and scored 29 points to lead the Illini (8-2) over the Redbirds (4-5) at Champaign, Ill.

No. 13 Stanford 97, Belmont 63--Casey Jacobsen scored 25 points as the Cardinal (5-1) won in the first round of the Stanford Invitational.

No. 22 Oklahoma 109, Eastern Illinois 50--Aaron McGhee scored 22 points and Hollis Price had 18 to lead the Sooners (8-1) at Norman, Okla.

No. 23 Alabama 70, Temple 67--Erwin Dudley had 14 points and 11 rebounds and combined with Maurice Williams on a late steal to lead the Crimson Tide (8-2) past the Owls (3-5) in the Jimmy V Classic at East Rutherford, N.J.

Terrance Meade had a season-high 19 points and Williams made two free throws after combining with Dudley on the steal with 7.5 seconds to play.

Women’s Top 25

Monique Cardenas had 17 points and 11 rebounds as No. 20 Florida (7-3) rolled to a 81-53 victory against Elon at Gainesville, Fla. ... Jocelyn Penn scored 29 points as No. 23 South Carolina (9-1) had an easy 94-34 victory against Coastal Carolina at Columbia, S.C. ... Doneka Hodges scored 18 points, and Ke-Ke Tardy and Aiysha Smith each had 14 to lead No. 24 Louisiana State (5-3) to an 88-31 victory against Mercer at Baton Rouge, La.