Duke Pressure Wilts Portland

Reserve Luol Deng scored 15 points, and No. 4-ranked Duke limited Portland to three first-half field goals in an 84-43 victory Sunday at Durham, N.C.

Deng came off the bench for the first time this season, but the freshman didn’t miss a beat, scoring 11 of his points as the Blue Devils built a 28-point halftime edge.

Portland (5-2), which came in with a five-game winning streak, missed 16 of its first 17 shots and was three for 28 with 12 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes against Duke’s pressuring defense.

In a 26-second span in Duke’s masterful first half, Deng blocked a shot, sank a three-point shot and then drew a charge.

Duke (6-1) didn’t have much trouble with its overall game after an eight-day layoff for exams, extending the nation’s longest home winning streak to 31.

Eugene Jeter led the Pilots with 10 points, but made only three of 15 shots.

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No. 6 Texas 89, New Orleans 55 -- Brian Boddicker had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Texas extended its home winning streak to 20 games at Austin. P.J. Tucker had 17 points and Brandon Mouton scored 15 for Texas (5-1). Bo McCalebb led New Orleans (3-1) with 15 points.

Texas limited New Orleans to 29% shooting (18 of 62). From three-point range, the Privateers made only seven of 24.

Texas led, 22-20, midway through the first half before a 19-4 run extended its lead.

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No. 7 North Carolina 64, Akron 53 -- Rashad McCants had 14 points and Sean May had a Smith Center-record 21 rebounds to lift the Tar Heels at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Jawad Williams scored 13 points and Raymond Felton added 12 for the Tar Heels (6-0), who are off to their best start since winning their first eight games in the 1998-99 season. May finished with 10 points on three-for-18 shooting. Romeo Travis scored 13 points to lead Akron (3-2). Derrick Tarver, who came into the game averaging 24.8 points, had seven points on three-for-16 shooting.

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No. 12 Saint Joseph’s 92, Drexel 70 -- Jameer Nelson scored 24 points, Delonte West added 20 and Chet Stachitas had a career-high 14, all but two on three-point shots, for the Hawks at Philadelphia. Saint Joseph’s (7-0) made a season-high 13 three-point shots and finished with a season-high point total. Sean Brooks scored 22 points and Tim Whitworth had 14 for the Dragons (2-4).