Duke Stands Alone at the Top

Mike Krzyzewski keeps saying this Duke team is very different from its predecessors. Yet the results look strikingly similar.

Dahntay Jones shook off a poor start to score 15 of his 16 points in the opening 8 1/2 minutes of the second half as the top-ranked Blue Devils rolled over No. 17 Wake Forest, 74-55, in a matchup of the last two NCAA Division I unbeatens Sunday night at Durham, N.C.

“It’s very different because it’s not predictable,” Krzyzewski said of his young team. “You try to do things and then you react to where your guys are at at a specific time. We’ve tried not to put limitations on them. We’re still trying to find out about our team and our guys understand that.

“With the competition we’re now facing, you have to get better,” Krzyzewski added. “You can practice and plan and do all that stuff, but really the game itself makes you better and the competition in our league makes you better. We have to get better or we’ll get tossed aside.”

Well, Duke is good again -- very good.

Duke (11-0 overall, 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) extended its winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 20 games. It also was its 14th victory in a row against the Demon Deacons (10-1, 0-1). Wake Forest’s last victory there was in January 1997 with Tim Duncan as its center.

Wake Forest’s streak of outshooting and outrebounding all of its opponents was stopped in embarrassing fashion. The Demon Deacons shot 34% in their ACC opener and had 18 turnovers.

“Duke is excellent here. Heck, they’re excellent every place,” Wake Forest Coach Skip Prosser said. “They guarded us much better than we executed offensively. You don’t have to be Dr. Naismith to realize that.

“Two months ago, this probably wasn’t viewed as a very big game,” Prosser added. “I give our kids credit for making it a big game. Now, Duke responded to the big game better than we did, and we’ll learn from this and get better. You don’t have a whole lot of choices in this league.”

Chris Duhon also played well for Duke, which has finished No. 1 in the last four Associated Press season-ending polls. The junior point guard scored 14 points and had nine assists in helping the Blue Devils take a 10-point halftime lead.

Duhon had made only two of 22 three-point shots in his last six games, but made three in the opening 17 minutes while Jones was struggling.

Duke freshman Shavlik Randolph had a big game against his former high school rival, Eric Williams.

Randolph had 15 points and seven rebounds, and the 280-pound Williams was not a factor on either end of the floor for the Demon Deacons, who were held 32 points under their scoring average.

Jones missed his first six shots, but made an 18-footer 30 seconds into the second half, and after missing his next two shots, went on a tear that gave the Blue Devils a 24-point lead with 11:37 left.

Prosser made the first change in his starting lineup this season when Jamaal Levy opened in place of point guard Justin Gray, who was late for a team function earlier in the week.

No. 5 Notre Dame 74, Seton Hall 64 -- The Irish (13-2, 1-1 Big East) improved to 9-0 at the Joyce Center this season, their best start at home since going 10-0 to start the 1994-95 season. The Pirates (5-7, 0-3) lost for the third consecutive time.

Notre Dame had been outmuscled Monday by No. 6 Pittsburgh in a 17-point loss, its worst defeat in three seasons under Coach Mike Brey. Against the Pirates, the Irish played a more physical game and received steadier play from key players.

Chris Thomas, who made only two of 15 shots against Pittsburgh, was seven of 16 against Seton Hall and led all scorers with 22 points.

No. 6 Pittsburgh 70, Rutgers 63 -- The Panthers (12-1, 2-0 in the Big East) entered the game at Piscataway, N.J., shooting 52.1% and averaging a 23.3-point margin of victory and 16 turnovers. In the first half, they had 14 turnovers and shot 39.1% and the halftime score was 25-25.

The Scarlet Knights (8-5, 0-1), aiming for their first victory over a top 10 team since beating No. 6 West Virginia at home on Feb. 1, 1982, used a trapping press to bother the Panthers and finish with 24 turnovers, matching their season high.

But the shooting improved dramatically in the second half. Pittsburgh made 14 of 22 shots (63.6%) to finish at 51.1%.

Georgetown 84, West Virginia 82 -- Tony Bethel’s two free throws with 6.2 seconds left in overtime at Washington gave the Hoyas (9-2, 1-0 in the Big East) a four-point lead. Jarmon Durisseau-Collins cut the deficit to two with three seconds left, but the Hoyas ran out the clock.

Bethel made a three-point shot with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to tie the score, at 74-74, and send the game into overtime. Drew Schifino led the Mountaineers (9-4, 1-1) with 25 points.