Duke Clips North Carolina, 83-81

Chris Duhon’s reverse layup with 6.5 seconds left in overtime Thursday night gave No. 1 Duke an 83-81 victory over No. 17 North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C., the Blue Devils’ 16th consecutive victory and fifth in the last six seasons on the Tar Heels’ home court.

“You’re told it’s a rivalry and everything, but when you’re on the court, the emotion of everybody -- your teammates and the Carolina players -- it’s like you’re giving it everything,” Duke freshman Luol Deng said. “It was just a fight from both teams, and Chris made an unbelievable play to win it for us.”

Duhon’s game-winning basket came after Rashad McCants made a three-point basket to tie the score.

Duhon said it helped the team’s confidence that Coach Mike Krzyzewski didn’t call a timeout after McCants’ basket.

“He told us he wanted us to win the game,” Duhon said. “I just kept going, and it opened up and I was able to make the layup. I don’t think anybody on either team could’ve handled [another overtime]. I tried to do both of us a favor.”

Melvin Scott missed a three-point shot at the buzzer for North Carolina, 13-6 overall and 3-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The win evened Krzyzewski’s record against North Carolina at 28-28, and he is 8-5 against the Tar Heels when his team is ranked No. 1.

Shelden Williams had 22 points and 12 rebounds for Duke (19-1, 8-0). He had two of his five blocks in overtime and also came up with a big defensive play in the final minute to force a turnover by the Tar Heels. McCants led North Carolina with 27 points.

No. 24 Utah State 57, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 43 -- The Aggies, playing their first game as a ranked team in 33 years, had a brief scare before closing out the Mustangs at Logan, Utah.

Utah State (18-1, 10-0 Big West) trailed Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (8-10, 3-7) by a point with about 11:30 to play when it went on a 17-2 run.

“It just clicked. I think everybody realized that we were down by one, but I don’t think anything needed to be said,” said Mark Brown, who led the Aggies with 14 points.

Spencer Nelson had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Nate Harris scored 13 points in Utah State’s 15th consecutive victory.

The Aggies, ranked in the AP poll for the first time since March 1971, held the Mustangs to two points in the final 11:27. Utah State is four victories from matching the school record of 19 in a row set in 1999-2000.

“They extended and went to their 2-3 zone and it rattled us,” said Shane Schilling, who scored 17 to lead Cal Poly.

OTHER GAMES

Paul Millsap and JueMichael Young had 19 points each at Ruston, La., and Louisiana Tech (11-9, 5-5 Western Athletic) survived two overtimes and defeated Fresno State, 80-75. The Bulldogs (10-9, 6-4) got 26 points from Shantay Legans.... Jason Williams scored 22 points and Chris Craig had 20 at El Paso as Texas El Paso (16-4, 7-3) defeated WAC co-leader Rice, 105-62. The Owls (15-6, 7-3) trailed, 30-23, with 8:33 left in the first half, but the Miners went on a 30-10 scoring run for a 60-34 halftime lead.

Curtis Sumpter scored 24 points at Washington to help Villanova (13-8, 5-3 Big East) defeat Georgetown, 75-60. The Hoyas (12-6, 3-5) have lost six of eight.... Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine combined for 41 points at Burlington, Vt., as Vermont (14-5, 10-0 American East) rolled past Binghamton, 70-51. The Catamounts have won 11 in a row.... Adrian Henning scored 22 points at Clarksville, Tenn., to lead Austin Peay (13-7, 10-0 Ohio Valley Conference) to an 84-72 victory over Jacksonville State (11-10, 4-6).

Cedrick Banks scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half at Chicago to lead Illinois Chicago (16-7, 7-4 Horizon League) to an 86-82 victory over Wisconsin Milwaukee (15-6, 10-1).... St. Mary’s (13-9, 4-3 West Coast Conference) outscored San Francisco, 6-1, to end the first half and opened the second half with a 21-8 run as it recorded a 75-51 victory at Moraga, Calif. The Dons (14-10, 4-4) had won four in a row.... Kyle Bailey scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to lead Santa Clara (13-10, 5-3 WCC) past San Diego, 74-69, at Santa Clara, Calif. The Toreros (3-19, 0-7) have lost 11 in a row.