GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Mark Williams set season highs with 23 points and 19 rebounds for his second double-double, Matthew Hurt added 20 points, and No. 10 seed Duke eased by seventh-seeded Louisville 70-56 on Wednesday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Armando Bacot, Kerwin Walton and Caleb Love scored 18 points apiece and North Carolina never trailed it its 91-73 win over Duke on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Walton hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range and Love had seven assists. Garrison Brooks added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting for North Carolina (16-9, 10-6 ACC).
No. 10 Villanova is limping into the postseason with a third-string point guard and a bit of a road slump.
David Duke and Nate Watson scored 20 points apiece, and Duke outjumped his taller teammate and four Wildcats to tip in the game-winner with 2.8 seconds left on Saturday as Providence held on after blowing a 20-point lead to beat the Big East champions 54-52.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Jaemyn Brakefield scored the go-ahead basket on a reverse layup with 1:58 left and Duke came up with a final-possession stop and upset No. 7 Virginia 66-65 on Saturday night.
Matthew Hurt scored 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (10-8, 8-6 Atlantic Coast Conference). They claimed a much-needed third straight win to improve their uncertain chances of making the NCAA Tournament.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Matthew Hurt scored 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting, DJ Steward added 16 points and Duke never trailed in its 84-60 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday night.
Joey Baker hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range and finished with 12 points for Duke (9-8, 7-6 Atlantic Coast Conference). Wendell Moore Jr. scored 11 points.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Playing on the road for the first time in their collegiate careers did not rattle Duke’s talented freshmen. They were looking forward to it.
“It was great, just getting to see different scenery, getting to see some snow out here,” DJ Steward said after scoring 16 points and grabbing a team-high seven rebounds to help the 21st-ranked Blue Devils beat Notre Dame 75-65 Wednesday night.
“I’m used to the snow,” added Steward, a Chicago native, “but a lot of our guys aren’t.”
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Rocket Watts scored 20 points and Julius Marble had a career-high 12 to help No. 8 Michigan State beat No. 6 Duke 75-69 on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic.
The Spartans (3-0) trailed by 10 early in the game but closed the first half with a 13-4 surge to take a 37-33 lead at halftime. Michigan State maintained control in the second half, leading by as many as 16.
Khalid El-Amin remembers Connecticut’s resolve to win a program-changing national championship.
The last hurdle to transforming the Huskies into a national power? Edging a dominant Duke team in a classic title game 21 years ago.
“We thought and we knew that if we ever had an opportunity to play Duke, then we could play with them and it wouldn’t be a doubt about that,” El-Amin told The Associated Press. “But we did want to just be that team to get over the hump.”
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Vernon Carey Jr., Tre Jones and No. 12 Duke didn't need any wild escape to beat rival North Carolina this time.
The Blue Devils took care of the Tar Heels with a strong start-to-finish performance — with the only unexpected part being the jolt coming from graduate reserve Justin Robinson.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Duke’s energy was back. Not surprisingly, so was its dominance.
Cassius Stanley scored 21 points and made a season-high five 3-pointers to help No. 6 Duke beat Virginia Tech 88-64 on Saturday night.
Matthew Hurt added 16 points and a season-high 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (23-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who bounced back from an 88-66 loss at North Carolina State on Wednesday night.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Tre Jones got Duke to overtime, and Wendell Moore Jr. finished off North Carolina.
They did it with a pair of plays sure to live on in replays and the lore of the fierce rivalry, too.
Jones hit a jumper at the horn to force the extra period, then Moore scored on a putback of Jones' air-balled jumper as time expired in OT to help the No. 7 Blue Devils top the Tar Heels 98-96 in a wild renewal of the longtime series Saturday night.
BOSTON (AP) — Vernon Carey Jr. had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 7 Duke to a 63-55 victory over Boston College on Tuesday night and give Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski his 500th career Atlantic Coast Conference victory.
Carey made a layup and then hit two free throws with about six minutes left during a 10-0 run that gave Duke (19-3. 9-2 ACC) the lead for good. Tre Jones scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half for the Blue Devils.
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Clemson gave its weary fans something to celebrate a night after losing the national championship game in football, getting a career-high 25 points from Aamir Simms in a 79-72 upset of No. 3 Duke on Tuesday night.
It was the highest-profile upset for the Tigers since beating No. 1 North Carolina on their home court in February 2001.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Filip Petrusev scored 16 points, Corey Kispert had 15 and No. 1 Gonzaga beat Loyola Marymount 87-62 on Saturday.
It was the Bulldogs' 31st straight regular-season win in West Coast Conference play, tying them with the San Francisco squads led by Bill Russell and K.C. Jones for the second-longest streak in conference history. Pepperdine has the record at 32.
Gonzaga (18-1, 4-0) put five players in double figures. Ryan Woolridge scored 13, and Admon Gilder added 12.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Duke started fast and picked up the pace. There would be no need to survive a last-second shot this time.
Tre Jones scored 23 points and the second-ranked Blue Devils handled Wake Forest 90-59 on Saturday night.
Cassius Stanley added 16 points for Duke (15-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which shot 53% from the field.
ATLANTA (AP) — Tre Jones hit two key baskets down the stretch and No. 2 Duke extended its decade-long domination of Georgia Tech, holding off the Yellow Jackets 73-64 on Wednesday night.
The Blue Devils (14-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) extended their winning streak to eight and their firm hold on this series goes back much further. Georgia Tech (7-8, 2-3) has lost 13 straight to Duke since its last victory over the Blue Devils on Jan. 9, 2010 — almost 10 years ago to the day.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Matthew Hurt scored 20 of his season-high 25 points before halftime and Tre Jones returned from a foot injury to help second-ranked Duke beat Boston College 88-49 on Tuesday night.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Tre Jones was pleased that when No. 10 Duke fell behind early at Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils showed composure and gradually worked their way back.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski was glad he had Jones to lead the way.
“They follow his lead,” Krzyzewski said after Jones scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half as Duke rallied to beat the Hokies 77-63 Friday night.
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Vernon Carey Jr. showed Michigan State exactly what it’s missing.
Carey had 26 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to help No. 10 Duke dominate the 11th-ranked Spartans in an 87-75 victory Tuesday night.
The 6-foot-10, 270-pound freshman was recruited hard by Michigan State and seemed very interested in attending the school, but ended up signing with the Blue Devils and came back to haunt coach Tom Izzo.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — With a breakaway layup at the overtime buzzer, Stephen F. Austin pulled off a shocker for the ages and did what no team outside the ACC had done in almost 20 years — topple mighty Duke at home.
The underdog Lumberjacks and their high-pressure defense took over at Cameron Indoor Stadium as No. 1 Duke lost its grip on everything: The ball, the game, its prized home-court winning streak and, ultimately, the nation’s top ranking.