No. 1 Duke pulls away late to beat Cavs

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Posted 7:00AM on Thursday, January 16, 2003

DURHAM, N.C. - With J.J. Redick hitting from all over the court, top-ranked Duke is cruising through the Atlantic Coast Conference once again. The freshman guard scored a career-high 34 points and Dahntay Jones had 23 as Duke beat Virginia 104-93 Wednesday night to remain the nation's only unbeaten team and extend its home winning streak to 21 games. The 34 points were a school record for a freshman, breaking the mark of 31 set by current assistant coach Johnny Dawkins exactly 20 years ago. It was Redick's sixth game in which he scored 20 or more points - one away from the school record for a freshman set by Carlos Boozer in 1999-2000. ``He's got his feet under him, he understands the game,'' Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``He's not just a good freshman. He's one of the outstanding players in the conference.'' Freshman Shavlik Randolph added 17 points for Duke, which is 12-0 for the second time in as many years and sixth time in 23 seasons under Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils (3-0 ACC) improved to 42-8 against the Cavaliers at Cameron Indoor Stadium and have won 65 of their last 67 games against unranked league opponents. The Blue Devils opened ACC play with wins at Clemson and at home against Wake Forest. They next play at defending national champion Maryland on Saturday and North Carolina State next week. ``The last four games we've had all have been different and we've been fortunate we've won them all,'' Krzyzewski said. ``This team has a lot of development to go. But we've shown good heart. And every game is huge because everybody wants to play us.'' The Cavaliers (10-4, 1-2) had won two of the last three games in the series, taking the last two meetings at home. They had not won here in eight years, but fought the Blue Devils throughout on Wednesday. Travis Watson led Virginia with 26 points despite battling foul trouble for much of the second half. Elton Brown added 19 points and Todd Billet had 18. ``We gave it our best shot,'' Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. ``When you give it your best and it's not good enough, you walk with your head up. That's all you can do.'' In a back-and-forth game that saw both teams shoot 50 percent or better, Duke took control by hitting 37 of 40 free throws. That included a 29-for-32 performance in the second half of a game that had 59 total fouls. Virginia hit 27 of 38 free throws, but missed some key attempts down the stretch. Redick finished 9-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-6 from 3-point range, and 11-for-11 from the free throw line. Redick, a Roanoke, Va., native, did all that despite admitting he was nervous because he was playing against friends and a school that had recruited him. Redick played on the same AAU team as Brown and Jason Clark of the Cavaliers. ``All day today I was visualizing myself doing great things on the basketball court,'' Redick said. ``When I saw Jason and Elton before the game, we joked around a bit. The fact that they talked to me probably eased my tension.'' Redick missed his first two shots, but hit his last six before halftime, scoring 18 points and helping Duke to a 50-45 lead. He opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the left wing, giving Duke its largest lead at 53-45. Virginia responded with nine straight points, ending when Billet hit two free throws after a technical foul on Krzyzewski for a 54-53 lead with 17:50 left. With the score tied at 59, however, Watson picked up his fourth foul trying to draw a charge on Nick Horvath underneath the basket. That opened things up for the Blue Devils inside. Duke pushed ahead when Randolph scored seven straight points. He hit a straightaway 3, a driving layup on the right baseline and a stickback of a miss by Daniel Ewing for a 70-65 lead with 13:15 left. The Cavaliers repeatedly pulled within three or four points, but Duke responded each time. ``We just never could really stop them down low,'' Randolph said. ``They kept on scoring. We needed to score then get stops. It was definitely important that we kept on fighting them back.'' Redick finally gave Duke some breathing room, hitting a jumper and drawing a foul on Jermaine Harper with 4:32 to play. He completed the three-point play and added two more free throws on the next Duke possession for a 95-87 lead with 3:59 left. Virginia didn't get closer than six points the rest of the way. It was the first game all season in which Duke didn't hold at least a 15-point lead in the second half. ``I thought offensively we did a good job,'' Gillen said. ``Just defensively we couldn't stop them.''