Duke 57, Delaware St. 46

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Posted 9:54PM on Friday, March 18, 2005

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Duke avoided the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history and allowed coach Mike Krzyzewski to move to the top of the record book. Shelden Williams had 14 points and 11 rebounds and the top-seeded Blue Devils held off 16th-seeded Delaware State 57-46 on Friday night in the Austin Regional, giving Coach K his 65th career victory in the tournament. In 21 NCAA tournaments, Krzyzewski is 65-17, tying Dean Smith's total for the most career victories. This one certainly was expected, even though Duke (26-5) had to work much harder than North Carolina did earlier in the day at the Charlotte Coliseum. The Tar Heels, also a No. 1 seed, routed upstart Oakland 96-68 in the Syracuse Regional, but the Blue Devils struggled throughout with the Hornets (19-13) despite having guard Sean Dockery back for the first time in seven games after he recovered from a knee injury. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions had won 15 of their previous 17 games, including a run of three straight in the conference tournament. They befuddled Duke in the first half with a lineup of five guards, spreading the floor and letting shot clock wind down before driving to the basket. Delaware State led 14-12 midway through the opening 20 minutes, and a putback by Tracey Worley tied it at 23 with 5 minutes left. The Blue Devils took control with consecutive 3-pointers by Daniel Ewing and Lee Melchionni, then opened the second half with an 11-2 run to pull away. The Hornets missed 15 straight shots at one point until Worley swished a 3 to make it 49-35. The margin eventually reached 20 before Delaware State mounted one final rally. Jahsha Bluntt made a jumper from beyond the arc, and after Worley added another basket, Troy Roundtree added a 3-pointer of his own to bring the Hornets to 55-43. Later, Roundtree had a chance at a four-point play, knocking in a 3 as he was fouled by Shelden Williams, but he missed the free throw, and Duke hung on. Worley led Delaware State with 13 points, and Roundtree added 11. For Krzyzewski, the outcome probably reminded him of a similar matchup in the 1986 tournament, when the top-seeded Blue Devils narrowly beat Mississippi Valley State 85-78. Johnny Dawkins, at the time an All-America guard for Duke, now sits beside Coach K on the bench as the associate head coach, and he told the players about that game earlier in the week. They got the chance to live their own version. Backed by a a small but enthusiastic group of fans plus a pep band Delaware State came out to win the game. After falling behind by nine early, the Bobcats tied it at 12 on a layup by Worley, and the rest of the half was close. J.J. Redick, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, had an off night, finishing with a season-low seven points on 1-of-7 shooting. That total was about 15 below his season average as Duke shot 41 percent from the field. It was enough barely. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)