No. 6 Duke beats Davidson

Posted 7:24AM on Tuesday 26th November 2002 ( 22 years ago )

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke played like the young team it is Monday night. Chris Duhon matched his career high with 20 points and added 10 assists as the sixth-ranked Blue Devils needed a strong finish to beat Davidson for the 16th straight time, 95-80. Duke (2-0) defeated Army by 48 points to start the season Saturday, but struggled to put away the defending Southern Conference champions in this one, turning the ball over 21 times and shooting 40 percent in the second half. It was a six-point game with 1:09 left. ``If we don't do a lot of really good things we don't win this game,'' said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has six freshmen on his roster. ``We don't have Laettner or Hill or Williams. This is a different team and it has to earn its stuff.'' Wayne Bernard had 21 of his career-high 28 points in the opening half and Ian Johnson added 23 in his collegiate debut as Davidson put up a fight until Duhon took over down the stretch. ``Bernard was sensational,'' Krzyzewski said. ``He had great poise. He showed what a veteran he is.'' ``He was the best player on the court tonight,'' added Duhon. ``He led his team and he hit big shots.'' The previous high for the senior guard was 27 against Penn in November 2000. ``When you can attack for 40 minutes in Cameron Indoor Stadium it's quite a statement about toughness, about where we might be headed if we continue to have this kind of attitude,'' Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. ``I am absolutely thrilled about this 40 minutes.'' Duhon scored six points over the final 3:01, including a driving layup and four of the team's nine free throws in the last 1:03. Duhon also had 20 points against Virginia on Feb. 14, 2001. The Duke captain knows the Blue Devils have a lot of work to do in the coming months. ``We played very young,'' Duhon said. ``We have a lot of people who don't have a lot of game experience. This is good for us. This gave us an opportunity to play in a pressure situation and to see how we can overcome it.'' Three of Davidson's starters had four fouls with 13:52 left, hampering the comeback effort by the Wildcats. The Blue Devils led by as many as 19 with 13:47 left and appeared in control after a four-point play by J.J. Redick and two free throws by Shavlik Randolph. But the Wildcats refused to go away, cutting the margin to six with 1:09 left on a driving layup by Bernard. The Blue Devils, who sank 30 of 45 free throws in their opener, then sealed it at the foul line. Randolph added 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Redick had 15 points and five steals. Duhon kept Duke in it early when its offense struggled, turning the ball over nine times in the opening 7:42. The point guard had 11 points and six assists in the first half, but he couldn't keep up with Bernard, who sank three 3-pointers in a four-minute span en route to a 21-point half on 8-for-13 shooting. Neither team led by more than five until Duke opened the gap late in the half as the Wildcats managed just 14 points over the final 11 minutes. The Blue Devils turned it over 14 times in a 101-53 win over Army, but coughed it up 13 times in the opening 20 minutes against Davidson, which took away much of Duke's inside game by using double teams in the post. ``We've got to be more alert, we've got to be stronger with the ball and the other big man that is not being doubled has to move to get open to make the pass easier,'' Randolph said. ``As hard as that game was for us, and as many bad things as we did, one very positive thing was we stepped up to the plate at the end. For a young team like us that was very positive and something we can take out of this game.'' Duke reserve forward Nick Horvath missed the game with a stomach ailment.

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