A 44-Point Win Not Good Enough for Duke

Here’s a frightening thought: Top-ranked Duke’s players said they can play much better than they did in a 103-59 victory over Virginia in Durham, N.C., on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

The Blue Devils, 8-0 overall, scored 34 points off 28 Virginia turnovers and shot 51% but while Coach Mike Krzyzewski appeared satisfied, some players weren’t.

“All we’re concerned about is playing our best and I think we can improve in all areas,” said guard Trajan Langdon, who made 10 of 15 shots and had 22 points. “For the majority of the game, we played well. We came out and played great but we had some lapses. That’s one thing we have to try to take away.”

Said guard Steve Wojciechowski: “We can get a lot better. The thing we need to keep doing is playing at the same level of intensity, the same level of passion.”

The 44-point margin was the most lopsided in the series since a 136-72 Duke victory in 1965. The Blue Devils won three games this week by an average of 53 points, also defeating South Carolina State, 98-40, and North Carolina Greensboro, 93-37.

“It is still early but at this point, I’d hate to think there is anybody better than Duke,” Virginia Coach Jeff Jones said. “If there is, I sure don’t want to play them.”

Virginia (4-2) had 22 turnovers in falling behind, 53-25, in the first half and were never closer than 22 points after that.

No. 3 North Carolina 78, Virginia Tech 57--Leading scorer Antawn Jamison missed his first six shots, but the Tar Heels (9-0) still defeated the Hokies (3-2) for the 16th consecutive time as guards Vince Carter and Shammond Williams combined for 37 points in the Harris Teeter Pepsi Challenge at Charlotte, N.C.

Carter had a game-high 21 points, Williams had 17, while Jamison--who came into the game averaging 22 points and shooting 58%--finished with 19 points and five-of-13 shooting.

No. 4 Arizona 88, Texas 81--Guard Mike Bibby scored five of his 19 points in the final 49.8 seconds as Wildcats (5-2) held off the Longhorns (3-4) at Austin, Texas.

Arizona trailed by 11 in the first half but led 80-65 with 4:16 left. Texas, which had 25 turnovers, could get no closer than four points.

No. 5 South Carolina 67, Tennessee Chattanooga 55--The Gamecocks (5-0) continued their best start in five seasons under Coach Eddie Fogler, holding the Moccasins (4-3) to 28% shooting in the Harris Teeter Pepsi Challenge at Charlotte, N.C.

No. 6 Purdue 87, Louisville 69--Center Brad Miller scored 12 of his game-high 27 points in a decisive 27-5 first-half run for the Boilermakers (6-2) against the Cardinals (2-3) at Louisville, Ky.

Miller, a senior, made eight of 10 shots and had 13 rebounds to reach double figures in scoring and rebounding for the 17th time in his career.

No. 7 Kentucky 75, Indiana 72--Guard Jeff Sheppard and center Nazr Mohammed both had 21 points as the Wildcats (6-1) survived a late comeback by the Hoosiers (3-3) at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, where they lost to Arizona in the NCAA championship game last spring.

It was Kentucky’s fourth consecutive victory over Indiana, which almost overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half. Guard A.J. Guyton, who had 14 of his 19 points in the second half, missed a three-point shot at the final buzzer.

No. 9 Xavier 93, Western Kentucky 60--The Musketeers (5-0) went on a 23-0 run and had five players score in double figures in cruising past the Hilltoppers (2-2) at Cincinnati.

No. 10 Iowa 81, Weber State 56--Senior forward Ryan Bowen made nine of 12 shots and had a career-high 25 points as the Hawkeyes (6-0) easily handled the Wildcats (1-4) to win their Super Shootout tournament at Iowa City for the 15th time in 16 years.

No. 11 Utah 62, No. 24 Wake Forest 53--The Demon Deacons, who defeated the Utes twice last season because of the considerable talents of 6-11 Tim Duncan, couldn’t overcome a decided height disadvantage at Winston-Salem, N.C., and they saw their nonconference win streak end at 23 games.

Wake Forest (6-1) was outrebounded, 43-31, and was held to 28% shooting--its worst effort since December 1973.

Guard Andre Miller led Utah (7-0) with 20 points, while 6-10 Hanno Mottola had 16 points and 10 rebounds and foul-troubled 6-11 Michael Doleac had 14 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes. The Utes are off to their best start in 17 seasons.

Ball State 70, No. 14 Mississippi 66--Forward Bonzi Wells had 34 points, nine rebounds and six steals and the Cardinals (5-1) overcame an 11-point deficit against the Rebels (4-1) in the championship game of their tournament at Muncie, Ind.

No. 17 Clemson 71, Furman 62--Guard Terrell McIntyre had 19 points and center Tom Wideman had a career-high 17 at Clemson, S.C., for the Tigers (5-2) in their 22nd consecutive win over the Paladins (1-6).

No. 18 Arkansas 75, Missouri 46--The Razorbacks (6-0) took a 37-13 halftime lead over the Tigers (2-4) at Fayetteville, Ark., and guard Pat Bradley made a three-point basket three minutes into the second half to increase to streak to 57 games.

No. 19 Florida State 74, Jacksonville 44--The Seminoles (6-1) held the Dolphins (1-4) scoreless the first 8:11 to take a 21-2 at Tallahassee, Fla. No Jacksonville player had more than two points as Florida State led, 41-10, at halftime.

No. 20 Temple 59, Wisconsin 49--Rasheed Brokenborough scored five of his 24 points in the final minute as the Owls (4-1) pulled away from the Badgers (3-4) at Madison, Wis. It was the third victory over a Big Ten team for Temple, which has also beaten Indiana and Michigan State.

No. 22 Georgia Tech 84, Delaware State 63--Freshman guard Dion Glover had 28 points and eight rebounds and the Yellow Jackets (5-1) held the Hornets (2-3) to 28% shooting at Atlanta. A sprained ankle sidelined Georgia Tech’s leading scorer Matt Harpring for the first time in 90 games.

No. 25 Princeton 73, Lafayette 48--The Tigers, at 6-0 off to the fifth-best start in their long history, forced 22 turnovers and led the Leopards (4-3) by as many as 28 points at Princeton, N.J.

OTHER GAMES

Forward Michael Batiste had 23 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots to lead Arizona State (6-2) to an 83-66 victory over Portland State (4-1) at Tempe, Ariz. . . . Washington (4-1) shot 29% and committed 15 of its 17 turnovers in the first half of an 81-66 loss to Oklahoma State (6-0) at Stillwater, Okla. The Cowboys have the nation’s longest nonconference home winning streak at 76 games. . . . Santa Clara missed its first 10 shots but guard Brian Jones went on to score 29 points to lead a 68-55 home-court victory over Oregon State (4-1), which only got 11 points from its top scorer Corey Benjamin. . . . Guard Terik Brown made five of eight three-point shots and had 24 points for Oregon (2-3) in an 86-69 victory over Nevada (2-2) at Eugene, Ore.

Forward Tim James had 22 points and 13 rebounds as Miami (9-0, 2-0)) continued its best start since 1962-63 with a 66-56 home-court Big East victory over Georgetown (3-3, 0-2). . . . Boston College (5-3, 1-1) shot only 33% and had 25 turnovers in a 70-52 Big East loss to Syracuse (5-0, 2-0) at Boston.