No. 2 Duke hits from outside to beat Virginia

Second-ranked RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke got rolling from 3-point range, then took a big step toward winning the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season race.

The Blue Devils beat thirdranked Virginia 81-71 on Saturday night in a matchup of league heavyweights ahead of today’s new AP Top 25 poll. That secured a regular-season sweep of the reigning league champion Cavaliers.

Now the Blue Devils (21-2, 9-1 ACC) hold the head-tohead tiebreaker with the Cavaliers (20-2, 8-2) entering the final month of the schedule, which will make it tougher for Virginia to catch them in the standings. Virginia’s two losses to Duke mean the Cavaliers have lost more games against league opponents this year compared with its 20-1 run during last year’s regular-season and tournament titles.

Wolverines slow Happ

Seventh-ranked Michigan (22-2, 11-2 Big Ten) beat No. 19 Wisconsin on Saturday, avenging its first loss this season. It helped that the Wolverines had a better day against Badgers forward Ethan Happ in Round 2.

Happ, a preseason Associated Press All-American, had 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists with just one turnover in the first meeting . The 6-foot-10 senior still had a double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds) in the rematch, but he had just one assists with five of Wisconsin’s seven turnovers.

Tip-ins

Fifth-ranked Kentucky (203, 9-1 SEC) pushed its win streak to 10 games by beating South Carolina and Mississippi State . ... Ninth-ranked Michigan State (19-5, 10-3 Big Ten) had lost three straight games before Saturday’s victory over Minnesota . ... Markus Howard went for 38 points in No. 10 Marquette’s victory over No. 14 Villanova, marking his third 30-point output in four games . ... No. 11 Virginia Tech (18-5, 7-4 ACC) was the only ranked team to suffer a two-loss week, falling to Louisville and Clemson while failing to reach 65 points each time with point guard Justin Robinson out indefinitely because of an injury.