Duke drops conference opener without Allen

Suspended guard loses captaincy

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech entered Atlantic Coast Conference play with a sparkling record and several quality wins to its credit, but the Hokies hadn’t faced a ranked foe all season.

That test came Saturday — and they passed rather easily.

Justin Bibbs scored 18 points to lead Virginia Tech to an 89-75 upset of No. 5 Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Bibbs broke out of a season-long slump, hitting 6 of 9 from the field, including a season-high four 3-pointers for the Hokies (12-1, 1-0), who won their eighth straight game. Virginia Tech hasn’t lost since squandering a 17-point, second-half lead in a 68-65 loss to Texas A&M on Nov. 25.

“Our confidence is sky high right now,” Bibbs said. “I feel like we can play against anybody, with anybody.”

Virginia Tech snapped a nine-game losing streak to Duke (12-2, 0-1), which played without preseason All-American Grayson Allen, who was suspended indefinitely by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski after tripping an Elon player on Dec. 21 — the third such incident in Allen’s career.

The incident also cost Allen his captaincy, Krzyzewski said.

The Hokies dominated from start to finish, jumping out to a 47-31 halftime lead. The Blue Devils got as close to 52-41 in the second half after a 3-pointer by Luke Kennard with 15:29 remaining.

No. 1 Villanova 80, No. 10 Creighton 70 — At Omaha, Neb., Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 27 points, and Villanova (14-0, 2-0 Big East) extended its school-record winning streak to 20 games with a victory over Creighton (13-1, 1-1).

No. 6 Louisville 77, No. 16 Indiana 62 — At Indianapolis, Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 25 points and Deng Adel had 17 as Louisville (12-2) pulled away from Indiana (10-4) for its third win over a Top 20 team.

No. 7 Gonzaga 81, Pacific 61 — At Stockton, Calif., Jordan Mathews scored 16 points and Gonzaga (14-0, 2-0 West Coast Conference) went on a 25-4 run over 10 minutes in the second half to beat Pacific (6-9, 0-2).

Georgia Tech 75, No. 9 North Carolina 63 — Josh Okogie scored 26 points, Ben Lammers had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Georgia Tech (9-4, 1-0 ACC) pulled off a major upset over North Carolina (12-3, 0-1).

No. 20 Florida State 60, No. 12 Virginia 58 — At Charlottesville, Va., Dwayne Bacon scored 26 of his 29 points after halftime and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4 seconds left, lifting Florida State (14-1, 2-0 ACC) past Virginia (11-2, 1-1).

No. 17 Xavier 81, Georgetown 76 — At Washington, Edmond Sumner scored a career-high 28 points on his birthday and J. P. Macura added 23 as Xavier (12-2, 2-0 Big East) fended off Georgetown (8-6, 0-2).

No. 20 Saint Mary’s 72, San Diego 60 — At Moraga, Calif., Jock Landale scored 14 points and Tanner Krebs added 12 to help Saint Mary’s (12-1, 2-0 WCC) beat San Diego (7-7, 0-2).

No. 24 Notre Dame 78, Pittsburgh 77, OT — At Pittsburgh, Steve Vasturia knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing with 2.5 seconds left in overtime to rally Notre Dame (12-2, 1-0 ACC) past Pittsburgh (11-3, 0-1).

MOUNTAIN WEST

Boise State 74, Colorado State 73 — At Boise, Idaho, Chandler Hutchison dribbled the length of the floor, found an open crease at the 3-point line and buried a trey to lift Boise State (9-4, 2-0) to a come-from-behind win over Colorado State (9-6, 1-1).

Fresno State 77, UNR 76 — At Fresno, Calif., Jaron Hopkins made a slam dunk with 35 seconds left, and Paul Watson added two free throws as Fresno State (95, 1-1) pulled away to beat UNR (12-3, 1-1).

Air Force 78, Utah State 73 — At Colorado Springs, Colo., Jacob Van hit 3 of 4 from the free throw line in the final 17 seconds to help Air Force (8-7, 1-1) hold off Utah State (6-7, 0-2).