Barrett leads Duke in rout of Hartford
NO. 3 DUKE 84, HARTFORD 54
DURHAM, N.C. — Freshman RJ Barrett had 27 points and a season-best 15 rebounds, and No. 3 Duke pulled away to rout Hartford 84-54 on Wednesday night.
Zion Williamson added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Tre Jones and Javin Delaurier finished with 10 points apiece to help the Blue Devils (8-1) win their third consecutive. Duke shot 62 percent in the second half to more than make up for hitting just 5 three-pointers — matching a season low.
J.R. Lynch scored 13 points and Jason Dunne added 12 for Hartford (3-7), a 38-point underdog that hung around well into the second half before fading. Dunne’s long three-pointer pulled the Hawks within eight points with just over 12 minutes left.
Williamson then hit two free throws, Jack White followed with a steal and dunk, and Cameron Reddish — who had missed all six of his three-pointers to that point — buried a three in transition to give the Blue Devils their largest lead to that point at 5439. Duke rolled from there for its fifth blowout in five home games.
Duke’s 5 threes matched the season low most recently reached in the loss to Gonzaga, and excluding Barrett, the Blue Devils were 2 for 22 from three-point range. Duke had 33 points at halftime — its lowest-scoring half of the season, falling short of the 36 points it scored in the second half Nov. 14 against Eastern Michigan.
In other Top 25/SEC games Wednesday, Cameron Johnson scored 21 points to help No. 14 North Carolina beat North Carolina-Wilmington 97-69. Freshman forward Nassir Little added 14 points. North Carolina (7-2) led 44-35 at halftime but went on a 30-3 run to blow this one open and finish the game shooting 49 percent. … Justin Robinson scored 18 points and No. 15 Virginia Tech cruised past VMI 89-68. Robinson hit a trio of three-pointers for the Hokies (7-1), who won their 21st consecutive regular-season nonconference game at home. … CJ Massinburg had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and No. 17 Buffalo used a big second-half run to beat Division II Le Moyne 89-55. Dontay Caruthers scored 20 points and reserve Nick Perkins had 18, helping Buffalo (8-0) continue its best start since the 1930-31 season. Jeremy Harris finished with 16 points. … Keyshawn Woods scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, Kaleb Wesson added 13 and No. 19 Ohio State rallied in the second half for a 77-67 victory over Illinois. Musa Jallow had 11 points and nine rebounds as Ohio State (8-1) improved to 2-0 in the Big Ten. … Jermaine Samuels hit 3 three-pointers in the second half that kept No. 21 Villanova from its worst home losing streak in 25 years and helped knock off Temple 69-59. Samuels scored a career-high 15 points and Eric Paschall had 10 in an off night for Villanova. Nate Pierre-Louis led the Owls with 17 points. … Amir Coffey scored a career-high 32 points, Jordan Murphy had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Minnesota rallied to beat No. 24 Nebraska 85-78. Isaac Copeland led Nebraska (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Isaiah Roby chipped in 15 points and Glynn Watson added 14 for the Huskers. … Simi Shittu scored 15 points and Matthew Moyer added a season-high 14 and Vanderbilt beat Middle Tennessee 79-51. The Commodores (6-2), who lost point guard Dais Garland to a season-ending knee injury on Nov. 23, rebounded from Saturday’s loss to North Carolina State. Vanderbilt went 18 of 19 from the foul line (95 percent) and made 9 three-pointers. … Justin James scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 5 assists as Wyoming came back in the second half to beat South Carolina 73-64. James scored 15 of his points in the second half to help Wyoming (3-6) overcome a 37-33 halftime deficit. South Carolina (4-4) was led by A.J. Lawson’s 15 points and nine rebounds.