Duke tops Virginia
RJ Barrett scored 26 points, Zion Williamson had 18 and Cam Reddish added 17 as No. 2 Duke used an early barrage of three-pointers to stun No. 3 Virginia and then held off the Cavaliers 81-71 on Saturday night.
NO. 2 DUKE 81, NO. 3 VIRGINIA 71
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — RJ Barrett scored 26 points, Zion Williamson had 18 and No. 2 Duke used an early barrage of three-pointers to stun No. 3 Virginia and then held off the Cavaliers, 81-71, on Saturday night.
Barrett hit his first five tries from three-point range for the Blue Devils (21-2, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). His fifth one gave them a 2915 lead after less than 12 minutes of play. Cam Reddish took over after that, hitting 5 of his first 6, the last three early in the second half as the Blue Devils rebuilt their lead to 52-41. He finished with 17 points.
Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome each scored 16 to lead Virginia (20-2, 8-2), which had a 13-game home winning streak snapped. The Cavaliers lost to the Blue Devils at John Paul Jones Arena for the third consecutive time.
The game drew a sellout crowd, most hoping Virginia could avenge a 72-70 loss at Duke on Jan. 19, but it was the Blue Devils who put on a show in front of LeBron James and past stars from both schools.
Duke scored the first eight points on two three-pointers by Barrett sandwiching a steal and dunk by Williamson. The lead was 31-17 before two three-pointers by Guy, one by Jerome and another by Kihei Clark, which fueled an 18-8 run for Virginia that closed the gap to 39-35 at the half.
After a break, it was Reddish who took over from long range, connecting three times as the Blue Devils pushed the margin to 52-41 in just over four minutes.
Virginia kept trying to close the gap, and got within 66-61 on De’Andre Hunter’s three-pointer with 5:25 left, but Marques Bolden scored in close for the Blue Devils, Williamson scored on a stickback and Tre Jones hit a pullup in the lane, boosting the margin back to 72-61.
Williamson is the player that everyone seems to focus on in pregame warmups because of his physical gifts, but it’s Barrett that leads the Blue Devils in scoring (23 points per game to Williamson’s 22 entering the game). When Barrett and Reddish shoot as well as they did Saturday, Williamson can be a parttime decoy who still manages to do plenty of damage.
In other Top 25 men’s games Saturday, Brandon Clarke scored 24 points and blocked 3 shots as No. 4 Gonzaga routed Saint Mary’s 94-46 for its 14th consecutive victory. … Trey Porter had 20 points and 9 rebounds as No. 6 Nevada avenged its only loss of the season in a dominating victory over New Mexico. … Jon Teske had 17 points and 12 rebounds, holding his own inside against Ethan Happ, and Charles Matthews scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to lift No. 7 Michigan over No. 19 Wisconsin 61-52. … Kenny Williams hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:08 left in overtime to help No. 8 North Carolina hold off Miami 88-85. … Nick Ward had 22 points and Matt McQuaid scored a season-high 18, leading No. 9 Michigan State past Minnesota 79-55. … Markus Howard scored 38 points and No. 10 Marquette hung on at the buzzer, edging No. 14 Villanova 66-65 and handing the Wildcats their first Big East Conference loss. … Shelton Mitchell scored 22 points with a career-best 5 three-pointers and Clemson outlasted No. 11 Virginia Tech 59-51 for the Tigers’ fourth consecutive victory. … Dedric Lawson scored 25 points, Ochai Agbaji hit 5 threes and had 23 points, and No. 13 Kansas shrugged off a slow start to beat Oklahoma State 84-72. … Carsen Edwards scored 27 points and Grady Eifert added a season-high 16 as No. 15 Purdue rebounded from a lackluster first half to pull away for an 81-62 victory over Nebraska . ... Mfiondu Kabengele scored 22 points and No. 22 Florida State erased a 10-point second-half deficit to force overtime, then knocked off No. 16 Louisville 80-75. … Kendric Davis scored a season-high 22 points, and TCU stunned No. 17 Iowa State 92-83 for its first road victory over a Top 25 team in 21 years. … Davide Moretti scored 14 points to help No. 18 Texas Tech roll past Oklahoma 66-54. … Jeremy Harris had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, and No. 23 Buffalo rallied to beat Central Michigan 90-76.