Top 25 Roundup: Duke picks up pace against Wisconsin

By Associated Press     Nov 28, 2007

Duke's Gerald Henderson (15) grabs a rebound over Wisconsin's Kevin Gullickson. Duke won, 82-58, on Tuesday night in Durham, N.C.

? The way Mike Krzyzewski saw it, there weren’t any complex plays he could design that would make Duke any taller.

So instead, the more athletic Blue Devils overcame their height disadvantage by simply running super-sized Wisconsin out of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Greg Paulus scored 13 of his 18 points during the decisive first half to help No. 7 Duke rout No. 20 Wisconsin, 82-58, on Tuesday night.

“I told our guys (earlier in the) afternoon, ‘Today’s a players’ game, tonight would be a players’ game,'” Krzyzewski said. “They need to be instinctive (because) there wouldn’t be much strategy from the bench, and I think our players reacted well to that.”

Freshman Taylor King added 15 points and made five 3-pointers in his second straight strong game off the bench. Fellow rookie Kyle Singler had 13 points, Gerald Henderson added 11, and Jon Scheyer scored 10 for the Blue Devils (7-0), who have won five games in nine days.

Duke entered wondering how it would match up against a Wisconsin front line that featured three players in the rotation who are 6-foot-10 or taller. But its up-tempo offense and swarming, aggressive defense dominated from the opening tip, helping the Blue Devils improve to 9-0 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and remain the only team with a perfect record in the annual event.

No. 3 Memphis 104, Austin Peay 82

Memphis, Tenn. – Freshman Derrick Rose had 19 points and 12 assists, and Memphis shot 64 percent. Rose was coming off his worst game of the season, a four-point performance against Arkansas State a week before. This time, he shot 6-of-8 from the field as Memphis (6-0) built the lead to as many as 23 early in the second half.

Chris Douglas-Roberts led Memphis with 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting, and Shawn Taggart added a career-high 17 points. Joey Dorsey was one of three Tigers with 10 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.

No. 11 Tennessee 93, North Carolina A&T 59

Knoxville, Tenn. – Chris Lofton scored 18 of his season-high 24 points in the first half, and Tennessee rebounded from its first loss. Tyler Smith had 17 points, Ramar Smith scored 11, and Josh Tabb added 10 for the Volunteers (6-1), who were coming off a 97-78 loss to then-No. 15 Texas on Saturday.

No. 14 Pittsburgh 80, Boston U. 53

Pittsburgh – Ronald Ramon made all five of his 3-point attempts to score 15 points, and Pittsburgh put away Boston University quickly with a 20-3 run in the first half, staying unbeaten. The Panthers (6-0), again showing off their new, faster-paced offense, also got 14 points from leading scorer Sam Young, 11 points and eight assists from point guard Levance Fields and 11 points from Mike Cook.

No. 15 Indiana 83, Georgia Tech 79

Bloomington, Ind. – Eric Gordon scored 29 points, and D.J. White added 18 to help Indiana rally past Georgia Tech. Jamarcus Ellis scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half for the Hoosiers in their 21st straight regular-season win at Assembly Hall. It also was the Big Ten’s first victory in this year’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

No. 18 Clemson 61, Purdue 58

Clemson, S.C. – K.C. Rivers’ soft floater with 31.2 seconds left broke a tie and sent Clemson tover Purdue in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Rivers finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, saving the Tigers (6-0) in their first game without injured forward James Mays.

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