Hurricanes Earn 1st Win Against Duke in 45 Years

Associated Press
Thursday, February 21, 2008

Miami beat fifth-ranked Duke for the first time in 45 years last night in Coral Gables, Fla., scoring 15 consecutive points to build a big lead early in the second half and holding on to win, 96-95.

The Blue Devils (22-3 overall, 10-2 ACC) lost for the second time in four days.

"Our team -- there's something missing this week," Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We are not the same team these last two ballgames. It's almost like someone has come in and invaded their bodies."

Miami (18-7, 5-6) beat Duke for the first time since the first game in the series, on Dec. 21, 1962. The Blue Devils had won all 10 games since.

Miami made 6 of 8 free throws in the final 41 seconds to preserve the upset. Duke's DeMarcus Nelson sank a layup with two seconds left to make the score 94-92, but Miami's Jack McClinton sank two clinching free throws before Nelson hit a meaningless three-pointer at the buzzer.

¿ MEMPHIS 97, TULANE 71: In New Orleans, Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 29 points to lead the No. 1 Tigers over the Green Wave (15-10, 5-6 Conference USA), giving Coach John Calipari his 400th victory.

The win, coupled with second-ranked Tennessee's victory against Auburn, sets up a showdown Saturday between the top two teams in the country. It will be the first 1-2 meeting since No. 2 Ohio State beat No. 1 Wisconsin, 49-48, on Feb. 25, 2007.

The Tigers (26-0, 12-0) ran up their impressive streaks -- 45 straight regular season wins, 35 consecutive league victories and 17 straight road wins.

¿ TENNESSEE 89, AUBURN 70: Ramar Smith scored 19 points and the second-ranked Volunteers extended their home winning streak to 30 games.

Tyler Smith added 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Tennessee (24-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference). Chris Lofton, who scored 12 points, moved into fifth place in NCAA history with 402 career three-pointers. Frank Tolbert led the Tigers (13-11, 3-8) with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

¿ NEBRASKA 71, KANSAS ST. 64: Steve Harley scored a career-high 20 points and the host Cornhuskers (15-9, 4-7) held the No. 24 Wildcats scoreless on their last eight possessions.

Kansas State (18-7, 8-3), which would have moved into a three-way tie for the Big 12 lead with a win, had pulled to 65-64 on Blake Young's three-pointer with 4 minutes 46 seconds left.

The Wildcats' Michael Beasley finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds to tie Carmelo Anthony's NCAA freshman record of 22 double-doubles.

¿ NORTH CAROLINA 84, N.C. STATE 70: Tyler Hansbrough had 32 points -- including 16 during a decisive 31-7 run that straddled halftime -- to help the No. 3 Tar Heels win on the road.

Wayne Ellington added 21 points for North Carolina (25-2, 10-2 ACC), which led by 20 points despite playing without point guard Ty Lawson, who missed his fifth straight game with a sprained ankle. Gavin Grant led the Wolfpack (15-11, 4-8) with 17 points.

¿ BUTLER 51, ILL.-CHICAGO 46: A.J. Graves scored 14 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer in the final minute, to give the No. 8 Bulldogs the road win.

The victory was the ninth straight for Butler (25-2, 14-2) and its 54th since the start of last season, giving it the best two-year win total in conference history.

Butler never tried to penetrate the zone defense of the Flames (14-13, 8-8). All but 10 of the Bulldogs' 47 shots were three-pointers, and they hit just 13 from long range.

¿ WISCONSIN 71, ILLINOIS 57: Trevon Hughes scored 18 points and Marcus Landry added 17 to help the No. 11 Badgers (22-4, 12-2) beat the host Illini and move into a first-place tie with Purdue in the Big Ten. With the loss, Illinois (11-16, 3-11) is guaranteed its first losing regular season since 1999.

¿ MARQUETTE 73, ST. JOHN'S 64: In New York, Jerel McNeal had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead the No. 25 Golden Eagles (19-6, 9-5 Big East) to their third straight win after a two-game losing streak. The Red Storm fell to 10-15, 4-10.

¿ MICHIGAN ST. 86, PENN ST. 49: Raymar Morgan scored 16 points and the No. 19 Spartans (21-5, 9-4 Big Ten) improved to 15-0 at home. Stanley Pringle had 12 points for the Nittany Lions (12-13, 4-9), who are 0-16 all-time in East Lansing.