Friday, January 27, 2006
J.J. Redick and Sheldon Williams led the No. 2 ranked Blue Devils.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- J.J. Redick, Shelden Williams and No. 2 Duke didn't stay down long, and they had the perfect opponent to get well against Thursday night.
Williams had 24 points and 15 rebounds and Redick added 24 points in the final college game in his home state as the Blue Devils beat reeling Virginia Tech 80-67.
Duke (18-1, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) was coming off an 87-84 loss to Georgetown on Saturday that knocked the Blue Devils from the top spot in the polls, but they took control early Thursday behind their two stars and led comfortably most of the second half.
The Hokies (10-9, 0-6) should have expected the Blue Devils' best. Not only had Duke just lost, but Virginia Tech earned a stunning last minute victory here a year ago, then almost made it two wins in a row in the series at Duke on Dec. 4.
A 40-foot shot by Sean Dockery at the buzzer rescued Duke in a 77-75 victory.
Led all the way
There was no such magic needed this time. The Blue Devils led 43-30 at halftime on the strength of two runs -- 10-4 early in the half and 13-5 late. Then they opened the second half on a 13-3 burst to lead 56-33 and cruised the rest of the way.
Zabian Dowdell scored 21 to lead the Hokies. Coleman Collins added 13 and 10 rebounds and Deron Washington scored 12 before being ejected with 1:30 to play.
Redick, who starred about 40 minutes away at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, was jeered often, except by a number of girls holding signs proposing marriage.
After scoring 41 points in the loss to Georgetown, Redick missed 10 of his 17 shots, but often seemed content to let the offense go through Williams down low.
The 6-foot-9 center was 9-for-14 from the field and limited Collins, who had 25 points in the loss at Durham, to 4-for-13 shooting.
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