Duke 84, Davidson 55
By TOM FOREMAN Jr., Associated Press Writer
November 19, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- J.J. Redick was in an aggressive mood for top-ranked Duke, and it showed.
Redick started a rally late in the first half and finished with 29 points, leading the top-ranked Blue Devils to an 84-55 victory over Davidson on Saturday.
Redick shot 10-for-18, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range as the Blue Devils (3-0) took a break from the NIT Season Tip-Off and beat Davidson in its season opener.
"I just had an aggressive mindset," Redick said. "We ran some good stuff for me today, and I made some moves off the dribble, and then there were some times when my teammates found me open for threes."
"Overall, it was a good offensive day for me."
Redick also played well on the defensive end, trying to keep Davidson's 3-point shooters from trying to match him. Davidson only hit one 3-point shot in eight tries.
"We talked a lot about taking away their perimeter 3-point shots, so us perimeter guys had to play a lot of defense tonight, and it does feel like I played a little bit more than 36 minutes," Redick said.
It's the 19th straight victory for Duke in the series, and the 28th in 29 outings in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Davidson's only victory in Durham came in coach Mike Krzyzewski's second season.
Shelden Williams missed a triple-double by one blocked shot. He finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks. Both he and Redick had to contend with an aggressive Davidson defense that finally wilted under the duo's performance.
"Overall, as a team, they did some different things as far as sending a double-team right away when Shelden got the ball, and also just being more physical with us," Redick said. "But again, we got good stuff, executed well and scored 84 points."
Lee Melchionni scored 16 points for Duke, which shot 55.6 percent from the field.
"Defensively, to give up only one three against that team and 55 points, this whole week, we have played outstanding defense," Krzyzewski said.
Ian Johnson scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half for Davidson. Brendan Winters, who scored 11 in the first half on 5-for-8 shooting, finished with 17 on 8-for-15 shooting.
Both teams struggled with their shooting in the first 16 minutes, but Davidson shot just well enough to stay within five points, 25-20, late in the period.
Then, Redick took over and Duke took off.
Redick hit a 3-point shot at 4:14 and added two free throws at 3:52 to extend the edge to 30-20.
Williams hit the back end of a two-shot foul and Redick hit a 15-footer at 2:46, making what had been a close game a rout as Duke went up 33-20.
The final blow for Davidson came at the buzzer. Duke tried to find an opening for the last shot and got the ball to Redick. With two Wildcats in his face, Redick drilled a 3-pointer from in front of the Davidson bench to give the Blue Devils a 41-26 lead at the break.
"When you play 30 seconds of defense and they come in with that 3-point shot, that's a dagger in your heart," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "It gives them energy, it inflates the crowd and it really deflates you.
"The psychological edge that the 3-point shot that they made at the buzzer is extraordinary."
Duke's stretched the lead to 24 when Williams drove the lane for a layup with 9:55 to go, pushing the advantage to 65-41. Davidson could only manage four points in the final five minutes.
Mississippi State 64, Chattanooga 48
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- Dietric Slater scored a career-high 20 points and Jamall Edmondson had 13 for Mississippi State in a 64-48 win Saturday night over Chattanooga.
It was the season opener for both schools.
Edmondson made a jumper in the key to end the first half and give Mississippi State a 32-26 halftime lead after the Bulldogs trailed midway through the opening period. The basket came during a 27-6 run that extended from late in the first half into the second.
Charles Rhodes began the run on a dunk off a missed free-throw to tie the score at 26 with 2:06 remaining in the opening half. The spurt allowed Mississippi State to coast to coach Rick Stansbury's 150th career victory.
Slater put Mississippi State up by 22 points, 55-33, on a layup off a fastbreak with 9:00 remaining. Slater eclipsed his previous career-high of 11 points against Auburn on Feb. 5, 2005.
Mississippi State has won 17 of its past 20 season openers.
Chattanooga held an 18-13 lead after Kedrick Mays' 3-pointer with 8:44 left in the first half. The Mocs had the lead until Rhodes' dunk. Rhodes finished with 12 points.
Casey Long led Chattanooga with 11 points. The Mocs shot just 30.8 percent from the field. Jaycen Herring added 10 points and Alphonso Pugh had 13 rebounds.
Story courtesy of Wofford sports information
Purdue 82, Wofford 75
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN ? The Wofford Terriers battled Purdue to the wire before falling 82-75 Saturday night at Mackey Arena.
The Terriers trailed 47-32 at halftime but battled the Boilermakers throughout the second half, slowly closing the gap.
Wofford (1-2) took the lead with 2:18 to play at 74-71 on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Shane Nichols, his fifth trey of the game. But Purdue (1-0) outscored the Terriers 11-1 to close the game and account for the 82-75.
Senior forward Howard Wilkerson helped key Wofford’s second half run. Wilkerson had a steal with that resulted in a free throw with 3:45 remaining to pull the Terriers within five at 71-66. With 3:04 remaining, Wilkerson nailed a three-pointer to bring Wofford to within 71-69. Another Wilkerson steal resulted in a layup by Nichols to tie the game at 71 with 2:45 remaining.
Purdue’s Korey Spates had six points including both field goals during the Boilermakers’ final 11-1 run. Spates also had a key defensive rebound off a Wofford miss with 20 seconds remaining and the Boilermakers leading by just one.
Nichols and Wilkerson both finished the game with 21 points. Wilkerson had a team-high seven rebounds while guard Drew Gibson had four assists. Junior Matt O’Connor led the Terriers with five steals. Wofford recorded 16 steals and forced 21 turnovers while sinking 12 three-point field goals.
Purdue was led by freshman Nate Minnoy, a 6-3, 270-pound freshman who scored 25 points in his first collegiate game. Carl Landry, the Big 10’s defending scoring champion, finished the game with 22. Matt Kiefer and Bryant Dillon led Purdue with six rebounds each.
The game was the season opener for Purdue and marked the first game under head coach Matt Painter who succeeded Gene Keady following last season.
The Terriers will host Toccoa Falls on Monday night at 7 p.m. in their home opener.
Story courtesy of The Citadel sports information
North Carolina State 91, The Citadel 59
Raleigh, NC--Sophomore forward Demetrius Nelson paced The Citadel for the second consecutive night as he registered 13 points in the Bulldogs' 91-59 loss to North Carolina State in the second round of the Hispanic College Fund Classic Saturday night. Nelson was one of four players to reach double digits for the Bulldogs.
The Citadel (0-2) held a slight edge with 11:58 left in the first half on sophomore Warren McLendon's inside basket that gave The Citadel an 11-10 lead, but the Bulldogs did not hit another field goal until senior guard Dante Terry hit a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in the half.
“We came out and competed well for a good 12-13 minutes in the first half, then they started scoring a barrage of three’s on us," said head coach Pat Dennis.
N.C.State (2-0) hit five consecutive three's in five minutes to take a 29-11 advantage. Brandon Costner drained three for the Wolfpack as Ilian Evtimov tallied two before the Cadets added to their score on a free-throw by Nelson to make it 29-12.
“A bright sign is that we had 23 offensive rebounds, we've just got to find a way to put the ball in the basket," added Dennis. "I think we handled the ball better tonight, we just can’t manufacture points right now and I don’t know why.”
The Dogs were outscored by the powerful ACC offense 49-19 in the first half, but The Citadel rebounded after the break to register 40 points to the Wolfpack's 42.
The Cadets improved to hit 10 of 35 shots in the second half after going 6-for-26 in the first 20 minutes. Nelson tallied 10 of his 13 after the break as Mark Schiavoni and Joseph Thompson came off the bench to score five apiece.
“The effort was great tonight, we were much more confident," commented Dennis. "We definately defended better in the second half."
Egin Astur recorded 18 on the night for the Wolfpack as freshman Ben McCauley added 13. N.C. State had five players in double figures and shot 45 percent.
The Citadel will face Stetson on Sunday at 12:00 pm for the last round of the Hispanic College Fund Classic and then return home to host Asbury College on Wednesday, November 23 at 7:15 for the Bulldogs' home-opener.