Duke 79, Davidson 67
DURHAM, N.C. - Behind a game-high 29 points, Davidson junior guard Stephen Curry moved into second place on school's all-time scoring list, but the Wildcats were unable to take down the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils, falling 79-67 Wednesday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
After falling behind by as many as 26 in the second half, Davidson scored on eight consecutive possessions over a five-minute span to bring the Wildcats within 11 points of the lead.
The run was fueled by Curry's 10-point burst, including a fast-break dunk, which was followed by a step-back 3-pointer, forcing Duke to call a time out with the score 63-49.
Following the timeout, Andrew Lovedale corralled a Curry pass in the lane, then dropped in a reverse layup to cap the Wildcats' run and bring them back to within single-digits at 69-61.
Davidson (10-3) then went looking for a defensive stop, but a pair of offensive rebounds led to Duke's Lance Thomas hitting two free throws to bring the lead back to 10 with 2:41 remaining. The Wildcats could get no closer, and a 3-pointer by Jon Scheyer from the top of the key pushed the margin to 14 with 52 seconds left.
Both teams were a little sloppy with the ball in the first half, but each shot over 45 percent from the field, with the lead never rising above eight throughout the first 10 minutes of play. A tip-in at the buzzer by Duke's Brian Zoubek made the halftime score 37-24, giving the Blue Devils (13-1) their biggest lead of the half.
Duke opened the second half with eight unanswered points to push its lead to 45-24, before Steve Rossiter put in a second-chance layup for the 'Cats. Duke then scored six straight points, stretching the advantage to a game-high 26 with 14:33 remaining.
Davidson began to chip away, finding a rhythm on the offensive end. The Wildcats used a 12-4 run that cut the cushion to eight with 3:53 to play. Curry turned in 21 second-half points on the way to his eleventh 20-point turnout of the year. He also added eight rebounds and six assists.
Rossiter notched 10 rebounds on the night, the lone double-digit rebounder in the game. Lovedale contributed 15 points, seven boards, and a career-high four blocks, all which came in the second half. Kyle Singler and Scheyer scored 22 points each to lead Duke. Gerald Henderson added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Curry recorded his 2,034 career point with a driving layup at the 5:07 mark of the second half, moving him past former Wildcat great Fred Hetzel with 2,040 points over his two-plus years at Davidson.
For the game, Duke held a 22-10 advantage in second-chance points with the help of 14 offensive rebounds. The Blue Devils also scored 21 points off a season-high 17 Davidson turnovers.
Davidson will return to Southern Conference play this Saturday, Jan. 10, when it travels to Charleston, S.C. to take on the The Citadel in a 7:05 p.m. contest.
North Carolina 108, College of Charleston 70
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Tyler Hansbrough had 24 points and third-ranked North Carolina bounced back from its first loss by beating College of Charleston 108-70 on Wednesday night.
Deon Thompson added 15 points for the Tar Heels (14-1) in their first game since Sunday's stunning 85-78 home loss to Boston College. North Carolina used a 19-2 run spanning halftime to turn the game into a rout, shot 59 percent for the game and cracked the 100-point mark for the fifth time this year.
North Carolina had held the No. 1 ranking from the preseason until Sunday's loss to the Eagles in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener, a game in which the Tar Heels trailed by 15 points against a team picked to finish 11th in the league race. Before Sunday, the Tar Heels - who returned their top six scorers from a Final Four team that won a school-record 36 games - had won every game by double figures and were even hearing questions about whether they could go unbeaten even as they sounded eager to see how they'd handle a tougher game.
Now the Tar Heels face a critical early ACC contest at fourth-ranked Wake Forest this weekend as they seek to avoid an 0-2 start in league play.
At the least, North Carolina's offense looked a lot sharper than they did against the Eagles. After shooting 29 percent in the second half against BC, the Tar Heels became the first team in more than three decades to score 100 points against the Cougars (10-3), ending a 951-game streak that began in December 1977 and ranked second nationally.
Hansbrough finished 10-for-13 from the field to go with seven rebounds, while Thompson and Ty Lawson each had strong bounceback performances after struggling against BC. Thompson had six rebounds and made 5-of-6 free throws after scoring just five points and going 1-for-6 from the line against the Eagles.
Lawson had 15 points and eight assists after scoring 10 on 3-for-13 shooting against BC and Tyrese Rice.
College of Charleston hung around early by hitting eight first-half 3s and trailed just 45-39 with 3 minutes left in the first half. But the Tar Heels got their transition game going, getting an alley-oop layup from Danny Green before Lawson's runner at the buzzer gave the Tar Heels a 53-41 lead at the break.
The Tar Heels put the game out of reach quickly, scoring the first 11 points - starting with a 3-pointer and ending with a transition layup from Wayne Ellington - to make it 64-41 with 17:44 left.
North Carolina led by as many as 43 points from there, as the Cougars shot just 8-for-37 (22 percent) in the second half.
Tony White Jr. scored 16 points to lead College of Charleston, which missed 13 of 15 3-point tries after halftime.