Duke Celebrates As No. 1 With A 35-Point Triumph

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William Avery scored 11 points during a 2-minute span in the first half as Duke rolled over North Carolina A&T 101-66 Tuesday night at Greensboro, N.C., in the Blue Devils’ first game since regaining the No. 1 ranking.

Trajan Langdon also added 11 of his 16 points in Duke’s 57-point opening half for the Blue Devils (17-1). The Aggies, led by Jonathan Richmond’s 15 points, fell to 4-10 and 0-11 all-time against schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Duke, which was No. 1 for the first two weeks of December before losing to Michigan, made 20 of 33 shots (60.6 percent) in the opening 20 minutes to grab a 27-point halftime lead.

The Blue Devils started each half with 10-0 runs and were nearly as dominant in between.

(6) Michigan 65, Minnesota 57

At Ann Arbor, Mich., Robert Traylor had 21 points and 12 rebounds as the Wolverines (15-4, 5-1 Big Ten) temporarily took over sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a win over the Golden Gophers (7-10, 0-6).

Michigan began the night in a three-way tie for first with Michigan State and Iowa, who play tonight in Iowa City.

(19) Xavier 72, St. Joseph’s 62

At Cincinnati, Gary Lumpkin and Torraye Braggs led a balanced attack by scoring 14 points apiece, and the Musketeers (12-4, 4-2 Atlantic 10) turned up the defensive intensity to defeat the Hawks (5-8, 1-5).

Xavier gained control early as Lumpkin scored six consecutive points and pulled away by rattling St. Joseph’s with its full-court press and half-court traps.

(21) Cincinnati 60, Tulane 50

D’Juan Baker scored eight straight points down the stretch as the Bearcats (14-2, 6-0 Conference USA) held off a late rally by the Green Wave (6-11, 1-4) for their victory at New Orleans.

Cincinnati won its 10th straight game. Tulane lost for the fifth time in six games.

(23) West Virginia 80, Rutgers 72

At Piscataway, N.J., Jarrod West scored 19 points and the Mountaineers (16-3, 6-3) made a season-high 11 3-pointers while defeating the Knights (7-9, 1-7).

(25) Clemson 69, Virginia 52

At Clemson, S.C., Tony Christie had a career-high 17 points as the Tigers (12-6, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) held off a second-half rally by the Cavaliers (10-9, 2-4).