Redick leads Blue Devils past Tar Heels
J.J. Redick banished a career full of poor individual efforts against Duke’s biggest rival with a virtuoso performance that’s becoming all too familiar.
The shooting star had 22 of his 35 points in the second half, freshman Josh McRoberts added a season-high 17 points and the second-ranked Blue Devils held off No. 23 North Carolina 87-83 Tuesday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Playing for the final time in the Dean Smith Center, Redick was 12 for 22 from the field – including five 3-pointers – and set a career high with four steals. Three of those led to breakaway layups.
His previous best against the Tar Heels was 18 points, but he struggled with his shooting in the previous seven matchups (34 percent). There was no such problem in this one, and Redick saved his best for last.
With Duke (22-1, 10-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) clinging to a one-point lead, Redick calmly swished a 3-pointer over Wes Miller to increase the margin with 1:54 remaining. He later added another with the shot clock winding down to make it a seven-point game, and despite a furious rally by the Tar Heels (14-6, 5-4), the Blue Devils picked up their 16th victory in the past 19 games in this Tobacco Road rivalry.
(4) Villanova 71, Saint Joseph’s 58: Kyle Lowry jump-started a sluggish offense with 17 of his 25 points in the second half, and Randy Foye and Allan Ray each had 14 points as the Wildcats (18-2) beat the Hawks (10-10) in Philadelphia.
(11) Tennessee 75, Kentucky 67: Chris Lofton had a career-high 31 points – including 7 3-pointers – and the Volunteers (17-3, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) beat the Wildcats (15-8, 5-4) in Lexington, Ky. The win snapped Tennessee’s eight-game losing streak against Kentucky.
(25) Northern Iowa 68, Wichita State 56: Eric Coleman scored 20 points and Ben Jacobson added 15 to lead the Panthers (21-4, 11-3 Missouri Valley Conference) past the Shockers (19-6, 10-4) in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Women
Cappie Pondexter scored 18 points, including a pair of game-sealing free throws with 7.8 seconds left, and No. 8 Rutgers beat fourth-ranked Connecticut 60-56 in Storrs, Conn., to move into sole possession of first place in the Big East.
It was a matchup of the last two unbeaten teams in the conference and the first win for Rutgers (18-3, 10-0 Big East) on UConn’s home floor, snapping an 11-game losing streak that spanned a decade. The Huskies (21-3, 10-1) were 121-1 in their last 122 Big East home games before Tuesday.
(7) Ohio State 79, Wright State 48: Brandie Hoskins scored 20 points, Jessica Davenport added 18 and Kim Wilburn scored 10 to lead the Buckeyes (19-2) to a victory over the Raiders (10-13) in Columbus, Ohio. Rhea Mays scored 14 points for Wright State, which fell to 0-9 against teams from the Big Ten.