Irving, Smith lead No. 1 Duke to another win

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Freshman guard Kyrie Irving and senior guard Nolan Smith both had 17 points and led No. 1 Duke’s outstanding defensive effort on Kansas State’s Jacob Pullen as the Blue Devils beat the fourth-ranked Wildcats 82-68 on Tuesday night to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.

Duke (5-0) made sure the sellout crowd of 18,696 at the Sprint Center, most wearing something purple, was never a factor, taking the lead for good 7 1/2 minutes into the game and then going on to lead by 17 points midway through the second half on the way to their 15th straight win. K-State dropped to 4-1.

The win was No. 800 at Duke for Mike Krzyzewski, making him the fifth coach to reach that figure at one school. His overall win total is 873, three behind Adolph Rupp for third place on the career list.

And it was another November win for Duke. The Blue Devils have won 27 straight games in the 11th month of the year.