No. 2 Duke Wins By a Landslide

Second-ranked Duke hasn’t dominated the Atlantic Coast Conference the past five seasons by backing down from a challenge. The Blue Devils were determined not to give ground against their biggest rival Sunday.

Duke, playing at a breakneck offensive pace without its top inside threat, made ACC history by winning or tying for their fifth consecutive regular-season title with a 95-81 victory over No. 4 North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C.

“This is the result of coming to work every single day with the dedication needed to be a champion,� said Duke’s Shane Battier, who was spectacular in his final regular-season ACC game. “Not once, but five times. That will be something to look back on.�

Duke, which missed 14 of 27 free throws and lost by two points to the Tar Heels in Durham a month ago, remained alive for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament with a dominating offensive show in the Smith Center.

Jason Williams scored 33 points and Battier added 25 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks as Duke, 26-4 overall and 13-3 in conference, won its third in a row at Chapel Hill for the first time since the early 1960s.

Many counted the Blue Devils out of this one as soon as center Carlos Boozer went down with a broken bone in his right foot in Tuesday’s loss to Maryland. Everyone but Duke.

Williams came into the game shooting 36% against the Tar Heels (23-5, 13-3) in his career, but the point guard went seven for 13 from three-point range while Battier was four for 10. Overall, Duke made 14 of a school-record 38 attempts.

No. 5 Illinois 67, Minnesota 59--Despite some tense moments, the Fighting Illini (23-6, 13-3) claimed a share of a second Big Ten title in four seasons with a victory at Minneapolis.

After a turnover by Minnesota (17-12, 5-11), Frank Williams drove the lane and dunked, pushing Illinois’ lead to 50-46. A basket by the Gophers’ Shane Schilling tied the score at 50-50 with 4:43 remaining, but another driving basket by Williams gave the Illini the lead for good.

Illinois, which finished in a first-place tie with No. 3 Michigan State, earned the top seed in the for next week’s conference tournament at Chicago’s United Center because of a 77-66 victory over the Spartans on Feb. 6.

No. 6 Florida 94, No. 15 Kentucky 86--Teddy Dupay matched his career high with 28 points to help the Gators (22-5, 12-4) earn a share of the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title with the Wildcats at Gainesville, Fla.

Udonis Haslem had 20 points and nine rebounds as the Gators held off repeated rallies from Kentucky, which fell behind by 15 early and never got closer than seven.

Sophomore Keith Bogans had a career-high 29 points for the Wildcats (19-9, 12-4).

No. 10 Kansas 75, Missouri 59--Drew Gooden scored 19 points and sparked a 21-7 second-half run that led the Jayhawks (23-5, 12-4) past the Tigers (18-11, 9-7) in the Big 12 Conference regular-season finale at Lawrence, Kan.

Missouri’s Kareem Rush, the Big 12’s leading scorer, returned after a seven-game absence because of a thumb injury and made only one for seven for a season-low two points.

No. 21 Georgetown 79, No. 13 Notre Dame 72--Mike Sweetney scored 19 points and Ruben Boumtje Boumtje had 16 as the Hoyas dominated inside and defeated the Fighting Irish at South Bend, Ind., in a key Big East Conference game.

The Hoyas (23-6, 10-6) made 10 of 12 free throws in the final 2:17, earning a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. The loss kept Notre Dame (19-8, 11-5) from its first 20-win regular season in 12 years.

No. 19 Syracuse 93, St. John’s 91--Senior point guard Allen Griffin scored 17 of his career-high 31 points in the two overtime periods, and the Orangemen (22-7, 10-6) made 20 of their last 22 free throws to defeat the Red Storm (14-14, 8-8) in a Big East game at New York.

No. 23 Wake Forest 76, North Carolina State 58--Darius Songaila scored 21 points and Robert O’Kelley had 15, and the Demon Deacons (19-9, 8-8) used solid defense to beat the struggling Wolfpack (13-15, 5-11) in an ACC game at Raleigh, N.C.

Dayton 65, No. 25 Xavier 62--Yuanta Holland scored eight points in a 15-4 run that allowed the Flyers (18-11, 9-7) to rally for a Atlantic 10 victory over the Musketeers (21-6, 12-4) at Dayton, Ohio.

TOURNAMENTS

America East--Billy Wells scored 23 points and Ryan Iversen added 20 as Delaware (20-9) routed Northeastern, 110-66, in the semifinals at Newark, Del. The Blue Hens will play in the final Saturday at Hofstra (25-4), which pulled away late for a 78-66 victory over Maine.

Colonial Athletic Assn.--Stewart Hare and Brett Blizzard hit three-pointers late to give North Carolina Wilmington (19-9) the lead and the Seahawks held on to defeat Old Dominion in the semifinals at Richmond, Va. The Seahawks will play in the final tonight against George Mason (17-11), a 62-36 winner over James Madison.

Metro Atlantic Athletic--Courtney Fields had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Earl Johnson had 15 points, as Iona (21-10) held off Marist, 75-71, in the semifinals at Buffalo, N.Y. The Gaels will play Canisius (20-11), a 76-64 upset winner over Siena, in tonight’s final.

Midwestern Collegiate--LaVall Jordan scored 17 points and top-seeded Butler (22-7) rallied to defeat host Wright State, 66-58, in the semifinals at Fairborn, Ohio. Butler will face Detroit in Tuesday’s championship game. Detroit (22-9), led by Rashad Phillips’ 33 points, defeated Cleveland State, 91-81.

Missouri Valley--Michael Menser had a career-high 32 points and seven assists as fifth-seeded Indiana State (20-11) beat top seed Creighton (24-7), 87-74, to advance to tonight’s championship game at St. Louis. Phillip Gilbert had 18 points and five assists to lead Bradley (19-10) to its first tournament final in five years with a 73-66 victory over Illinois State at St. Louis.

Northeast--Richy Dominguez had 24 points and 12 rebounds and Jason Morgan hit three late three-pointers to lead St. Francis (18-10) of New York to a 72-65 victory over Wagner in the semifinals at Trenton, N.J. St. Francis will play Monmouth (20-9) of New Jersey, which got 23 points from Rahsaan Johnson in a 67-54 victory over Maryland Baltimore County.

Patriot--Tim Szatko scored seven of his team-high 14 points in a 21-2 first-half run as Holy Cross (21-7) defeated Lehigh, 69-57, in the semifinals at Annapolis, Md. The Crusaders will play host to Navy in Friday’s championship game. Chris Williams and Kyle Barker each scored 23 points for the Midshipmen (19-11), who defeated Bucknell, 88-64.

Southern--David Schuck caught a full-court pass at Chattanooga’s free-throw line, dribbled to his left and banked in the winning shot with 0.4 seconds left at Greenville, N.C., to give North Carolina Greensboro (19-11) a 67-66 victory and its first NCAA berth since 1996.