No. 1 Duke dominates battle with No. 2 Texas

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- There was no doubt about the latest No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.

There was no doubt who the top players were, either.

J.J. Redick had career highs of 41 points and nine 3-pointers and Shelden Williams added 23 points to lead No. 1 Duke past No. 2 Texas 97-66 on Saturday, the third-biggest margin in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.

The Blue Devils (9-0) used some impressive defense to pull away early in the second half, holding Texas (8-1) without a field goal for a span of 8 minutes, 25 seconds. In that time, Duke went on a 21-3 run and all that was left for the sellout crowd of 19,579 was to cheer for Duke and chant Redick's name.

Sean Dockery, the other senior guard on Duke, was the game-changing player with his defense. He harassed Texas' Daniel Gibson as soon as he crossed midcourt, and the Longhorns never got into their offense. The Blue Devils scored 21 points off 16 turnovers.

Redick finished 9-for-16 on 3-pointers, bettering the eight he had against Florida State last season. His previous best for points was 38 against Wake Forest last season.

Duke was expected to have trouble rebounding with the Longhorns, but the Blue Devils finished with a 31-30 advantage on the boards. Williams had six rebounds and five blocked shots. Dockery had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.

LaMarcus Aldridge led Texas with 21 points, and Tucker and Kenton Paulino each had 14.

The biggest margin in meetings of the nation's top two teams came in 1951, when No. 1 Kentucky beat St. John's 81-40. In the national semifinals in 1968, No. 2 UCLA beat Houston 101-69.

The win gave Duke a 3-3 record in No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups.

Texas was playing in its first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup -- the Longhorns are now 0-6 against No. 1 teams.

Duke led 45-33 at halftime, but Texas opened the second half with a 9-2 run to get within five. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called a timeout with 17:43 to play and things were never the same.

Duke had a 16-0 run, with half of those points coming from Redick.