Duke 79 Davidson 73 - Henderson nabs 21 points in win

Official Box Score Here

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Gerald Henderson scored 21 points and Greg Paulus had two key baskets and a steal in the final 2 minutes, and No. 7 Duke remained unbeaten by holding off pesky Davidson 79-73 on Saturday.

Jon Scheyer scored 15 points and Kyle Singler added 14 and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils (8-0), who needed big plays from Paulus down the stretch to extend their winning streak over Davidson to 21 straight.

Davidson (3-3), which took top-ranked North Carolina to the wire just over two weeks ago, rallied from down 16 in the first half and 12 with 5 minutes to play, getting within 70-65 with 2:37 left.

Paulus then hit a 3-pointer, and after Stephen Curry hit a three at the other end, Paulus' baseline fadeaway with 32 seconds left gave Duke a 75-68 lead.

Paulus then stole the ball from Jason Richards, and Duke held on with Henderson's two free throws with 5.3 seconds left putting it away.

Curry scored 20 points despite playing the final 12 minutes with four fouls, and Richards added 14 points and 11 assists for Davidson.

Poor shooting did in Davidson again in its 23rd straight loss to a ranked team. The Wildcats hit eight of 24 threes, after shooting 4-of-22 from long range against the Tar Heels. Davidson also missed seven of 12 free throws.

Duke had won its first seven games by an average of 15 points, including an 82-58 rout of No. 20 Wisconsin on Tuesday. But despite being far superior in athleticism, the Blue Devils never got comfortable against Davidson, which won a school-record 29 games last season before losing to Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Duke, though, was able to hit 11 3-pointers to offset 16 turnovers and win its 42nd straight game against Southern Conference teams, in part thanks to foul trouble from Davidson's star.

Curry, the son of former NBA three-point specialist Dell Curry, picked up his second offensive foul with 8:39 left in the first half. With him on the bench, Duke immediately scored 10 straight points in a 17-4 run.

The Blue Devils eventually took a 40-24 lead on Scheyer's 3-pointer and three free throws.

The Wildcats got back in the game by going on an 8-0 run to start the second half, with Curry's straightaway 3 cutting Duke's lead to 43-40.

But Curry would pick up his fourth foul - on another charge - with 11:58 left, and Henderson's alley-oop dunk and driving layup got Duke's cushion back to 10.

Duke improved to 85-17 against Davidson.

Game Notes from Duke Sports Information -

With their 79-73 win over Davidson on Dec. 1, 2007, the seventh-ranked Duke Blue Devils improve to 8-0 on the season while Wildcats falls to 3-3. Duke improves to 86-17 all-time against Davidson, including 21-1 under coach Mike Krzyzewski.  Duke has won 21 straight over the Wildcats and 47 straight over members of its former league (Southern Conference), with the last loss in both streaks being a 75-73 loss to Davidson on Dec. 29, 1981.  Duke is now 137-24 against current members of the Southern Conference. Duke is now 8-0 for the third time in the last four seasons and for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.  Under Coach K, Duke has started out 8-0 or better a total of 14 times in 28 seasons. Duke connected on 11-of-25 from behind the arc, the third straight game the Blue Devils have connected on 10 or more triples and fourth time in eight games this season they have accomplished that feat.  In 2006-07, Duke’s best three-pointers made total was nine.  The last time Duke had 10 or more threes in three or more straight games was a four-game run from March 3-12, 2005.  All-time, Duke has hit 10-plus threes a total of 143 times and is 114-29 in those contests. Sophomore Gerald Henderson scored a game-high 21 points, hitting 8-of-17 from the field and added eight rebounds, four assists and a career-high three blocks.  Henderson’s 21 points is the second-highest total of the season and his career and is his second 20-point performance of the season and his career.  He has reached double figures in a team-best seven games this season and that matches his entire total from his freshman campaign as he now has 14 career games in double figures. Freshman Kyle Singler had 14 points and added 12 rebounds, three assists and a block in 29 minutes.  He has both of Duke’s double figure rebounding games this season and has reached double figures in points six times out of his eight career games.  He also has two double-doubles in his young career. Junior Greg Paulus scored 11 points, hitting 4-of-7 from the field and 3-of-6 from behind the arc.  He also added four rebounds, four assists and a steal for the Blue Devils.  Paulus hit two big shots, one three and one just inside the three at the end of the game to secure the victory for the Blue Devils.  Paulus has three games scoring in double figures this season, including two straight, and now has 35 such games in his career. Senior DeMarcus Nelson scored 11 points and added five rebounds, three assists and a block in 33 minutes of action. Nelson has scored in double figures in six games this season and 49 in his career.  With the win, Duke improves to... 1,826-802 all-time, including 710-202 under Coach K 391-129 all-time in December, including 150-23 under Coach K 55-2 in December since 1997-98, 38-1 since 2001-02, and Duke has won 33 straight and 51 of the last 52 241-46 this decade, more wins than any other team in the NCAA 395-61 vs. non-conference teams under Coach K, including 134-38 on a neutral court 551-93 vs. unranked teams under Coach K and 239-23 since 1997-98 126-7 vs. unranked, non-ACC teams since 1997-98 166-42 outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1997-98, including 92-18 in neutral site games 888-226 as a ranked team in the AP poll, including 55-17 as the No. 7 team and 745-169 as a Top 10 team in the AP poll Coach K is now 783-261 as a head coach and has the seventh most wins in NCAA history and second most among active coaches.  Former Duke player Lefty Driesell is sixth on the list with 786 wins while Coach K’s college coach Bob Knight is first overall and among active coaches with 894. Coach K is now 710-202 at Duke, the eighth most wins for a coach at one school and second among active coaches.  Former UTEP coach Don Haskins is seventh on the list with 719 wins while Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim is fifth overall and the top active coach with 754 wins as the Big Orange mentor.

Duke-Davidson has a rich history among some of us old timers.  I mean, this is where Lefty got his start.  The Wildcats played UNC until the final buzzer and they are sure to be ready for the Blue Devils first trip to the Charlotte Bobcat's Arena.  The key, of course is to throw a lot of players at Curry, their outstanding guard.  I think Duke goes to 1-0 in a game that will be quite competitive.  The pick is Duke 91 Davidson 79

Duke Off vs. Davidson Def	Davidson Off vs. Duke Def
86.6 Pts F 66.3 Pts A 50.2 FG% 46.9 FG% 35.1 Reb. 29.3 Reb.	78.3 Pts F 59.7 Pts A 44.3 FG% 39.7 FG% 29.3 Reb. 26.9 Reb.

In the Charlotte Observer, Clarkston Hines has much to say.  He says he would like to see Duke follow the Spurrier model and hire somebody who knows offense.  On the subject of excellence in the classroom: "I don't think Duke has to cave in to accepting anyone into the school.  I think we can maintain the excellence in the school room as well as bringing in some kids that can compete in the ACC.  It can be done."  On the subject of talent: "They've got a lot of good talent there.  I've met a lot of those guys and looked at a lot of the games.  It's not a talent situation.  We need to build on some things and get out of this losing mentality."

On Friday evening, future Blue Devil Elliot Williams scored 18 points as St. George's rolled to 64-37 victory over Bishop Byrne.  St. George's is now 2-0 on the season.  Williams and St. George's will be back in action on Monday December 3rd.

On Thursday evening, Leslie McDonald scored 26 points as Briarcrest Christian defeated Covington 77-64.  Briarcrest improved their record to 7-1.

The Blue Devil Nation will track the prep action of Duke signees and recruiting targets throughout the season.  Tune in here to keep abreast of all High School Hoops action.