GREENSBORO -- Daniel Ewing stole the ball, ran straight up the floor and into the lane before tossing a floater to a flying Dahntay Jones who slammed the ball through the rim for an alley-oop dunk, blowing open a close halftime game to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 91-76 last night in the Greensboro Coliseum as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Duke (4-0) then survived an attempted Buckeye comeback that almost materialized before a J.J. Redick three-pointer with 2:29 left in the game gave the Blue Devils a 82-70 lead they would not relinquish. Duke then hit its free throws down the stretch and secured the win after an Ohio State (1-2) turnover a few possessions later.
"At the start of the second half we went nuts-everything went well for us," said head coach Mike Krzyzewski, adding that he thought his team did not get complacent down the stretch despite Ohio State's comeback attempt. "Then, everything went well for them."
After leading 41-33 at the end of the first 20 minutes, Duke used some sharpshooting from Ewing, Jones and Redick, coupled with some air-tight defense to hold the Buckeyes scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of the second stanza, and take command of the ball game.
Following the alley-oop, the two teams traded misses, steals, blocks and then misses again before Redick drained a three from the top-left side giving Duke a 52-33 advantage.
Ohio State finally converted a Terence Dials dunk for their first points of the half, but Redick answered the call again, this time driving into traffic, laying it up and off the glass, and drawing the foul.
A Casey Sanders foul shot a few possessions later gave Duke its largest lead of the game, 27, with 12:59 left to play.
"We came out and wanted to beat them in the first four minutes and give them one of our knockout punches," Duhon said. "But they stood and came fighting, battled back and it shows the type of character those guys have."
The final ten minutes were marked by a string of fouls on both teams-a move that allowed Ohio State to slowly crawl back in the game.
With 7:30 left and Duke up by 18, the Buckeyes converted on three possessions, two from behind the arc and one in the lane, scoring eight unanswered and cutting the game to 10, 75-65.
After getting as close as eight with 4:34 left, OSU never really threatened again after Ewing and Redick hit key buckets.
"Down the stretch the last four minutes I thought we played sensational basketball," Krzyzewski said. "I was really proud of our effort against an excellent basketball team tonight."
Following a rough first 15-plus minutes in which Duke was either tied with or trailing the Buckeyes, the Blue Devils finally got back on their feet with a late first half surge.
Ewing followed up a trey with a pair of conversions at the foul line, before taking a Chris Duhon steal and drawing a foul on a missed dunk that brought down the house.
The sophomore then nailed the pair from the charity stripe before a turnover by Ohio State's Brent Darby, who had a game-high 35 points, led to a Jones three-pointer.
The Buckeyes then tried to respond, but missed a trifecta that found the hands of Duhon, who gave the rock in transition to Jones. The senior then missed a jumper, but got his own rebound before tossing it back to Duhon who found an open Ewing on an inside cut for the easy layup.
The deuce gave Duke its largest lead of the half, 36-28 with 2:58 left.
"That was a testament to our kids, they played well under those conditions, they didn't throw in the towel," Ohio State head coach Jim O'Brien said. "These guys are a high octane offense they and they can go on blitzes."
For the first time this season, Duke used a different starting lineup, opting for more experience. Krzyzewski benched Ewing, Shavlik Randolph and Shelden Williams in favor of Nick Horvath, Redick and Sanders.
"The starting lineup's not set and you always want to be a starter," Horvath said. "So everyday you show up to practice, show up to games, trying the best you can. It's not necessarily going to work out for you."
The Blue Devils now get a small breather before facing former Duke player and assistant coach Tommy Amaker and his Michigan Wolverines Saturday Dec. 7 at 3:30 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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