LIVE BLOG: Duke 82, Xavier 64 (FINAL)

DUKE 82-64, FINAL: Duke closes out its best win of the season in which it played its best basketball of the season. Chris Collins raises his fist, and the Duke bench is all smiles. Miller stops for  an extended second to congratulate Scheyer and Henderson, who combine for 42 points in the win, and the Musketeers leave the floor with their first loss of the season. Krzyzewski has an extra hop in his step as he jogs off, McClure puts his arm around Smith, Henderson points to Doug Collins in the front row, and this one's a wrap. Back after postgame.

DUKE 78-54, 3:38: The brakes are on the offensive machine, so it's not surprising Duke has only scored nine points in the last eight minutes. The Blue Devils are resigned to a limited version of themselves; it's like running your computer in safe mode, and all you can do is open up a word processing program. No Internet, no instant messaging, no music--just the basics. Duke could afford to do that because it was more efficient than Google in the first half and early part of this period, and Xavier has been worse than Windows 98. This one's in the bag for Duke.

DUKE 75-49, 6:34: Duke isn't quite in its "open" yet--that's the team's four corner strategy--but Krzyzewski is dictating specific plays. The last two or three times down, he's yelled at his players to run a motion offense until 15 seconds remain on the shot clock, and then calls a play from the sideline. The Blue Devils have committed two turnovers in a row, but all they need to do now is run down the clock. Seventy-five points will win this game--heck, at Xavier's pace, 60 points might do it.

We predict that Duke will go into open out of this media timeout, or at least sometime soon, but if Krzyzewski takes the reins off, can the Blue Devils hit the century mark for the first time all year?

DUKE 69-41, 11:28: Duke is cruising, and even when Xavier tries to cut into the lead, the Blue Devils are protected by the advantage they built up over the first half. It's a matter of running out the clock now, but a few things to watch in the meantime: Scheyer, who has 23 points, is four away from a career high; Henderson, with 15 points, is quietly enjoying one of his better games of the season; this seems like a good time to start experimenting with guard combinations, especially with Paulus, Smith and Elliot Williams; will Miles Plumlee get off the bench?

The P.A. announcer just let us know the official attendance is 14,818. The Nos. 1-2 matchup with Texas last year drew more than 19,000, but the fact that Duke is not No. 1, coupled with the lousy weather and down economy, results in fewer people making the trek to the Meadowlands.

DUKE 60-34, 15:57: Fear not, loyal Duke fans. As predicted, the Blue Devils post five in a row. Henderson drives and converts on a short jumper, and Smith finds Scheyer for an open three on a fast break, pushing Duke's lead back up to 29. Needless to say, this media timeout is much more cordial on the Duke sideline. One thing to follow: The Musketeers can't score when they drive. All of their points are coming on long-range shots, most of which are tightly contested. That's just good defense from Duke, and it's part of the reason a 7-0 Xavier run barely made Duke sweat. The only thing sweating right now is that hideous thing in the blue fur.

DUKE 55-31, 17:34: The Musketeers reel off seven straight points to start the half, and Mike Krzyzewski isn't afraid to tell his players that--with, of course, a few more words added. He's red in the face yelling at the Blue Devils, who haven't made a shot on offense and have surrendered some easy buckets to Xavier. Not only has Duke not scored, but it hasn't taken good shots. Henderson forced a fadeaway with more than 20 seconds left on the shot clock, and Smith was forced to improvise with three seconds left on the shot clock, resulting in an off-balanced jumper, which isn't his strong suit. The starters are still on the court, though, and Duke still has a 24-point lead. After Duke's full timeout, look for the Blue Devils to storm back pretty quickly and quiet this mini-run.

There's not much more I can add to what I've already written: This is the best Duke has looked this year, and probably in the last few years. Scheyer has 16 points, and closed the half with a no-look pass to a wide-open McClure under the basket, who capped the Blue Devils' brilliant half with a flush. Henderson has 10 points of his own.

What were your impressions of the half? Can you imagine Duke playing any better?

DUKE 53-22, 1:01: Krzyzewski calls his traditional 30-second, first-half timeout in a blowout to avoid losing it, and, again, the Blue Devils earn a rousing ovation. Kyle Singler just sunk a ridiculously open 3-pointer in the corner, and Henderson followed it up with the type of mid-range jumper that makes him look like Kobe Bryant. True to Collins' desire, Duke has improved on its lead, and still can.

DUKE 46-18, 3:49: How well is Duke playing? Let me count the ways. The offense has been nearly flawless, and the Blue Devils are shooting more than 60 percent from the floor, including more than 50 percent from 3-point land. The defense has been just as good, holding Xavier to 31 percent from the field, and the Musketeers haven't helped themselves by shooting 6-of-12 from the free-throw line. The intensity is there, too, as I don't think I've seen a Duke team this fired up all season. And it doesn't look like it's going to give up going into break. This is the time to go for the jugular, and associate head coach Chris Collins just yelled, "Let's win these four minutes!" If the Blue Devils do that, it might be worth leaving now to beat the Turnpike traffic.

DUKE 39-15, 7:37: That's another standing ovation for Duke, and the players certainly deserve it. The last time the Blue Devils played like this against a top-1o team, they were right here in the Izod Center, dismantling the Longhorns. The last three possessions have been a clinic for offensive patience and defensive discipline: Duke rotates the ball and finds Gerald Henderson in the corner for a three, Brian Zoubek takes a charge, then Zoubek, posting up, finds McClure on a backdoor cut to the basket, and he finishes with a reverse layup. Lots of positive talk on the Duke bench right now, and we can hear all of it. We'll find out after the game what exactly it is about this place that the Blue Devils love so much, because it must be something.

DUKE 32-13, 10:30: Just when you thought Duke couldn't play any better, that's exactly what it does. Greg Paulus finds Scheyer at the top of the key, and he launches a shot that clangs off the front rim and falls. Must be the shooter's touch--he is now 4-for-4 from 3-point range, and has 16 points in the game's first 10 minutes. Then, on the next possession, Dave McClure drives and finds Paulus open, and this time, the passer becomes the shooter. That's a 19-point lead, and Miller calls a full timeout. If the Blue Devils match this scoring pace, they'll post 132 points today.

DUKE 26-11, 11:34: The Musketeers cut into the lead a bit with a 6-0 run that was triggered by aggressiveness on the offensive glass, but Scheyer broke the run and the spirits of Xavier fans looking to finally get into the game when he cut through the defense and scored with a pretty lefty layup. Defensive pressure has driven this Duke advantage. The Blue Devils are everywhere on the perimeter, blocking off passing lanes, forcing bad shots and scoring off turnovers.

On a non-basketball note, Xavier must have the most bizarre mascot I've ever seen. It's just a glob of blue, with a face on it, like a malformed Cookie Monster.

DUKE 18-1, 15:29: Remember Duke's win at Florida State last year, when Jon Scheyer couldn't miss in the first half and everyone was left wondering how often he could replicate that type of performance? Well, he looks like he might have chosen today to do just that. Scheyer is 3-for-3 from 3-point land and has 11 points as Duke has rolled to an 18-1 start, leaving everyone here either astounded and giddy or shocked and dejected. The only downside for the Blue Devils is that they have already racked up six fouls, mostly on ticky-tack touch fouls that Krzyzewski isn't really pleased about. He's riding the referees hard, but he can't be upset with the overall performance. A 17-point lead in the first five minutes? This is beginning to look like Duke's last game here, a 31-point blowout--of course, the Musketeers will start scoring soon. Um, right?

DUKE 8-1, 17:45: That's the type of start the Blue Devils only could have dreamed of. Duke converts on four of its five opening possessions and then forces a turnover, prompting Xavier head coach Sean Miller to call a 30-second timeout and bringing the not surprisingly pro-Duke crowd to its first standing ovation of the game.

PREGAME: After a game of tinkering, Duke's starting lineup is back to normal: Smith, Zoubek, Singler, Henderson, Scheyer.

PREGAME: Greetings from the Izod Center, formerly known as Continental Airlines Arena, formerly known as Brendan Byrne Arena, where they make you pay $15 for parking, walk 15 minutes in the slush and brave the 15 degree weather. Oh, New Jersey--how I missed you. The No. 6 Blue Devils might have missed this place, too, because they're 17-1 all-time in the Meadowlands, and their last game here, in 2005, resulted in a beatdown of No. 2 Texas. The arena is pretty empty right now, but that's to be expected: The weather here yesterday was miserable, and people are still gaining their driving confidence. Plus, traffic, if you couldn't already tell, was a nightmare. On the bright side, press row is right on the floor, so I'm about three feet behind Mike Krzyzewski and two feet in front of Doug Collins in the front row. Clark Kellogg and Verne Lundquist are on the call.

Some sightings here: President Richard Brodhead, Director of Athletics Kevin White, Professors Lee Baker and Doug Haagen. Looks like those two Duke "groupies" from an infamous video a few years ago are here, too, but it's hard to tell. More when the game starts.