GREENSBORO - This one was over before it started.
The men's basketball team, riding a seven-game win streak and ranked No. 1 for the first time since mid-December, jumped out to a 10-0 lead at the Greensboro Coliseum Tuesday night and never looked back, beating North Carolina A&T, 101-66.
Duke (17-1) got solid contributions from all 10 players seeing action, as coach Mike Krzyzewski used a wholesale five-for-five substitution method for much of the game. All 10 players played at least 17 minutes, with no player logging more than 22 minutes.
"I wanted to make sure we got good, quality, consistent minutes from a group instead of letting people just come in," Krzyzewski said. "This way, I knew for a four to five-minute stretch we were going to get a good workout, we were going to work hard and all the kids involved would be able to work on their habits collectively."
Five different players scored in double figures for the Blue Devils, led by 16 points apiece from Trajan Langdon and Will Avery. Avery did his damage with startling efficiency, shooting 6-of-7 from the field.
"With some teams, they've got guys who have been playing 35, 40 minutes a game," Langdon said. "With us, everybody can play. So towards the end of the [Atlantic Coast Conference] season, we hope to be one of the fresher teams."
After a three-pointer from Aggies guard Jonathan Richmond capped a 7-0 A&T run and cut Duke's lead to seven
Langdon sank all three free throws, and when the Blue Devils took the ball out of bounds, senior Roshown McLeod sank a jumper to extend Duke's lead back to 14 points. A&T, whose record fell to 4-10, would get no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
The 9,541 people in attendance were largely Duke fans, as many showed up wearing blue and white and cheering loudly for the Blue Devils.
"I was unbelievably surprised at how many Duke people there were here tonight," Krzyzewski said. "I want to thank the fans. That was a huge crowd here of Duke fans."
The second half amounted to little more than a practice with uniforms. The Blue Devils shot 53.8 percent for the game-including 40.9 percent from three-point range-and limited A&T to just 35.5 percent. The Aggies were completely overmatched, and Duke was able to work on different aspects of its game, trying to improve as the team enters the heart of its ACC season.
"We tried to work on our half-court offense," said forward Chris Carrawell, who shot 5-of-6 for 13 points. "When it gets down to it, in the nitty-gritty of the ACC, you're going to need a half-court offense."
Taymon Domzalski and Shane Battier tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight apiece. As a team, Duke outrebounded the Aggies, who had no player taller than 6-foot-6, by a count of 40-33. Battier added two blocks and two steals, including one spectacular play in which he stripped an opponent while falling, having been knocked over by an Aggie player.
Ricky Price came off the bench to contribute a team-high four assists without a turnover. Many of Price's passes led to dunks or layups, as the Blue Devils scored time and again in their transition offense. The 19 minutes of action was the most game time Price had seen since his return from academic suspension.
"To me, it's good to get out there and play," Price said. "If I play 19 minutes, then I'm geared to play longer. That was the best part of today."
The Blue Devils closed the first half on a 19-7 run, during which Avery scored nine straight points for Duke. Starting the second half, the Blue Devils scored 10 points in a row, opening up a 67-30 lead with 16:08 left. The 37-point margin was not the highest lead Duke would have, however. A three-pointer by senior Steve Wojciechowski with 9:39 remaining gave the Blue Devils an 81-42 advantage.
"I thought it was a really good game," Krzyzewski said. "I thought both teams played really hard. I was pleased with our performance.... We knew we had to play hard and well to win, and I thought that's what we did."
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