INDIANAPOLIS -- In its first test against a marquee NCAA tournament-level opponent, Duke found that despite its youth, its longtime shooting threat nonetheless remains Redick-ulous.
The No. 6 Blue Devils (3-0) found freshman J.J. Redick for a game-high 20 points en route to an 84-73 victory over No. 14 UCLA (0-2) Saturday afternoon at Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse as part of the double-header John Wooden Tradition event.
The Blue Devils led by 20 points during part of the second half, after fighting back from an early 10-point deficit. After UCLA came out to a 12-2 start, Krzyzewski called a 30-second timeout at the 16:24 mark, at the end of which he replaced every starter except Duhon with new players, a combination which resulted in a Duke 15-0 run.
Calling the sport a "game of adjustments," Krzyzewski said the team responded well to many substitutions throughout the game. "We couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. We couldn't do anything," Krzyzewski said. "I was seeing the score multiply against us. It was very disturbing. I didn't seem to think we were doing anything to upset their tempo."
Within six seconds of the substitutions, senior Nick Horvath dropped a layup inside and soon after, junior Chris Duhon found him inside for another basket. On the next possession, Redick hit a three-point basket to bring the Blue Devils within three.
"The four kids coming off the bench did an incredible job of changing and turning the game around," Krzyzewski said. "We can play better, no question. But I don't want to take away from what the kids did. They had to play well to beat UCLA."
Twelve of Redick's 20 points came in the first half.
The freshman, playing in only his third collegiate game, hit 7-for-13 and made 50 percent of his three-point attempts.
"J.J.'s probably the best shooter on our team," Duhon said. "Any time he is open, we are looking to get him the ball."
Redick, whose career-high bested the previous mark set last week against Davidson, was careful to credit his teammates.
"Playing with Chris makes my job a lot easier," he said.
Krzyzewski said Horvath, with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and four rebounds, had his best game at Duke. The junior's previous game-high had been 13 points during
Duke entered the locker room with a 40-33 lead, having limited UCLA star Jason Kapono to only five points in the half.
"It's Duke. They're going to play tough defense," Kapono said. "They didn't want to give me any shots, and they did a good job of it. Every point I scored I had to earn."
In the second half, the Blue Devils extended their lead with a 20-4 run fueled again by Horvath inside and Redick on the perimeter.
With about five minutes left in the game, UCLA switched to a full-court press, which appeared successful in limiting Duke from amassing a blow-out, but was nonetheless unable to make the game competitive.
"Late in the game, our press gave us the opportunity to get it out of double figures, and I hoped we could make it a two-possession game," said UCLA head coach Steve Lavin.
Krzyzewski said the game was unusual because of the many lineups the team used, responding to UCLA's versatile mix of matchup zone and man-to-man coverage. He added that the team is still discovering much about itself and how the deeper-than-usual Duke bench will work together in various scenarios.
UCLA was all too willing to throw a variety of scenarios at Duke Saturday afternoon.
"We started out with a matchup zone, but they pulled out five players on the perimeter than can knock down threes," Lavin said. "It distorted our zone, spread us out and opened up gaps."
Duke improves to 9-6 all-time against the Bruins. UCLA, which now drops to 0-2, is off to its worst start in 41 seasons.
In the Wooden Tradition's second game, Purdue defeated Louisville 86-84.
The Blue Devils turn next to two teams in the Big Ten-Ohio State in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Tuesday night in Greensboro, before hosting Michigan Saturday, where the Blue Devils face off against Wolverine coach Tommy Amaker, a one-time Duke player and assistant.
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