EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It wasn't supposed to be this easy for Duke.
Then again, the No. 6 Blue Devils couldn't have expected to start Saturday's game against No. 7 Xavier with an 18-1 advantage, and Jon Scheyer couldn't have expected to make his first four 3-pointers.
It's not surprising, then, that Duke waltzed into halftime with a 31-point lead and cruised the rest of the way for an 82-64 win in the Izod Center, the home of some of the program's finest memories.
Nothing matched Christian Laettner's buzzer-beating turnaround, and no one equaled J.J. Redick's 41-point output here in 2005--all this Duke squad did was play better than it has all season, and that was more than enough to rout previously undefeated Xavier (9-1).
"Absolutely, this is the best we've played together," said Gerald Henderson, who cut through Xavier's defense with ease and finished with 19 points.
"We won a big game at Purdue, and we played much better today. We played great today-this was crazy good," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said of his team's effort.
To read the full game story, go to www.dukechronicle.com or click here for more. Check back with The Sports Blog later in the afternoon for a photo slideshow, game analysis and more notes from Duke's blowout win.
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