Duke moves to 8-0
Duke held a double digit lead for most of the night, although the Devils never could completely pull away in a 72-59 victory over the visiting Pennsylvania Quakers.
Penn succeeded for most of the first half in keeping the tempo of the game to their liking and grabbed an early 6-3 lead on a layup from Mark Zoller.
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Duke responded with a quick 8-0 spurt reclaim the lead at 11-6, capped by J.J. Redick's first of four three point baskets.
From that point on, the Quakers never could get the lead back, although they did close to within one point at 17-16 at the 9:13 mark of the half.
Duke's defense forced 26 Penn turnovers on the evening, leading directly to 33 points for the Devils on the offensive end.
Redick and Shelden Williams again provided most of the offense for Duke, as Redick led all scorers with 24 points while Williams put up another 20 point outing against an undersized Quaker lineup.
Duke took a 34-24 lead to the locker room and quickly built it up at the start of second half play.
A three pointer from Sean Dockery and two more from Redick helped Duke grow the lead to 19 points at 50-31 with just over 12 minutes to play in the contest.
Penn refused to get blown out though and fought their way back within 10 points with six minutes remaining.
However, they couldn't get a key stop to help build momentum when they needed it, and they continued to struggle handling the ball against the Duke pressure.
Dockery followed his heroic effort from Sunday night with another solid performance tonight. The senior was the third Devil to score double figures with an 11 point evening on 5-of-8 shooting.
Though Duke was never threatened, the Devils weren't always very crisp in any aspect of the game.
Penn outrebounded Duke 34-27, including a 14-6 advantage on the offensive glass, a hard to figure stat against a much bigger Duke lineup.
The Devils had some problems of their own handling the ball as well, turning it over 17 times and struggled from the perimeter with the exception of Redick.
Duke put the game away for good when freshman Josh McRoberts scored inside and Redick canned another three on back-to-back possessions to extend the lead to 66-50 with 4:39 left in the game.
McRoberts showed some flashes of becoming a more aggressive offensive force, finishing the evening with eight points and seven rebounds.
He was active all over the floor, contributing four steals to Duke's defensive effort and calling for the ball on a couple of occasions near the goal.
Ibrahim Jaaber paced Penn with 16 points in the game.
The win improves Duke to 8-0 on the season and sets up a titanic showdown with number two Texas on Saturday in East Rutherford, N.J.