Duke Hammers Helpless Michigan
As No. 3 Duke pulled away from Michigan in the second half of its 108-64 victory Saturday night, Trajan Langdon fixed his sights on the personal challenge set by teammate William Avery earlier in the week.
Avery hit eight 3-pointers in Duke's 116-86 win over Florida on Dec. 9, breaking Langdon's school-record for 3-pointers in a game.
Langdon hit his seventh 3 of the game with 7:46 left but missed his final attempt about a minute later.
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"I told him if I had hit that one, I would've tied him," Langdon said with a smile after leading all scorers with 24 points. "I just wasn't able to hit it."
Louis Bullock scored 18 points to lead Michigan (5-6), which suffered its worst-ever defeat.
Shane Battier scored 17 points for Duke, while Chris Burgess had 16.
The Blue Devils' swarming defense forced 19 turnovers which led to 29 points.
"For 40 minutes, we kept up great defensive intensity," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We got the game to be played at our tempo. Right from the start, we ran the court very well."
The Blue Devils (9-1) improved to 118-2 against nonconference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Wolverines were the last nonconference team to beat Duke at home, winning 62-61 in 1996, and had won the last three meetings in the series.
But Saturday night, the Blue Devils left little doubt which was the better team.
Hot shooting enabled the Blue Devils to take an 18-6 lead in the opening five minutes. Duke made six of its first eight shots, with Battier and Burgess each hitting their first three.
"To start like that can be very devastating," said Battier, a native of Birmingham, Mich. "When we open up a lead like that at home, the other team gets a little nervous. It becomes a psychological thing."
Bullock stole the ball from Langdon near midcourt and scored on a layup to trim the lead to 18-8 with 13:06 left in the first half. Duke responded with a quick 7-2 spurt to push the lead to 25-10.
Bullock made an 18-footer from the left wing, Josh Asselin scored insie and Bullock scored on a drive to cut the deficit to 25-16 with 9:16 remaining.
But the Blue Devils went on a 20-2 run over the next four minutes with Langdon and Corey Maggette each hitting two 3-pointers.
Langdon opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the left wing to start a 15-4 run.
Bullock hit Michigan's first 3-pointer of the game with 15:52 left. The 6-foot-2 senior guard has hit a 3-pointer in 34 straight games.
The margin of victory was two points higher than Michigan's previous worst defeat, a 42-point loss to Indiana in 1991.
"We lost to a very hungry, very talented team," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "They came out with tenacity and unbelievable passion and took it to us right from the start."
Bullock led Michigan in the first half with 10 points but didn't hit a 3-pointer in three attempts. He drew jeers from the rowdy crowd when he shot an uncontested airball from the left corner with 3:20 left in the half.
Langdon, a 96 percent free throw shooter coming into the game, missed the second of two foul shots with 2:49 remaining.
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