J.J. Redick scored 18 points and top-ranked Duke turned in an overwhelming defensive performance to rout Seton Hall 93-40 in the quarterfinals of the Preseason NIT in Durham, N.C.
DeMarcus Nelson added 16 points for the Blue Devils (2-0), who advanced to the tournament semifinals in New York to face the winner of Thursday's Sam Houston State-Drexel game.
Brian Laing scored 11 points to lead the Pirates (1-1), who missed 22 straight shots to fall behind by 30 at the break and ended up with the second-worst loss in program history. It is the biggest margin of defeat for Seton Hall since a 104-62 loss to Villanova in February 1972.
The win made Mike Krzyzewski only the ninth coach to win 650 games at one school, and his 723 career wins now stand just one behind DePaul's Ray Meyer for 15th in Division I history. Krzyzewski — who has won three NCAA championships here — has led the Blue Devils to at least 26 wins in each of the past eight seasons. Duke shot just 40 percent and went 3-for-16 from 3-point range in its 64-47 first-round win against Boston University. But the Blue Devils had no such trouble Wednesday, shooting 64 percent and hitting 10 of 18 3-pointers.
The defense also picked right up where it left off after forcing 26 turnovers in the opener. Duke held Seton Hall to 24-percent shooting, and held Kelly Whitney — who had 25 points in an opening win against Manhattan — one point on 0-for-10 shooting.
Duke was relentless, harassing every ballhandler on the perimeter and forcing the Pirates to go 1-on-1 for any kind of offense. That played right into the Blue Devils' hands, with the Pirates forcing up at least seven shots in the half that didn't even hit the rim and fueled Duke's lethal transition game.
NO. 2 TEXAS 77, SAMFORD 33: At Austin, Texas, P.J. Tucker had 22 points and eight rebounds and Texas got a near-record defensive performance in a win over Samford in the second round of the Guardians Classic tournament. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (2-0) who just missed having three players record double-doubles. Brad Buckman finished with nine points and nine rebounds.