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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- The top scoring team in the nation the
last two years won its first test of the season at No. 1 with
defense.
Undefeated Duke (6-0) got 23 points from Jason Williams and 21 from Mike Dunleavy to beat Illinois (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today; No. 9 Associated Press) 78-77 in the marquee matchup in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night.
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Tue, Nov. 28
The difference in this game was Duke being able to turn over Illinois. Duke
had guys like Jason Williams and Michael Dunleavy making big plays. They
were able to force the Illini into a lot of unforced errors. They kept the
pressure on them and forced them a little further out from the basket than
they are used to being and out of their comfort zone. By doing that,
Illinois' passes were longer and their moves were longer. It made it a
little more difficult.
If Illinois had been able to keep its turnovers down, it could have won
this game. Every part of their game was spectacular with the exception of
the turnovers. The Illini manhandled Duke on the glass. I mean, manhandled the
No. 1 team in the nation on the backboards. Any time the ball was loose
on the glass it seemed like they got it. Duke made some timely plays and
they hung in there. That was the key for them. They hung around and made the
key plays down the stretch and kept themselves in a position to win.
Coming into the game, Illinois wanted to do the best they could to contain
dribble penetration and keep Duke off the free-throw line. For the most part
they did that. They limited Shane Battier and they limited Carlos Boozer. I
thought they did a great job of taking those two guys out of what they like
to do. They held Duke to 78 points. That is pretty good for a team that is
averaging well over 80. And they put up 77 themselves. But they could have
had more. Illinois probably should have won this game. This was a Final Four-type game. It was the most intense game I have seen this year. It was a
big-time game with a bunch of big-time players making plays. What a game!
It's hard to believe this is just November!
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"Thank goodness 18 years ago we decided not to go zone," coach
Mike Krzyzewski said. "Our man-to-man defense has been good to us
over the years and it was really good for us tonight."
Williams and Dunleavy matched career highs, while Carlos Boozer,
saddled with foul trouble most of the night and held to three
points in the first half, scored 12 in the second.
"A lot of our kids made big plays tonight," Krzyzewski said.
"It was a gutsy game."
Frank Williams led Illinois (4-2) with 19 points, but had nine
of his team's 26 turnovers.
"We knew coming into this game we were going to have to protect
the ball," Williams said. "Duke is a great ball club. But Cory
(Bradford) and I just turned the ball over too much. We're supposed
to be one of the top backcourts in the country. We've got to have
more control than that."
Duke led 70-68 with 3:53 left, but Boozer hit two free throws,
and Dunleavy scored on a layup and 3-pointer in a span of 30
seconds as the Blue Devils grabbed control 77-68.
But the Blue Devils had to survive a wild finish in which they
turned the ball over twice in the final 1:31.
"I could have helped my team a little bit more in the last
minute," Krzyzewski said. "I didn't give them good stuff on the
offensive end."
The win improved Duke to 125-18 all-time as the nation's
top-ranked team. But this one didn't come easy against a physical
Illinois team that beat the Blue Devils on the boards 42-27.
But the Fighting Illini (4-2), playing their second No. 1 team
in a span of six days, turned it over 12 times in the second half
and couldn't pull out the close one down the stretch. Illinois lost
to then-No. 1 Arizona 79-76 in the title game of the Maui
Invitational.
|  | | Duke's Carlos Boozer, left, and Illinois' Sergio McClain battled all night in the paint. |
"It's too early in the season to be discouraged," Illinois
coach Bill Self said. "We're disappointed because these guys came
in here with one thing in mind and that was to knock Duke off.
"I think both teams will be better because of this basketball
game. It's great to play these type of games, but enough is enough
for us."
Neither team led by more than three points in the opening 7{
minutes of the second half in a game that took on an NCAA
tournament type of feel between two teams predicted to win their
respective conference titles.
But the Blue Devils went on a 9-0 run as Williams scored on a
drive and an 8-foot bank shot, Shane Battier hit a 3-pointer and
Boozer added two free throws.
Krzyzewski got on his knees during the run, pleading with his
team to put Illinois away. But Illinois made six free throws and
got a 3-pointer from Sean Harrington to go on a 11-1 run of its own
to regain the lead by three before Duke's late run.
"It's great to play the top teams in the country and we know we
could very well play them again come March," Duke's Battier said.
Each team came in shooting better than 50 percent from the
field, but both struggled in the opening 20 minutes on offense.
Illinois had trouble with Duke's press early on and ended up
turning it over 14 times in the first half. During one stretch,
Illinois coughed it up five times in seven possessions, but a 24-10
rebounding edge kept the score close.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils couldn't penetrate the zone of the
Fighting Illini and had trouble from the outside, hitting just 3 of
12 3-pointers while shooting 40 percent.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Illinois Clubhouse
Duke Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jason Williams gets another steal and throws down the one-handed jam at the other end.
avi: 961 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Carlos Boozer and Jason Williams hook up on the alley-oop.
avi: 892 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jason Williams gets the steal and takes it in at the other end.
avi: 1175 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Cory Bradford and Robert Archibald show Duke the backdoor.
avi: 1007 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Illinois' Frank Williams gets the reverse to drop.
avi: 439 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jason Williams fakes the pass and takes it in himself.
avi: 519 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Mike Krzyzewski talks with ESPN's Jay Bilas after Duke's win over Illinois.
wav: 545 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
ESPN's Jay Bilas catches up with Duke point guard Jason Williams after Tuesday's win over the Illini.
wav: 483 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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