CHICAGO (REUTERS) — Give No. 1 Duke an ‘A’ on its first test.
Facing its first Top 25 opponent of the season, Duke made easy work of Iowa (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) Tuesday night, beating the Hawkeyes 80-62 in the first night of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Blue Devils (5-0) got contributions from just about everyone and served notice they can be as dominant as last season’s NCAA championship squad — even without Shane Battier.
Jason Williams scored 25 points and had five assists, and Carlos Boozer had his third straight double-double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Chris Duhon had 11 assists to go with his nine points — including a nice alley-oop feed to Williams.
Mike Dunleavy had 18 points, going 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
Iowa (4-2) cut the lead to 73-61 on Luke Recker’s layup with 4:21 to play, but the Hawkeyes just didn’t have the firepower to keep up. Recker led Iowa with 15 points, and Chauncey Leslie had 11 points. But Reggie Evans, who came into the game averaging 21.6 points and 11.4 rebounds, was held to eight points and nine rebounds.
It was Iowa’s second loss to a top 5 team in the past week. The Hawkeyes lost to then-No. 5 Missouri last Wednesday.
The Blue Devils improved their record against ranked teams to 34-13 since 1997-98. They’ve won 15 of 19 games when both teams are in the top 10.
It may only be December, but this had all the makings of a late-season matchup. Both teams played with the energy and intensity of a tournament game, and when Williams appeared to get knocked over early in the second half, things got a little testy. Both coaches protested to referees, and there were some hard fouls on each side for the rest of the game.
But it takes more than a physical game to derail Duke.
The Hawkeyes won four games in as many days at the United Center last March to capture the Big Ten Tournament title, and the pro-Iowa crowd sensed another big victory as Duke got off to a sluggish start.
In the first eight minutes, the Blue Devils turned the ball over five times and were out-rebounded a whopping 15-5. And when Chicago native Ryan Hogan hit a 15-foot jumper to spark a 7-0 run that gave Iowa a 17-14 lead with 10:35 left in the first half, the crowd was on its feet and roaring.
But in a two-minute span, Duke took control of the game. After Ryan Hogan connected on a short jumper, Duhon hit a three-pointer from the left corner. Recker responded with a pull-up jumper, but Duhon came right back with another three.
Then Williams picked off a bad pass by Pierre Pierce and raced downcourt for the easy dunk. Just like that, Duke had a 30-23 lead with 4:45 to play in the first half.
The Hawkeyes kept at it, but the Blue Devils had an answer for everything. When Recker hit a three, Dunleavy connected on a spin jumper. When Pierce made a layup, Dunleavy hit one of his own and Williams followed with a beautiful alley-oop from Duhon.
And when Glen Worley scored on a layup to pull Iowa to 38-32 with 41 seconds left, Dunleavy coolly drilled a three-pointer from NBA range.
The Blue Devils didn’t let up at all after halftime, as Dunleavy sparked a 10-2 run with another three. Williams capped the spurt with another three-pointer, and Duke had a 51-34 lead with 17:01 to play.
