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Barrett leads Duke in rout of Hartford

Freshman RJ Barrett (right) scored 27 points and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds Wednesday to lead No. 3 Duke to an 84-54 victory over Hartford in Durham, N.C.
Freshman RJ Barrett (right) scored 27 points and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds Wednesday to lead No. 3 Duke to an 84-54 victory over Hartford in Durham, N.C.

NO. 3 DUKE 84, HARTFORD 54

DURHAM, N.C. -- Freshman RJ Barrett had 27 points and a season-best 15 rebounds, and No. 3 Duke pulled away to rout Hartford 84-54 on Wednesday night.

Zion Williamson added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Tre Jones and Javin Delaurier finished with 10 points apiece to help the Blue Devils (8-1) win their third consecutive. Duke shot 62 percent in the second half to more than make up for hitting just 5 three-pointers -- matching a season low.

J.R. Lynch scored 13 points and Jason Dunne added 12 for Hartford (3-7), a 38-point underdog that hung around well into the second half before fading. Dunne's long three-pointer pulled the Hawks within eight points with just over 12 minutes left.

Williamson then hit two free throws, Jack White followed with a steal and dunk, and Cameron Reddish -- who had missed all six of his three-pointers to that point -- buried a three in transition to give the Blue Devils their largest lead to that point at 54-39. Duke rolled from there for its fifth blowout in five home games.

Duke's 5 threes matched the season low most recently reached in the loss to Gonzaga, and excluding Barrett, the Blue Devils were 2 for 22 from three-point range. Duke had 33 points at halftime -- its lowest-scoring half of the season, falling short of the 36 points it scored in the second half Nov. 14 against Eastern Michigan.

In other Top 25/SEC games Wednesday, Cameron Johnson scored 21 points to help No. 14 North Carolina beat North Carolina-Wilmington 97-69. Freshman forward Nassir Little added 14 points. North Carolina (7-2) led 44-35 at halftime but went on a 30-3 run to blow this one open and finish the game shooting 49 percent. ... Justin Robinson scored 18 points and No. 15 Virginia Tech cruised past VMI 89-68. Robinson hit a trio of three-pointers for the Hokies (7-1), who won their 21st consecutive regular-season nonconference game at home. ... CJ Massinburg had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and No. 17 Buffalo used a big second-half run to beat Division II Le Moyne 89-55. Dontay Caruthers scored 20 points and reserve Nick Perkins had 18, helping Buffalo (8-0) continue its best start since the 1930-31 season. Jeremy Harris finished with 16 points. ... Keyshawn Woods scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, Kaleb Wesson added 13 and No. 19 Ohio State rallied in the second half for a 77-67 victory over Illinois. Musa Jallow had 11 points and nine rebounds as Ohio State (8-1) improved to 2-0 in the Big Ten. ... Jermaine Samuels hit 3 three-pointers in the second half that kept No. 21 Villanova from its worst home losing streak in 25 years and helped knock off Temple 69-59. Samuels scored a career-high 15 points and Eric Paschall had 10 in an off night for Villanova. Nate Pierre-Louis led the Owls with 17 points. ... Amir Coffey scored a career-high 32 points, Jordan Murphy had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Minnesota rallied to beat No. 24 Nebraska 85-78. Isaac Copeland led Nebraska (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Isaiah Roby chipped in 15 points and Glynn Watson added 14 for the Huskers. ... Simi Shittu scored 15 points and Matthew Moyer added a season-high 14 and Vanderbilt beat Middle Tennessee 79-51. The Commodores (6-2), who lost point guard Dais Garland to a season-ending knee injury on Nov. 23, rebounded from Saturday's loss to North Carolina State. Vanderbilt went 18 of 19 from the foul line (95 percent) and made 9 three-pointers. ... Justin James scored 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out five assists as Wyoming came back in the second half to beat South Carolina 73-64. James scored 15 of his points in the second half to help Wyoming (3-6) overcome a 37-33 halftime deficit. South Carolina (4-4) was led by A.J. Lawson's 15 points and nine rebounds.

Sports on 12/06/2018

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