No. 1 Duke dumped by Georgetown
Georgetown fans surged onto the court at the buzzer, celebrating a win that evoked the Hoyas' powerhouse days of John Thompson and Patrick Ewing -- an 87-84 victory over No. 1 and previously unbeaten Duke yesterday in a nonconference clash in Washington.
The Blue Devils (17-1) have never been 18-0, and paint-defending, layup-producing Georgetown of the Big East wasn't about to let it happen despite J.J. Redick matching his career high of 41 points for Duke.
With surprisingly easy backdoor moves and open 3-pointers, the unranked Hoyas shot 61 percent, built a double-digit lead deep into the game, and nervously survived the frantic final minutes.
Brandon Bowman scored 23 points and Jeff Green had 18 for the Hoyas (12-4), who hadn't beaten a No. 1 team since an 85-69 win over St. John's Feb. 27, 1985. The victory marks the first defining moment for the school under coach John Thompson III, son of the Hall of Fame coach who guided the Hoyas for more than two decades.
Duke's Shelden Williams scored a season-low 4 points as the Hoyas' defense left the big man no room to maneuver in the paint.
Duke methodically cut a 16-point deficit to 2 on Williams's layup with 4:03 remaining, but the Hoyas built the lead back to 6. Bowman's fast-break dunk made it 82-74 with 1:15 left, but Duke still had a chance to tie that ended with Jonathan Wallace stealing the ball from point guard Greg Paulus near midcourt with four seconds left.
N.C. State 92, Wake Forest 82 -- Cameron Bennerman (26 points) made all 12 of his free throws as the No. 14
Maryland 81, Va. Tech 72 -- Nik Caner-Medley scored a season-high 23 points and the 22d-ranked Terrapins (13-4, 3-2) sent the visiting Hokies (10-8, 0-5) to their fourth straight loss.
Clemson 73, Ga. Tech 63 -- Akin Akingbala had 19 points for the Tigers (14-5, 3-3), whose zone defense held the Yellow Jackets (9-7, 2-3) scoreless for 7 1/2 minutes in the second half in Atlanta.
