DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -DeMarcus Nelson matched a season high with 23 points and No. 9 Duke shook off a slow start to beat Cornell 81-67 on Sunday night.
Kyle Singler added 14 points for the Blue Devils (11-1), who were coming off a 16-day layoff and eventually pulled away for their NCAA-best 58th straight nonconference victory at home.
Gerald Henderson scored 12 points and Greg Paulus added 11 for Duke, which only briefly trailed late in the first half and took command early in the second with a 13-3 run. The victory gave coach Mike Krzyzewski his 786th career victory, tying Lefty Driesell for sixth on the all-time wins list.
Ryan Wittman had 13 points and 7-foot center Jeff Foote added 10 for Cornell (6-5), which was denied its first victory against an Atlantic Coast Conference team in 56 seasons.
Duke’s lineup at tipoff had a different look – Paulus and Thomas started on the bench, Smith made his first career start and 7-foot-1 center Brian Zoubek started for the second time this season.
West Virginia 79, No. 10 Marquette 64
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Alex Ruoff hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Mountaineers to a 79-64 rout of Marquette, giving coach Bob Huggins his 601st career win.
Joe Alexander added 19 points and Da’Sean Butler hit three 3s and had 13 points for West Virginia, which cruised to a 10-1 start before dropping a pair of games to Oklahoma and Notre Dame.
The Mountaineers (11-3, 1-1 Big East), employing a seldom-used 1-3-1 zone defense most of the game, surprised Marquette and coach Tom Crean, who appeared to expect Huggins’ trademark, man-to-man defense.
Lazar Hayward and Wesley Matthews scored 13 each to lead Marquette (11-2, 1-1), which had won seven straight since a four-point loss to No. 9 Duke in late November.
No. 17 Villanova 64, No. 13 Pittsburgh 63
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) – Dante Cunningham made two free throws with 10 seconds left and Villanova then forced another turnover to secure a victory over Pittsburgh.
Freshman Malcolm Grant had a season-high 22 points for the Wildcats (11-2, 1-1 Big East).
The Panthers (12-2, 0-1) matched their season high with 22 turnovers, nine over their season average.
After Cunningham’s free throws, Ronald Ramon brought the ball down court for the Panthers, who were out of timeouts. He lost it near the head of the key when Villanova switched on defense.
Antonio Pena had 12 points for Villanova, and Cunningham finished with six points and nine rebounds.
Sam Young had 16 points for the Panthers, who are playing without injured starters Mike Cook (knee) and Levance Fields (foot).
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