Blue Devils reward Coach K

Krzyzewski gets 700th win at Duke, but ACC victory thrills him more / Duke jumps to a 15-point halftime lead, then -- unlike during their four-game skid -- the Devils stay aggressive to hold off the Yellow Jackets and reach 7-6 in the league.

DURHAM -- The emotional puzzle pieces fit snugly in place for Duke on Sunday when the Blue Devils defeated Georgia Tech.

Building on an ACC men's basketball victory Wednesday at Boston College, the Blue Devils held off the Yellow Jackets 71-62.

Showing good poise at the end of the game allowed their coach to lose a little bit of his while he celebrated winning his 700th game at Duke.

Mike Krzyzewski's eyes watered and his voice cracked as he held two of his grandsons and tried to thank players, past and present, and the sellout crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

A small fraction of the crowd that was congratulating him even yelled back, "Seven hundred more! Seven hundred more!"

Krzyzewski, who is 773-257 overall in his 32-year career, joked that he would need to find the "fountain of youth" for that to happen.

On Sunday, he was fine with win No. 20 for his team this season.

"I had no idea about 700 wins," Krzyzewski said. "We were 6-6 in the conference. "I just wanted to get to 7-6."

Duke (20-7, 7-6 ACC) won in a familiar way. The Devils built a 15-point halftime lead, then survived Georgia Tech's second-half surge.

Nothing new there, except the Devils handled it with less drama this time.

Duke led by 16 in the second half before Tech (17-9, 5-7) crawled back. Anthony Morrow made a 3-pointer to cut Duke's lead to 61-56 with just less than six minutes left.

Instead of pulling back, as in games past, the Devils attacked. They had a built-in reason to keep attacking: They had to beat Tech's full-court pressure.

Keeping that head of steam helped Duke make the hustle plays it needed to at the end, such as:

* Josh McRoberts beating the pressure and hooking up with David McClure for a dunk with 5:40 left.

* Jon Scheyer anticipating and making his fifth steal of the game. That turned into a foul and two free throws for DeMarcus Nelson.

* With Duke up by seven and 3:23 left, Gerald Henderson grabbing an offensive rebound after Scheyer's missed 3 attempt to give Duke another possession.

* And with 1:06 left, McClure straining to tip Scheyer's missed free throw out of a crowd of players back to Paulus. Paulus, who scored 11 of his team-high 15 points after halftime, got fouled and made one of two free throws to put Duke up by nine.

Henderson said the Devils did play smarter.

"We had more turnovers than we had hoped [in the game], but I feel like we had control at the end of the game," he said.

Duke frustrated Georgia Tech in several ways -- by beating the Jackets' full-court pressure, by drawing four offensive fouls before halftime and by turning 22 Tech turnovers into 35 points.

"Once you smell blood, you have to go in for the kill," said Duke freshman Lance Thomas, who drew three of the offensive fouls. "We saw them being hesitant, and that's when we pounced."

Tech coach Paul Hewitt said if the game had been a prizefight, it would have been stopped at halftime.

"We were very timid," he said. "They were much more aggressive than us. They were battling us, and we didn't do anything to respond."

The Devils responded more calmly in tight spots in these two wins than during their four-game losing streak; that's why Krzyzewski grabbed the milestone victory and Duke ended a two-game home losing streak.

Nelson said the Devils can get even better -- between the ears, where it counts -- for the final push.

"That's where our team can make the most improvement," Nelson said. "Like knowing teammates' shots, what type they want to take, their strengths and weakness, and knowing how to get each other open."