Blue Devils survive foul trouble to beat Huskies

NEW YORK -- Duke lost much of its lead and Austin Rivers lost all of his clothes Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Not to worry. For the Blue Devils, for Rivers, it all ended well.

The Devils, ranked No. 7 nationally, toyed with a blowout win over the unranked Washington Huskies. That was not to be as Duke held on in the final minutes - after Rivers and Seth Curry both fouled out - for an 86-80 victory in the Carquest Auto Parts Classic.

Rivers had 18 points, knocking in a pair of dagger 3-pointers in the second half as the Huskies were surging. He returned to the Duke locker room after the game to find his clothes gone, dispatching a manager to fetch his bag off the team bus so he could dress.

Rivers, a freshman, insisted it wasn't a prank. But it was easier for him to smile after his second visit with Duke to the Garden.

On the first, in that historic game Nov. 15 against Michigan State, Rivers missed six of seven shots and scored five points in a 74-69 win. His personal disappointment was secondary that night, of course, as Duke's Mike Krzyzewski passed Bob Knight to become the winningest men's basketball coach in Division I history.

"I could play here any day." said Rivers, the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "It's fun to be in this stadium. The crowds are always great here.

"I feel a lot better because we won, again, and I contributed a little more. I think I was just more aggressive (Saturday). That first game I was still finding myself."

The Devils (9-1) cruised through a mostly ragged first half, using 14 points from Andre Dawkins and limiting the Huskies to 32-percent shooting in taking a 40-26 lead. Duke led by 19 points early in the second half, but the Huskies (4-4) began to make better use of their quickness to attack the basket.

Tony Wroten, the leading freshman scorer in the Pac-12 Conference, began driving, hitting shots, closing with 23 points. C.J. Wilcox had 22 as the Huskies found some offensive rhythm and shot 62 percent from the field in the second half.

"I thought Wroten had a great game," Krzyzewski said. "He broke us down. I told him (when) we shook hands, 'You played a great game today, son.' He was terrific."

The Huskies pulled within 51-40, only to have Rivers drain a 3-pointer from the deep left corner with 13 minutes, 54 seconds left in the game. With 11 minutes left, Rivers did it again from the same spot for a 63-45 lead.

But the Huskies, despite losing center Aziz N'Diaye to a knee injury, kept coming. Duke started missing free throws and Mason Plumlee missed a lot, going 2-of-11 at the line and airballing one free throw.

"That can't happen, especially when I shoot 10 a game," said Plumlee, who had 12 points. "That's unacceptable. And that's on me."

Next, fouls became a problem for Duke. Rivers fouled out with 2:48 to play as the Huskies climbed within 74-66, and Curry picked up his fifth personal with 2:19 left.

"It's the worst feeling," Rivers said. "They're making a comeback and you can only sit and watch."

But freshman guard Quinn Cook came in and hit four of six free throws in the last 1:26 as Duke finished 27-of-44 at the line. Dawkins, who had 17 points, knocked in a pair of foul shots with 58 seconds left for an 80-72 lead, and forward Ryan Kelly (16 points) hit two with 32 seconds remaining to give the Devils an 83-74 lead.

"The last couple of minutes I thought we were flawless," Krzyzewski said. "Quinn Cook really gave us some huge minutes in handling the ball."

The Blue Devils spent much of the past week handling exams and classwork. On Saturday, they won, even if they didn't have their "A" game.

"We beat a really talented Washington team," Krzyzewski said. "And it's been a tough week. We had a lot of academic stuff going on for our team.

"Overall, with foul trouble, missing free throws and playing a good opponent, I thought this was a heck of a win for us. It's been a grueling 10 games and we're 9-1. I'm proud of that."