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Published Sat, Nov 21, 2009 04:14 PM
Modified Sat, Nov 21, 2009 09:57 PM

Duke 3-point spree sinks Radford

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J.P. Giglio - Staff writer

DURHAM -- Radford played a zone against Duke on Saturday but forgot the "defense" part of the equation.

The Blue Devils lit up the Highlanders' ill-advised zone with 18 3-pointers, tying a school record, in a 104-67 bludgeoning at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Freshman Andre Dawkins hit six 3s, including his first five, for a season-best 20 points and Duke's 72nd straight nonconference home win and fourth straight to start the season.

The Blue Devils hit 13-of-22 3s in the first half in building a 25-point cushion on the Big South champions from a year ago. They actually trailed 13-10 with 14:30 minutes left in the first half before a 16-2 surge, spurred by a pair of 3s each by Nolan Smith (20 points) and Jon Scheyer (18).

"Thirteen 3s in a half?" said Scheyer, who was responsible for four in the game. "That's not bad."

Not bad at all against veteran, NCAA Tournament team which figured to test Duke with its inside strength. Senior Artsiom Parakhouski, a 6-11 forward built like a James Bond henchman, did muscle his way to a game-high 23 points but the Highlanders' defense was too loose.

Dawkins, who had six 3-pointers in his first three college games, heated up midway through the first and stayed hot. His fourth 3, in front of the Radford bench, put Duke up 56-32 with 1:20 left in the half and elicited a bright smile from the freshman. The Cameron crowd responded by chanting his name.

"It was lot of fun to go out there and perform like that," said Dawkins, who finished 6-of-8 from 3.

Dawkins hit his first five 3s before missing from the left elbow at 11:15 in the second half, which caused the crowd to groan. Dawkins had no explanation for his outburst, he was 6-of-18 in his first three games from 3.

"To me, I'm always feeling it," Dawkins said.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski praised his team's shooting, Dawkins' in particular, but was more impressed with the 25 assists on 35 field goals. Kyle Singler (13 points), Smith and Scheyer each finished with seven assists.

"I love my team," Krzyzewski said. "They're very unselfish."

There were a lot of holes in Radford's 2-1-2 zone. After Duke scored 59 points in the first half, the Highlanders came out in a man defense. The results were slightly better but equally ineffective.

Duke put up "only" 45 points in the second half. Singler, on an Ironman pace for minutes, checked out of the game for good at 6:07, giving him a breezy 30 minutes for the game.

"It was nice," Singler said. "We need games like this to play a lot of guys and get some experience."

Nice enough that Duke scored its 100th point at 4:07 and Krzyzewski emptied the bench.

"The guys are playing hard and we are getting better," Krzyzewski said. "We are a good basketball team."

Radford won't argue the point.

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    • DUKE4.SP.112109.EDR.JPG
      | ENLARGE
      Duke freshman Andre Dawkins is all smiles after hitting a 3-pointer in the first half against Radford. Dawkins hit his first five 3s, and six of seven for 20 points.
      TED RICHARDSON - trichard@newsobserver.com
    • DUKE3.SP.112109.EDR.JPG
      | ENLARGE
      Radford's Joey Lynch-Flohr, middle, is trapped by Duke's Brian Zoubek, left, and Ryan Kelly, right, during the first half.
      TED RICHARDSON - trichard@newsobserver.com
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