West Virginia daily

DURHAM, N.C. - After a tougher-than-expected opener, Duke looked every bit like the nation's top-ranked team against Seton Hall. J.J. Redick scored 18 points and the Blue Devils turned in an overwhelming defensive performance Wednesday night to rout the Pirates 93-40 _ the second-worst loss in Seton Hall history _ in the quarterfinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

DeMarcus Nelson added 16 points for the Blue Devils (2-0), who advanced to the tournament semifinals in New York to face the winner of Thursday's Sam Houston State-Drexel game.

Brian Laing scored 11 points to lead the Pirates (1-1), who missed 22 straight shots to fall behind by 30 at the break. It was the biggest margin of defeat for Seton Hall since a 104-62 loss to Villanova in February 1972, and ranks second only to a 64-point loss to Cincinnati in January 1958.

It all started with Duke's defense, which held the Pirates without a field goal for 15 minutes in the first half and allowed only 24-percent shooting.

"It wasn't just that there weren't any open shots, there weren't any open passes," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "When you make a team think that hard about passing the ball, then you are not going to have that much concentration shooting it."

Duke was relentless, harassing every ballhandler on the perimeter and forcing the Pirates to go one-on-one for any kind of offense. That played right into the Blue Devils' hands, with the Pirates forcing up at least seven shots in the half that didn't even hit the rim and fueled Duke's lethal transition game.

As a result, Duke shot 64 percent and hit 10 of 18 3-pointers just two days after shooting 40 percent and going 3-for-16 from behind the arc in a 64-47 win against Boston University.

"It's just a great feeling," said Nelson, who hit all six of his shots. "When things are going good like that, you really want to live in the moment."

The win made Krzyzewski only the ninth coach to win 650 games at one school, and his 723 career victories place him one behind DePaul's Ray Meyer for 15th in Division I history. Krzyzewski _ who has won three NCAA championships here _ has led the Blue Devils to at least 26 wins in each of the past eight seasons.

This year's team looks ready to extend that run, with preseason all-Americans Redick and Shelden Williams leading a group of experienced returnees and touted freshmen. And the entire team looked comfortable shutting down the Pirates.

Stan Gaines hit a jumper on Seton Hall's first possession for a 2-1 lead, but the Pirates then missed 22 straight shots. The Blue Devils took immediate advantage with a 15-0 burst, which included a pair of 3-pointers from Redick and Sean Dockery's alley-oop pass to Nelson, who threw down a one-handed slam in transition for a 16-2 lead with 12:18 left.

From there, the only drama was how long it would take for Seton Hall to hit another shot and whether the Pirates would even crack double digits for the half. Ultimately, Gaines ended the drought when he banked in a shot from the right side that made it 33-7 with 4 1/2 minutes left before the break.

The basket drew sarcastic applause from the rowdy "Cameron Crazies." By the end of the half, Seton Hall had four field goals, five free throws and nine turnovers to trail 43-13. It was the fewest points allowed by Duke in a half in nearly 24 years, going back to Clemson's 13 points in the first half of a 50-44 win in January 1982.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (2-0), who just missed having three players record double-doubles. Brad Buckman finished with nine points and nine rebounds.

Travis Peterson scored 12 to lead Samford (1-1), which scored just 13 points in the first half, matching the second-fewest points allowed in a half by Texas since the 1949-50 season. The Texas record is 12, a mark accomplished twice, most recently in last season's 97-52 win over Centenary. The Longhorns also outrebounded Samford 54-15.

After two victories against overmatched opponents, the Longhorns move on to the next round Monday in Kansas City, where they'll meet No. 14 West Virginia, a team that that came within one win of reaching the Final Four last season.

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