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King leads Duke to rout of Eastern Kentucky

Nov 25, 2007 - 11:24 PM DURHAM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Kyle Singler isn't the only freshman excelling at Duke.

Taylor King scored a season-high 27 points as No. 10 Duke coasted to a 78-43 victory over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday.

Early this season, most of the attention has focused on Singler, who entered this contest averaging 15.8 points in his first five games.

King entered having played a total of three minutes in his last two games, but he was much more active Sunday. The 6-6 forward made four 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the first half, helping the Blue Devils (6-0) open a commanding 34-12 advantage.

King, who scored a total of 34 points in his first five games, made 6-of-11 shots from the arc and went 9-of-14 overall from the field in the best game of his young career.

In the first half, the Blue Devils got it done defensively, holding the Colonels to just 23.5 percent (4-of-17) shooting.

Playing their first game since winning the Maui Invitational in Hawaii on Wednesday night, the Blue Devils did come out lethargic on the offensive end, managing just six points in nearly the first seven minutes.

But Gerald Henderson converted a three-point play at the 13:06 mark, then King made three straight 3-pointers to trigger a 17-4 surge that gave the Blue Devils a 23-9 lead with under four minutes left in the half.

"When we came back, the time change was really messed up - guys were going to bed at 4 or 5 in the morning, me included," King said. "The trip really took a toll on myself. ... I don't think I've adjusted to it yet."

DeMarcus Nelson added 12 points and Henderson 10 for Duke, which shot 55 percent (26-of-47) and made 11-of-26 attempts from the arc.

Duke, which led by as many as 38 points in the second half, extended its home winning streak against non-conference opponents to 54 games. The last non-Atlantic Coast Conference team to beat Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium was St. John's on February 26, 2000.

Singler, the MVP in Maui, was limited to a season-low seven points.

"We do have different guys. We'd like to see them all play well at one time," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It's a long season, and we still have a young team. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and to think that they are just going to be outstanding every game, it's just not going to happen."

Adam Leonard scored 12 points and Mike Rose 11 for Eastern Kentucky (2-3), an NCAA Tournament team last season who has lost 11 straight games against ranked teams.

The Colonels shot 39 percent (16-of-39).