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Coach K ties Smith for No. 2 on wins list

Dec 21, 2010 - 6:25 AM Durham, NC (Sports Network) - Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski tied Dean Smith for second place on the all-time NCAA wins list Monday when his No. 1 Blue Devils rolled to a 98-72 victory over Elon.

Coach K earned his 879th win, joining the former North Carolina coach and moving within 23 victories of tying Bob Knight's record of 902 wins for Division I men's basketball.

"I know it's like a milestone, but I'm more interested in how we become a better team this year," Krzyzewski said.

Kyle Singler scored 24 points and Nolan Smith had 22 to lead Duke (11-0) to its 53rd consecutive home win in December.

Andre Dawkins added 17 points, Ryan Kelly had 13 and Seth Curry scored 10 in a well-rounded offensive effort for the top-ranked Blue Devils.

Jack Isenbarger scored 21 points and Chris Long had 14 to lead Elon (4-7), which has lost two in a row.

Krzyzewski moved his NCAA coaching record to 879-279 in 36 seasons, including five at Army. He is 806-220 in a 31-year stint with Duke that includes four national championships, including last year's.

Knight, who earned most of his wins at Indiana, coached Krzyzewski at Army and hired him at Indiana.

"Coach wants the focus to be on us instead of him, and that's just how he is," Nolan Smith said. "But we watch TV, we see it, so it's something that's great to be a part of."

Elon scored the game's first two points on Long's jumper and also held the lead briefly at 8-7. But the rest of the game was all Duke.

The Blue Devils, with nine double-digit wins in their 11 games this season, responded with a 14-0 run keyed by seven points from Singler and never looked back.

They led by 21 before Long's three-pointer at the buzzer cut Elon's deficit to 49-31 at halftime.

The Phoenix were never closer than 13 points in the second half while Duke's lead ballooned as high as 28 in the final minutes.

The Blue Devils have won 21 consecutive games dating back to last season.

Game Notes

It was the first meeting between the teams since 1936. Duke leads the all-time series 14-5...The Blue Devils have beaten all of their opponents except Michigan State and Marquette by at least 10 points this season...Duke's last home loss in the month was to Michigan on December 8, 1996.