9Duke 80 - 70 Wisconsin
Final
  for this game

Duke knocks off Wisconsin in Madison

Dec 4, 2014 - 6:17 AM Madison, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Tyus Jones had 22 points, Rasheed Sulaimon scored 14 and fourth-ranked Duke shot better than 65 percent to beat No. 2 Wisconsin 80-70 on Wednesday night in a marquee ACC/Big Ten Challenge game.

Jahlil Okafor and Quinn Cook added 13 points each for the Blue Devils (8-0), who snapped Wisconsin's regular-season winning streak over non-conference opponents at 23 games.

Traevon Jackson led the Badgers (7-1) with 25 points and Frank Kaminsky scored 17 on 5-of-12 shooting.

The Blue Devils entered play having trailed for just 48 seconds over their first seven games and took the lead for good in this one when Sulaimon's 3- pointer broke a tie with 14:13 left.

Later, Cook's floater off the backboard capped a quick 7-0 burst for Duke and gave it a nine-point lead -- the biggest of the game by any team until Cook's late bucket provided the final margin.

The Blue Devils kept their nine-point lead on Okafor's dunk with eight minutes left.

A 9-3 spurt keyed by a pair of Jackson 3-pointers got Wisconsin within 63-60, but Duke scored six in a row and the Badgers were never closer than six points in the last 2:53 of the game.

Duke has won each of its first eight games by double digits for the first time since going nine straight to open the 2002-03 season.

"We beat a really good basketball team today. We were very good. They were good," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Our guys just showed a lot of grit. Our defense was good and our offensive efficiency was incredible tonight. I'm really proud because I think we beat one of the two or three best teams in the country tonight."

The Blue Devils shot 65.2 percent from the field, including 71.4 percent in the second half in an early-season meeting between two teams expected to make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament.

"We have all of their shots charted, and I would say they hit some tough shots, but they have good enough players that can do that at times," said Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan. "To have as many do it on the same night, that's just not fair. I don't care what anybody says, they were lights-out. They were shooting well. Offensively we were trying to find ourselves."

It was the first meeting between the teams since Wisconsin knocked off then- No. 5 Duke 73-69 in Madison on Dec. 2, 2009 -- the Blue Devils' first-ever loss in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Wisconsin fell to 199-22 at Kohl Center under Ryan, who has coached the Badgers since the 2001-02 season.

The Badgers, who shot 40.7 percent from the field, led by as many as four points in the first half and trailed 35-32 at the break.

Game Notes

Duke took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series. The Blue Devils won the first meeting between the teams 82-58 on Nov. 27, 2007, while it was ranked No. 7 and Wisconsin was No. 20 ... Duke is 25-13 under Krzyzewski when playing a top-five team while it is also ranked in the top five ... The Blue Devils are the winningest team in ACC/Big Ten Challenge history at 14-2 ... Wisconsin is 7-9 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, including 4-3 at Kohl Center ... Duke is off until a game against Elon on Dec. 15 ... Wisconsin faces Marquette on Saturday.






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