GREENSBORO, NC - J.J. Redick scored 35 points to offset a 23-point effort by UNC Greensboro's Ricky Hickman as top-ranked Duke defeated the host Spartans, 102-69, in men's basketball action at the Greensboro Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams shot well on the afternoon, with UNCG shooting 46.3 percent from the floor, although it was above 50 for much of the afternoon, and Duke shooting 57.1 percent. The Blue Devils, however, were near perfect at the free throw line, connecting on 27 of 28, and knocked down 11 3-pointers. The Spartans (7-6) were 14-for-19 from the line and knocked down just five from behind the arc.

Kyle Hines added 20 points and five rebounds for UNCG (7-6). Kevin Oleksiak chipped in 14 points. The 23-point game for Hickman was his 10th double-digit game in 10 outings this season and the 21st in his last 22 games. It was also his fifth 20-point game already this season.

Shelden Williams added 21 points, 12 rebounds and six steals for Duke (12-0). Reddick was 10-for-16 from the field, including 6-of-11 from behind the arc. He was also 9-for-9 at the free throw line.

A near-capacity crowd of 21,124, the most to ever see a UNCG athletic event, saw the Spartans and Blue Devils do battle.

“We played well offensively for a while and then got tired both offensively and defensively,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement, who began his collegiate coaching career under Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “We worked hard to keep up with J.J. (Redick), but he had a lot of shots.

“Each time we play in this type of environment, we play a little better. Hopefully that will continue with the upcoming game against N.C. State. We are in a tough stretch (in the schedule) right now.”

Duke took control early, scoring the first nine points of the contest. The Spartans kept it close for a while with Hickman leading the way. Hickman, who struggled against the Blue Devils last year, scored 18 of his points in the first half. A year ago, the junior from Kernersville, NC was just 1-for-10 from the floor, drawing words of encouragement from Krzyzewski after the 54-point loss.

“Everybody knows who Coach K is and when someone like that speaks, you listen,” said Hickman. “He just told me that he knew I was better player than I had showed that night. I just wanted to come out today and get some shots and get open looks.”

But the Blue Devils slowly pulled away, opening up a 39-20 lead on a three-pointer by Martynas Pocius with 7:15 left in the half. UNCG, which lost its third straight game, held the margin there from that point for the most part as Duke took a 59-37 lead into the locker room.

The Spartans hung tough early in the second half, playing the Blue Devils even. A basket in the lane by Hines made it 76-58 with 10:37 to play.

“Their veterans played great,” said Krzyzewski. “(Ricky) Hickman and (Kyle) Hines both had great games. They had good shots and got the ball to the right people.

"Overall I was pleased with our performance against a team that played very well,” said Krzyzewski. “It was our first time against a real zone team and I thought we did well. Mike did what his team does today. They play a lot of defenses and they play a lot of zone. Once Greg (Paulus) started penetrating, it started opening up for us.”

But UNCG scored just four points in the final 7:45 as the Blue Devils closed out the game on an 18-4 run to take a 19-point margin to 33.

UNCG returns to action on Tuesday night when it travel to Raleigh to take on NC State at 7 pm.

SIDELINES: The win was Duke's 50th in the Greensboro Coliseum. The Blue Devils are 50-29 all-time. UNCG is 9-13 all-time at the Coliseum, including five straight losses... Duke's 96.4 percent free throw shooting was its best of the year... The Spartans' largest crowd previous was at the 1996 NCAA Tournament in Orlando (16,894) ... Josh McRoberts' 15 points were a career-high... It was the third time this season Hickman and Hines have both scored 20 points in the same game...Dement's first season on Krzyzewski's staff (1982-83) was Krzyzewski's last sub-.500 season... Williams' six steals were a career-high.

AGATE

DUKE 102, UNCG 69

DUKE (12-0)
Redick, J.J. 10-16 9-9 35; Williams, Shelden 6-9 8-8 21; McRoberts, Josh 6-8 3-3 15; Pocius, Martynas 3-6 1-2 10; Paulus, Greg 2-5 2-2 6; Dockery, Sean 3-7 0-0 6; Boykin, Jamal 0-0 4-4 4; Melchionni, Lee 1-4 0-0 3; Boateng, Eric 1-1 0-0 2; Perkins, Ross 0-0 0-0 0; Davidson, Jordan 0-0 0-0 0; Johnson, Patrick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-56 27-28 102.

UNCG (7-6)
Hickman, Ricky 9-15 4-6 23; Hines, Kyle 6-14 8-11 20; Oleksiak, Kevin 6-10 0-0 14; Tooms, Bart 2-3 0-0 4; McClenny, David 1-3 0-0 3; Johnson, Dwayne 1-3 0-0 3; Beckford, Brian 0-1 2-2 2; Moore, Donald 0-1 0-0 0; Akinosho, Matt 0-0 0-0 0; Simmons, Everson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 14-19 69.

Halftime: Duke 59, 37. 3-point goals-Duke 11-22 (Redick, J.J. 6-11; Pocius, Martynas 3-5; Williams, Shelden 1-1; Melchionni, Lee 1-2; Dockery, Sean 0-1; Paulus, Greg 0-2), UNCG 5-16 (Oleksiak, Kevin 2-5; Hickman, Ricky 1-4; Johnson, Dwayne 1-1; McClenny, David 1-2; Simmons, Everson 0-3; Tooms, Bart 0-1). Fouled out--Duke-None, UNCG-None. Rebounds-Duke 37 (Williams, Shelden 12), UNCG 21 (Hines, Kyle 5). Assists-Duke 16 (Dockery, Sean 4; Paulus, Greg 4), UNCG 12 (Hickman, Ricky 4; Hines, Kyle 4). Total fouls-Duke 16, UNCG 23. A-21,124

- UNCG -