Feb. 18, 2007
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DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – Greg Paulus scored 15 points and Duke beat Georgia Tech 71-62 on Sunday in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 700th victory at the school.
Jon Scheyer had 14 points and DeMarcus Nelson added 13 points apiece for the Blue Devils (20-7, 7-6 Atlantic Coast Conference), who bounced back from their first four-game losing streak in 11 years with two straight wins.
Unranked for the first time since 1996, Duke reached the 20-win mark for the 11th straight year and returned to .500 in conference play by earning its 20th win over Georgia Tech in the last 22 meetings.
Krzyzewski improved to 700-198 in his 27th season as the Blue Devils’ coach, and his career record of 773-257 also includes five seasons at Army. The student section serenaded him with a “Coach K” chant during a postgame ceremony to mark the occasion.
Anthony Morrow had 16 points and Javaris Crittenton added 10 before fouling out to lead the Yellow Jackets (17-9, 5-7), who have lost 18 of their past 19 road games and were denied their first victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 2004.
Duke pushed its lead into double figures late in the first half and spent the rest of the day holding off the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech got as close as five when Morrow’s 3-pointer from the right corner made it 61-56 with about 6 minutes remaining.
“We fought back in the second half, but it was too big a hole in the first half,” Yellow Jackets coach Paul Hewitt said.
David McClure followed with a dunk and Nelson hit two free throws to give the Blue Devils a cushion. Georgia Tech never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Four Georgia Tech freshmen made their first visit to Duke’s famous arena, and it showed: The Yellow Jackets had 16 of their 22 turnovers in the first half, and the Blue Devils finished with 35 points off those miscues.
“If it was a fight, they would have stopped it,” Hewitt said. “They were just battling us, and we didn’t do anything to respond.”
The Blue Devils used a big run late in the first half to take control. They outscored Georgia Tech 18-5 during about a 6-minute span, building a 41-24 lead on Scheyer’s steal and layup with 41 seconds until halftime.
