St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
5-4
No. 1/1 Duke
11-0
No. 1 Duke Tops St. John's 70-57
12/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2005
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - The top-ranked Blue Devils broke away from a close game shortly before halftime, and Redick's 18 points helped them beat St. John's 70-57 Wednesday night in their final game before Christmas.
Freshman Josh McRoberts tied a season high with 12 points, Sean Dockery also had 12 and Shelden Williams added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Duke (11-0).
Aaron Spears led the Red Storm with 14 points, and Anthony Mason Jr. had eight with his father, the former NBA player, sitting just behind the bench. Second-leading scorer Lamont Hamilton didn't score until early in the second half and finished with seven points, about half his average.
They were competitive with the Blue Devils for most of the first half, leading twice and forging three ties before Duke's superior talent took over. It started with Redick.
The senior guard has been uncommonly off at the free throw line this season - sure, 87 percent still ranks among the Division I leaders, but it's well behind his career mark of 94 percent, the best ever. He continued that trend late in the first half with the score tied at 26, when he was fouled by Cedric Jackson on a 3-pointer.
Two of Redick's three shots clanged off the rim, but the misses appeared to energize him. After a turnover by St. John's, he finished off a nice assist from Paulus with a layup, then swished a 3 to give Duke a 32-26 lead. That forced a timeout from Red Storm coach Norm Roberts and allowed the Cameron Crazies to serenade Redick with their patented cheer, "J.J. Redick, Dyno-mite!"
A 26-7 run spanning halftime helped the Blue Devils pull away, with McRoberts figuring prominently. Held to two points in only 9 minutes in the first half, he started the second half on the bench.
When he finally got on the court, he quickly made his presence felt. McRoberts took a lob pass from Paulus for a dunk off an inbounds play, then later added four more baskets in a span of about 3 1/2 minutes to finish off St. John's.
Three were dunks, including another alley-oop and one on a breakaway after he jumped in the passing lane for a steal. McRoberts ended his personal spurt with a floater from the lane to make it 60-37, and Duke wasn't threatened again.
