Top 25 roundup: No. 2 Duke wins 8th straight

[January 09, 2020]  Tre Jones made a couple of clutch baskets in the late going as second-ranked Duke pulled out a 73-64 victory against host Georgia Tech on Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.

Jones ended up scoring eight of his 16 points in the final 4 1/2 minutes, and Cassius Stanley and Vernon Carey Jr. scored 14 apiece as the Blue Devils won for the third time in an Atlantic Coast Conference road game. Matthew Hurt added 11 points.

Duke (14-1, 4-0 ACC) has an eight-game winning streak, though this was the first of those outcomes decided by less than a dozen points. The Blue Devils entered the game leading the country with a plus-21.7 scoring margin.

Georgia Tech (7-8, 2-3) went cold down the stretch, including when it had an attempt to take the lead in the final three minutes. The Yellow Jackets, who were coming off a victory at North Carolina, didn't score in the final 3:10.

No. 3 Kansas 79, Iowa State 53

Sophomore point guard Devon Dotson recorded 20 points as the Jayhawks broke away with a first-half blitz and trounced the Cyclones in Ames, Iowa.

The Jayhawks (12-2, 2-0 Big 12) closed the first half with a 21-3 flurry, including nine straight points before the break, to establish a 20-point halftime bulge. They were never threatened in a renewal of last season's championship game of the Big 12 tournament, won by Iowa State.

Sophomore guard Tyrese Haliburton, the second-leading scorer in the Big 12 behind Dotson, did not score for Iowa State (7-7, 0-2) until the 15:29 mark of the second half. Haliburton netted just five points in 36 minutes after posting the sixth triple-double in school history four days earlier against TCU.

No. 5 Auburn 83, Vanderbilt 79

Freshman forward Isaac Okoro posted his collegiate high with 23 points as the Tigers held off the Commodores in Southeastern Conference play in Auburn, Ala.

Guard J'Von McCormick hit two free throws with 45.8 seconds left to break a 79-79 tie, and Okoro added one more with 22.8 remaining before forward Danjel Purifoy came up with a big steal to deny the Commodores an opportunity to answer in the closing seconds.

Duke Blue Devils guard Tre Jones (3) defends Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Jose Alvarado (10) in the second half at McCamish Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Austin Wiley posted his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds, hitting hit two big free throws late for the Tigers (14-0, 2-0 SEC), who won their third straight in the series after losing the previous 13 meetings with the Commodores.

No. 7 San Diego State 72, Wyoming 52

Malachi Flynn scored 19 points, Yanni Wetzell added 17 without missing a field-goal attempt, and the Aztecs continued their undefeated start with a rout of the Cowboys in Laramie, Wyo.

San Diego State (16-0, 5-0 Mountain West Conference) used a 14-2 run late in the first half that gave it a double-digit cushion it held most of the final 20 minutes.

With the win, the Aztecs pulled to just four games shy of matching the program's all-time best start, a 20-0 run to begin the 2010-11 season. That team was headlined by current NBA star Kawhi Leonard.

No. 10 Florida State 78, Wake Forest 68

Devin Vassell scored 17 points as the Seminoles squandered a double-digit lead but recovered to defeat the host Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C.

M.J. Walker's 15 points and Trent Forrest's 14 points and 10 rebounds also provided a boost for Florida State (14-2, 4-1 ACC), which won its seventh game in a row.

Brandon Childress poured in 20 points, and Olivier Sarr added 10 points for Wake Forest (8-6, 1-3), which had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Demon Deacons were trying to knock off a ranked team for the second time in four games, but 17 turnovers hurt their cause.

--Field Level Media

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