DURHAM, N.C. (Sporting Alert) — Duke routed Furman 93-54 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday night to make a 6-0 start to a season for the first time since the 2012-13 term when it opened with a 15-0 record.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski team was also grabbing its 112th successive win against non-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
On Wednesday night, freshman center Jahlil Okafor knocked down 12-of-14 of his attempts from the field in pouring in a game and season-high 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the win for the No. 4 Blue Devils (6-0)
Junior forward Amile Jefferson added a double-double of 16 points with 12 rebounds and Matt Jones finished with 13 points off the bench for Duke, which led by as many as 39 points with more than 10-minutes left in the second half.
Quinn Cook finished with 11 points and five assists for the Blue Devils, which shot 57.7-percent from the field and out-rebounded the traveling party 40-27.
Kendrec Ferrara led Furman (1-3) with 13 points and four rebounds off the bench and Stephen Croone ended with 12 points, as the visitors struggled to get going early and were held to just 33.9-percent from the floor.
Furman was held to just eight-points in the opening 10-minutes of the contest and then trailed Duke 50-22 at halftime on a very tough night offensively for the Paladins.
Next up for Duke is a home game against Army on Sunday, Nov. 30, while Furman will make the trip to take on Liberty on Monday, Dec. 1.
BUTLER STUNNED NO. 5 NORTH CAROLINA
Also on Wednesday night, Butler (4-0) took a 38-37 advantage early in the second half when Alex Barlow hit back-to-back three-pointers and never gave back that lead on their way to an upsetting 74-66 win over No. 5 North Carolina in the opening game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
“They outplayed us and definitely outcoached us,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams told reporters after his team’s defeat.
“We had some chances at the end, but again, you have to congratulate their defense for doing such a good job.”
Barlow and Kelan Martin each scored 17 points for the Bulldogs, Roosevelt Jones collected 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Kameron Woods grabbed 13 rebounds in the upsetting victory that excited head coach Chris Holtmann.
Marcus Paige scored 18 points for the Tar Heels and Brice Johnson added 11 in the defeat for Williams, which went 4-of-16 from three-point range.
Both teams turned the ball over 19 times and Paige acknowledged that.
The junior guard, who started slowly in the early stages of the contest, also admitted that North Carolina wasn’t good enough on the night.
“They got 15 more shots than us and we both turned the ball over 19 times,” Paige said.
“A Coach Williams team, if you look at the backboards they usually tell the story, and we got dominated.”
Elsewhere, No. 2 Wisconsin cruised to a 72-43 victory over UAB, with Frank Kaminsky scoring 16 points and eight rebounds for the Badgers (5-0), while No. 6 Louisville (5-0) beat Cleveland State 45-33 on the back of Montrezl Harrell’s 15 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
NCAA College Basketball Top 25 Scores and Box Scores
(2) Wisconsin 72, UAB 43 – Box Score
(4) Duke 93, Furman 54 – Box Score
Butler 74, (5) North Carolina 66 – Box Score
(6) Louisville 45, Cleveland State 33 – Box Score
(10) Gonzaga 88, Georgia 76 – Box Score
(16) Ohio State 91, Campbell 64 – Box Score
Georgetown 66, (18) Florida 65 – Box Score
(21) West Virginia 103, VMI 72 – Box Score
Oklahoma 75, (22) UCLA 65 – Box Score
