KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Dominic James scored a season-high 25 points and led a late surge to help No. 13 Marquette beat No. 9 Duke 73-62 on Tuesday night in the championship game of the CBE Classic. With the game tied at 56 and 6:23 to go, James scored 10 points in a span of less than 2½ minutes. He was fouled connecting on a fall-away jumper with 3:57 left, and after he made the free throw Marquette led 67-58. The Blue Devils could not mount a rally over the final couple of minutes, giving Golden Eagles coach Tom Crean his seventh win in 18 games against teams ranked in the top 10. Jerel McNeal added 17 points for the Golden Eagles (6-0) in the first meeting between the teams since Duke beat Marquette 59-49 in the 1994 NCAA tournament. James left the game with 2:04 to go, favoring his right ankle after crumpling to the floor. He was helped to the bench but was hopping around on his feet a moment later, imploring Crean to let him back in the game. James returned with 50.8 seconds to go and the game well in hand. Josh McRoberts led the Blue Devils (4-1) with 15 points. DeMarcus Nelson added 13. Nelson scored 11 of Duke's first 15 points, hitting three 3-pointers and throwing down a dunk. By the time he hit McRoberts for an ally-oop reverse jam, the Blue Devils had a 21-16 lead midway through the first half. But after Brian Zoubek scored in the post a couple of minutes later to make it 23-18, the Blue Devils went nearly seven minutes without a field goal, allowing Marquette to take a 28-26 lead with 2:38 to go in the half. McRoberts tied the game at 32 with 31 seconds left, but James curled in a jumper a few seconds later to give Marquette a 34-32 lead at the break.
If he isn't careful, Crean is going to be coaching one of those Ton 10 teams.
that's a pretty amazing stat, crean wins nearly 40% of the time he faces a top 10 team...i'd like to know what other coaches marks are at, cause that seems really good for a team that is not consistently ranked even in the top 20 of the polls...
I was a student when we played them in the sweet 16. I was watching the game in The Gym bar which was absolutely packed. Marquette goes up 6-0 and that's pretty much all I remember because of all of the alcohol. Which isn't a bad thing considering the outcome.
I watched this one sober. :)
I love how ESPNNews has BREAKING NEWS in the corner, constantly showing "#17 Marquette def. #8 Duke, 73-62"
I think I just heard the sound of MU's ticket being punched for the NCAAs :)
This win will go a long way come selection time. Duke is going to be a strong team in a few months and this will go down as a quality win.
Does this mean I have to root for Duke the rest of the year? O well, I guess I can bite that bullet.
Quote from: WashDCWarrior on November 22, 2006, 12:00:48 AM
Does this mean I have to root for Duke the rest of the year?
Nah, you don't have to do that. They'll get their wins regardless.
I can't do that. That's worse than a Michigan fan cheering for Notre Dame this weekend.