No. 7 Duke Tops St. John's, 58-47, For Third Straight Win

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No. 7 Duke Tops St. John's, 58-47, For Third Straight Win

2/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: Duke Sports Information

Feb. 26, 2005

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By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - It might be time to make it the "Big Four" for Duke.

The seventh-ranked Blue Devils didn't get the usual offensive performances from the players known as their "Big Three" in Saturday's 58-47 victory over St. John's.

But for the third straight game, Lee Melchionni stepped up.

The junior forward had 14 of his 16 points in the first half to lead the Blue Devils (21-4), who won their third straight game after losing two in a row. He matched his career high and was the leading scorer in Duke's worst offensive performance of the season. He had a career-high nine rebounds, just missing his first double-double.

"Lee Melchionni had an incredible week for us," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He had his best game against Wake Forest, played well against Georgia Tech and was our best player today. It wasn't just his points and rebounds. He played good defense and he played with an enthusiasm and smartness that really helped."

Duke's trio of J.J. Redick, Shelden Williams and Daniel Ewing scored a total of four points on 0-for-12 shooting in the first half. They supplied almost all of Duke's offense in the second half, combining for all but four of the Blue Devils' points. Still, they didn't look like themselves.

"He really stepped up for us on a day when the `Big Three' as you all call us didn't have great games," Redick said of Melchionni. "I kind of expect that from him now. I know we have confidence in him."

Melchionni, who entered the game averaging 7.2 points and 2.7 rebounds, downplayed his biggest game.

"The shots presented themselves and I took them," said Melchionni, who was 4-for-9 from 3-point range one game after hitting two big 3s late in the win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday. He had 15 points in the win over Wake Forest last Sunday. "This was the end of a long week for us but that's no excuse. I was given an opportunity to step up and I knocked some shots down."

Lamont Hamilton had 15 points for the Red Storm (9-16), who have lost six of seven. They were trying to recreate the magic of two years ago at Madison Square Garden when an unranked St. John's beat then-No. 6 Duke 72-71.

"I told our guys before the game to enjoy every minute of it and have fun," first-year St. John's coach Norm Roberts said of playing a top team in front of a crowd of 16,290. "Hopefully in the future it will be predominantly St. John's and not the other school's fans."

The Red Storm closed within 41-37 with 7:54 left on a reverse layup by Hamilton, but Redick, one of the best shooters in the nation, hit his first 3 of the game 17 seconds later to give the Blue Devils a 44-37 lead. St. John's didn't get closer than five points the rest of the way.

Redick, Ewing and Melchionni went a combined 6-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 52 seconds for Duke.

Redick had 13 points on 2-for-11 shooting, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range, Ewing had nine points and Williams finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

"It was just one of those games," Redick said. "We just couldn't get into any kind of rhythm."

Duke shot just 31.4 percent for the game (16-for-51) and turned the ball over 23 times, one more than St. John's.

"It was an offensive struggle for both teams," Melchionni said.

Duke led 28-17 at halftime - the second-lowest scoring half for both teams this season - with the Blue Devils outshooting the Red Storm 27.6 percent to 20.8 percent.

Daryll Hill, whose 20.5 average leads St. John's and is second in the Big East, finished with 10 points on 4-for-19 shooting. He was coming off a career-high 33 points against Syracuse on Wednesday.

Roberts talked about Hill's defense on Redick.

"I don't think anybody can play him tougher than Daryll played him today," Roberts said. "Daryll has done that all year. He can take the other team's best player out of the game."

Duke came into the game averaging 81.6 points. The Blue Devils' previous low this season came in a 59-46 win over Princeton on Jan. 5.

"I thought their kids played their hearts out," Krzyzewski said of St. John's. "They are a scrappy basketball team trying to muck anything out."

This was Duke's first game without guard Sean Dockery. He injured his knee against Georgia Tech this week and is out indefinitely.

"The dynamic that is created in not having Sean is a huge one. It's a huge loss for us," Krzyzewski said. "It changes Daniel's role. It's tough for him to score because he's defending their best player and bringing the ball up. It's not easy. He did a great job on Hill and played every minute."

Duke improved to 2-0 in Madison Square Garden this season, having beaten Oklahoma 78-67 on Dec. 18.

St. John's dropped to 2-1 against the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. The Red Storm beat Virginia Tech and North Carolina State.