There are ways to slow Duke's lethal shooter and top scorer, J.J. Redick. It won't do a team much good, though, if it cannot also contain Shelden Williams, the other half of Duke's sensational pair of seniors.
Williams took matters into his own hands Friday night in the final of the preseason National Invitation Tournament, and that is why top-ranked Duke remains undefeated.
Williams tied a career high with 30 points, 16 of them in the second half, to lead Duke to a hard-fought 70-67 victory over No. 11 Memphis at Madison Square Garden. His star turn included scoring the winning basket with 32.7 seconds remaining.
"I was kind of in a zone, so to speak," Williams said. "I felt that if I got the ball, especially in a one-on-one situation, I'd be successful."
In its first real test this season, Duke needed that sort of effort from Williams on a night when Redick had problems getting into the flow of the offense. Redick had 15 first-half points, but did not score in the final 20 minutes. With Memphis' Rodney Carney draped over him, Redick got off only three shots in the second half.
"Rodney did an unbelievable job on Redick in the second half and gave us a chance to win," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "But we didn't have any answers for Shelden Williams."
Still, Memphis did not go down without giving Duke a major scare. The score was tied at 67-67 when Sean Dockery missed a layup attempt, and Williams was in perfect position to easily tap in the miss.
"I knew Shelden was to the side of me and that if I missed he was going to get it in," Dockery said.
Williams made another pivotal play seconds later. With Duke leading, 69-67, the Blue Devils' Lee Melchionni missed a pair of free throws, but Williams swatted the second miss back to Dockery, who was quickly fouled. Dockery made only one of two free throws, but Memphis' Shawne Williams missed a 3-pointer with time running out.
Shelden Williams, who had eight rebounds and three blocked shots, was named the tournament's most valuable player.
"Shelden is a really good offensive player," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He showed a lot of poise tonight because he was playing against big guys."
Duke (5-0) was playing its first full game without the starting guard DeMarcus Nelson, who broke his right ankle in Wednesday's semifinal victory over Drexel. Greg Paulus took his place in the starting lineup and had five points and eight assists. Shawne Williams led Memphis (3-1) with 15 points. Carney had 12.
Florida 74, Florida St. 66
One of the first things Billy Donovan told his Gator basketball players after a victory over Syracuse last week was that they'd have to play better defense to continue winning because the shots aren't always going to fall.
The Gators (5-0) got a chance to put those words of wisdom to use against rival Florida State on Friday night.
Trailing by 17 in the first half after shooting just 33 percent from the field, Florida buckled down on defense and rallied for a 74-66 win in front of 12,599 at the O'Connell Center.
"In the first half I thought we were impatient on offense, we took bad shots and it was compounded by the fact that we didn't defend very well," Donovan said. "But our guys settled down and showed great character and great heart. I think it was the best half of basketball we've played all season. We defended well, rebounded and executed very well in the second half."
Florida (5-0) trailed 38-30 at halftime. FSU took a 10-point lead on a steal and layup by Todd Galloway to open the second half. The Gators took their first lead, 48-47 on a free throw by Al Horford (14 points, nine rebounds) with 12:18 left. Lee Humphrey's 3-pointer at the 5:09 mark gave the Gators a 60-58 lead they never relinquished.
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