J.J. Redick is making the incredible look downright ordinary these days. He scored nearly half of Duke's points on Saturday
Shelden Williams added 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks for the Blue Devils (19-1, 7-0 ACC), who continued their dominance in the series by beating the Cavaliers (10-7, 4-3) for the 22nd time in 24 meetings.
Redick finished one point shy of matching his career high of 41 set against Texas and Georgetown this season. He came in as the nation's third leading scorer at 27.1 points a game, but passed Andre Collins (Loyola of Maryland) to move into the second spot behind Adam Morrison (Gonzaga).
"I have a feeling before every game that it's going to be a good shooting night," Redick said. "It doesn't always work out for me though."
It certainly did Saturday. Redick went 11-for-13 from the floor and 8-for-10 from behind the arc in 34 minutes. He also hit 10 of 11 free throws, putting him alongside Dick Groat as the only Blue Devils with three 40-point games in a career.
And while Redick, the reigning ACC player of the year, said it wasn't easy, he's sure making it look that way.
"I have to work extremely hard to do this," Redick said. "I think at any time I could have an off shooting night or an off scoring night. But my role on this team -- or one of them -- is to score points, and I'm going to work as hard as I can to do that."
It was a performance that had Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Virginia coach Dave Leitao gushing about Redick, with Krzyzewski calling him "a treasure" and Leitao comparing Redick's knowledge of the game to that of an NBA veteran.
"What he is doing this season, I think all of us -- players, coaches and media -- should really savor," Leitao said. "He's having a season for the ages. ... We all need to sit back and admire it because it won't happen for a long time after this."
Teammate Sean Dockery, however, was tougher to impress.
"You haven't seen anything," Dockery said. "At practice, sometimes he doesn't miss. It's crazy."
Redick scored 11 points during a 20-2 run to open the game and single-handedly outscored the Cavaliers with 16 points in the first 15 minutes, prompting chants from the rowdy "Cameron Crazies" of "J.J.'s winning!"
Redick kept pouring it on after the break, scoring eight straight points -- ending with a long 3 that rolled around and dropped through the rim for a 45-27 lead with about 18 minutes left.
No. 1 Connecticut 76,
Providence 62
When the shots wouldn't fall, top-ranked Connecticut had to work a little harder for its baskets.
"Making the first shot ... that would be a bit easier," UConn center Josh Boone said after the Huskies beat Providence 76-62.
"But when you have 21 offensive rebounds, you can't really complain."
Hilton Armstrong had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Boone had nine and 13 to lead UConn (18-1, 6-1 Big East) to its seventh consecutive win. The Huskies struggled with their shooting -- making just 39 percent from the field -- but used a 52-34 advantage in rebounding to set up 36 second-chance points, against 11 for Providence.
"That was the killer," Providence coach Tim Welsh said. "That was the difference."
The road team had won five straight matchups between the teams, including UConn's 94-89 double-overtime victory in Providence last year. But the Friars (9-9, 2-5) fell to 0-5 against ranked teams this season and has not beaten one in 15 tries.
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