Hokies fall to 0-8 at Cameron Indoor

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Deron Washington found out early what he and his Virginia Tech teammates were up against.

About 90 seconds into the game, the forward was running back on defense when he got shoved hard from behind by Duke's Shelden Williams. Washington went sprawling across the floor, then waited for the foul to be called.

The whistle never blew.

"I was like, This game is going to be wild if that's the way it's going to be called," Washington said. "I flew from the 3-point line all the way out of bounds."

The Hokies' first trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference didn't go much better after that.

Williams had a double-double by halftime and J.J. Redick scored 29 points despite a shaky performance at the free throw line, helping the second-ranked Blue Devils bury Virginia Tech 100-65 Sunday night.

Williams finished with 25 points and 17 rebounds for Duke (16-1, 6-1), which bounced back from a home loss earlier in the week to Maryland. Daniel Ewing added 17 points.

"We wanted to come out and make a statement," Williams said. "We knew they were going to be a scrappy team, so we wanted to throw the first punch, so to speak."

Virginia Tech (11-7, 4-3) fell to 0-8 all-time at Cameron and played the final 4:39 without coach Seth Greenburg, who was issued his second technical foul and headed to the locker room. Carlos Dixon was called for an intentional foul in the first half, then left the bench for about 15 minutes in the second half to treat an injured elbow.

"I feel bad for my daughters and my wife, because, obviously, I embarrassed them and that's not something I want to happen," Greenburg said. "I did not use profanity -- until I was tossed."

Zabian Dowdell had 15 points to lead the Hokies, who finished with 34 fouls, short of the ACC record of 41, set in 1998 by Clemson against North Carolina. The Blue Devils shot 49 free throws -- 35 in the first half -- compared to just 23 for Virginia Tech.

"I guess we foul a lot," Greenburg said. "Our guys tried to play as hard as humanly possible, and we're just going to continue to work hard and try to establish a foundation for our program."

Perhaps tuning up for his matchup with Wake Forest's Eric Williams on Wednesday, the Duke center swished a turnaround jumper about 20 seconds into the game and had five opportunities for three-point plays in the opening 20 minutes. He finished 9-of-13 from the field.

"He's a monster under the basket," Washington said. "He's too strong."

With so many stoppages for free throws, even the Cameron Crazies appeared to get bored with the pace of play, chanting "Please stop fouling!" on several occasions. At one point, the Blue Devils shot free throws on four straight possessions.

"I think it was too physical," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It shouldn't be that physical, but for both teams. I'm not blaming them. It was both sides."

Redick might have been affected, too. For the first time in his career, he missed more than one free throw in a game, connecting on 7-of-10. He has made 96 of 103 (93 percent) this season.

"I had no idea what was going on," Redick said. "I missed every one the same way. It was like I was dreaming."

The Blue Devils held Virginia Tech without a basket for the final 5:35 of the first half and completed a 17-2 run on Redick's 3 just before the buzzer to lead 56-31. The Hokies crept within 16 early in the second half before Ewing and Redick combined to make four consecutive 3-pointers, and the final 10 minutes was nothing more than garbage time.

"We're going to have to play this hard just to have an opportunity to win any game we play," Coach K said. "We've always known that. We're a good team just trying to get better."