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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Dahntay Jones sailed over Davidson's
tallest players for a one-armed flying slam dunk that drew a foul.
As he turned to celebrate, his Duke teammates swarmed him for a
round of chest-bumping.
Jones had just proved he could be valuable coming off the bench,
making the top-ranked Blue Devils all the more dangerous.
Jones scored 19 points in his first appearance as a reserve this
season, and Carlos Boozer added 23 points and 13 rebounds as Duke
extended its winning streak to 22 games with a 106-71 victory over
Davidson on Wednesday night.
Jones and Boozer also teamed to celebrate Jones' second-half
dunk.
"It was a phenomenal dunk, something you only see from Kobe
Bryant or Tracy McGrady," Boozer said. "To see him go among the
trees and dunk over the giants, and then make the free throw, it
got us pumped."
Jones started the game on the bench for Duke (12-0) because
coach Mike Krzyzewski wanted to try to add some flexibility to the
lineup. Casey Sanders started in his place, but Jones didn't seem
to mind.
He entered the game midway through the first half and broke open
what was a surprisingly close contest with seven straight points.
He shot 6-for-13 and made all six of his free throws in 26 minutes.
"It was different, but it gave me a chance to pick my spots,"
Jones said. "It felt the same as if I was starting, and if it
continues to be that way, I won't take it personally because I;m
just here to compete and contribute any way I can."
Krzyzewski said he wasn't sure what might happen with the lineup
in the future. He might not have a choice, though.
Mike Dunleavy left the game with a sprained left ankle eight
minutes into the game. Although Krzyzewski said the injury
shouldn't keep the junior forward out of Saturday's ACC opener
against Florida State, he admitted it was the same ankle Dunleavy
sprained earlier this season.
X-rays of Dunleavy's ankle were negative, said Jon Jackson,
Duke's director of sports information.
"We want to start looking at different ways to develop as a
team," Krzyzewski said. "I think we had become stagnant when we
went small, so we're trying to develop a little more flexibility
and get different looks."
Jason Williams added 18 points for Duke, while Chris Duhon and
Daniel Ewing scored 11 each.
Wayne Bernard scored 14 points to lead Davidson (7-5), a
Southern Conference school that fell to 1-2 against ACC teams this
season.
The Wildcats earned one of their biggest wins in school history
earlier this season by knocking off North Carolina 58-54.
"We are not in the ACC," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said.
"It has been wonderful experience to be on this national stage
this past month and I am very optimistic this experience will make
us better going into conference play."
The contest was considered a home game for Davidson, although it
was played 20 miles away from its campus at the Charlotte Coliseum.
But the majority in the crowd of 11,753 -- the largest ever for a
Davidson home game -- turned out wearing blue in support of Duke. A
resounding cheer of "Sit Down" poured down on Davidson center
Martin Ides when he fouled out in the second half.
Just like the crowd, things turned against the Wildcats early.
Duke took a 9-0 lead, but let Davidson creep into the game and
even take a 16-15 lead on a 3-pointer by Ides. Williams made a 3 to
give Duke the lead back, but the Wildcats answered with a 3 from
Peter Anderer to go up 19-18.
The Blue Devils then buckled down, retaking the lead for good on
Jones' 3 and pulling away on one of his layups and a banked jumper.
Williams then made two free throws and a 3 to give Duke a 30-19
lead that overmatched Davidson could not recover from.
"Dahntay coming off the bench is a good role for him and for us
because no other team will have someone as good as him coming off
the bench," Boozer said. "It was an experiment and he played
fantastically."
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Duke vs. Davidson