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  Tuesday, Nov. 14 9:00pm ET
Battier hits school-record nine 3s
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Shane Battier answered any doubts about his ability to be a complete player Tuesday night.

Duke's Mr. Defense turned into Mr. Offense in the first round of the Preseason NIT, scoring 29 points on a school-record nine 3-pointers as the second-ranked Blue Devils rolled over Princeton 87-50.

Shane Battier
Shane Battier defends Princeton's C.J. Chapman in the first half, but had a much bigger impact on offense.

After being fourth or fifth in the offensive pecking order on talented Duke teams the past three years, coach Mike Krzyzewski wanted Battier to shoot more.

The senior has always been a good listener.

"He does that in practice. It's not unusual," Krzyzewski said of Battier's shooting ability from long range. "Not that you expect him to go 9-for-12 from 3 every game, but I don't think this is a once-in-a-career type of thing. He can shoot and our guys find him."

It was apparent from the start that the 6-foot-8 Battier was going to pose problems for the Tigers.

"It's such an uneven matchup for big guys," fellow senior Nate James said. "Most big guys aren't used to going out there and playing someone who can shoot the ball and drive it. It's an unfair advantage. I'm just glad Shane Battier is on my team."

Battier, a preseason All-America, was surprised Princeton left him so open.

"I had great looks," Battier said. "I was surprised I was getting the looks that I did. I got the ball where I could do something with it and I stuck it."

The Tigers, playing their first game under first-year coach John Thompson III, allowed their most points since the seventh game of the 1994-95 season.

Jason Williams added 17 points and James had 15 as Duke was 15-for-30 from beyond the arc in Krzyzewski's 499th win at Duke.

Mike Bechtold had 12 points to lead Princeton.

Duke led by 24 points at halftime by holding the Tigers without a basket over a 9½-minute stretch. The Blue Devils then hit five straight 3-pointers to start the second half as Battier had three, and the lead reached 34.

Battier made two more long-range shots later in the second half before Krzyzewski took his star out with 5:18 left and the Blue Devils up 81-45. William Avery set the previous Duke record of eight 3-pointers against Florida in 1998.

"After starting 0-2 last year, getting that first win seems much more difficult," Battier said. "Since we played well tonight we can use that as momentum Friday."

The Blue Devils will play host to Villanova, which beat Fairfield 101-85, in the quarterfinals Friday night with the winner headed to Madison Square Garden next week.

Princeton lost coach Bill Carmody to Northwestern and six other top returners since Aug. 31 and was starting a freshman point guard in Thompson's debut as a head coach.

That's never good, but against a power like Duke, it was a disaster.

The only drama after the opening 20 minutes was whether Duke would score 100 points off a team that last allowed such an outburst from an opponent 859 games ago.

Duke fell short of that mark, but not much else.

Duke warmed up early from 3-point range against Princeton's match-up zone, making four of its first five, but then missed seven straight from beyond the arc as the Tigers pulled within 22-20.

Then the Blue Devils poured it on as Princeton managed just five points on three free throws and a layup over the final 10 minutes of the half.

Williams hit a 3-pointer to get Duke off and running before James scored on two follows, a 17-footer and a slam after his steal to spark a closing 27-5 run.

Duke's pressing defense forced eight turnovers during that span as the Tigers didn't have time to think about their famous backdoor plays.

"They made a lot of baskets and we didn't make enough," Thompson said. "We got tired right then and once fatigue sets in the mental part of the game goes also. We made some dumb mistakes we shouldn't have made. We made some pretty bad turnovers."

The Tigers shot 56 percent in the first half, but managed just 16 shots as Duke forced them into 14 turnovers.
 


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AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Mike Dunleavy finishes it off after Duke shows the good ball movement.
avi: 834 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Nate James strips the ball then finishes at the other end.
avi: 1457 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Princeton does what they do best as Kyle Wente works the backdoor with Nate Walton.
avi: 1195 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Mike Dunleavy slams home the missed shot.
avi: 926 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

audio
 Shane Battier talks with the ESPN crew after setting a school-record nine 3-pointers.
wav: 577 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6