No. 5 Duke Rolls Past Pittsburgh 81-54 For 4th Straight Win

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DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Wendell Carter Jr. had 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting while fifth-ranked Duke shot 52 percent in Saturday's 81-54 win against Pittsburgh.

Fellow rookie Marvin Bagley III added 20 points for the Blue Devils (17-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who cruised to a second easy win against the Panthers in 10 days. Duke won the first meeting on the road by 35 points, then led by 22 points at halftime on the way to another blowout margin against Pitt (8-12, 0-7).

Grayson Allen managed to steady his recently wayward shot for an afternoon, too. The senior scored 16 points and made four 3-pointers after struggling throughout ACC play.

Duke finished with 24 points off turnovers to go with 18 second-chance points after controlling the boards, leading by as many as 34 points midway through the second half.

Parker Stewart scored 15 points for the Panthers, who shot 41 percent.

BIG PICTURE

Pittsburgh: Pitt continues hurtling toward a bottom-of-the-ACC finish. The Panthers arrived with its worst start in ACC play — this is their fifth season — and now they have their first 0-7 start in a conference since losing to Louisville for an 0-7 Big East mark in January 2012.

Duke: This was a game for Duke to fine-tune things moreso than a question of whether the Blue Devils would win their fourth straight. Duke's defense was frequently active and getting hands in passing lanes, particularly in the first half, and pestered the Panthers into three 10-second backcourt violations. Another positive was Allen having a welcome "average" shooting game. He was shooting 30 percent in ACC games and made just 9 of 35 shots (26 percent) over the past four, including 4 of 22 3s (18 percent), but he made 5 of 11 shots against Pitt and 4 of 10 from behind the arc.

UP NEXT

Pittsburgh: The Panthers host North Carolina State on Wednesday.

Duke: The Blue Devils stay in their home state with a trip to Wake Forest on Tuesday.

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