McClure's layup lifts No. 10 Duke to win

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) _ For once, David McClure was at the center of on-the-court victory party for Duke. <br/><br/>The reserve sophomore hit a layup as time expired to give the 10th-ranked Blue Devils a 68-66

Friday, January 26th 2007, 6:38 am

By: News On 6

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) _ For once, David McClure was at the center of on-the-court victory party for Duke.

The reserve sophomore hit a layup as time expired to give the 10th-ranked Blue Devils a 68-66 win over No. 19 Clemson on Thursday night, extending Duke's mastery of the Tigers.

In a game with the wildest of finishes _ including a blown five-point lead in the final 13 seconds and a dose of clock controversy before the final play _ McClure's stunning basket helped the Blue Devils (17-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their fourth straight. Duke also has won 20 straight in the series _ a span of 10 years _ and 24 of 26 meetings in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

This one came thanks to a 6-foot-6 reserve forward who finished with a modest stat line _ a player who typically earns his minutes by grabbing rebounds, getting steals and bringing energy off the bench. This time, McClure ended the game being mobbed by teammates as they spilled onto the court in celebration after his shot.

``I've been on teams where we've hit shots like that, but I've never been the one to hit it,'' McClure said. ``You can't even explain how it feels. I just started jumping around and about a second later I got hit by the rest of the team and we all went down. It's one of the best feelings you can experience in a lifetime.''

With the score tied at 66 with 4.4 seconds left, Josh McRoberts inbounded the ball to freshman Jon Scheyer, who pushed the ball near midcourt and sent a pass ahead to McClure. McClure, who had a step on Vernon Hamilton, caught the pass and laid it up over the outstretched arms of K.C. Rivers as the horn sounded.

``It was a great finish and a great way to win,'' said Scheyer, who had 12 points. ``That's about as crazy as it gets.''

In the other games involving ranked teams Thursday night, it was: No. 3 UCLA 62, California 46; Washington 89, No. 7 Oregon 77; No. 14 Butler 70, Loyola-Chicago 66 in overtime; No. 18 Nevada 84, Louisiana Tech 67; No. 20 Washington St. 70, Oregon St. 55; and Stanford 65, No. 25 Southern California 50.

Clemson (18-3, 4-3) could only walk back toward its bench in stunned silence after making a remarkable comeback only seconds earlier.

Duke looked on its way to the win when freshman Gerald Henderson hit two free throws to make it 66-61 with 12.7 seconds left. But Hamilton converted a layup to cut the deficit to three with 5 seconds left.

Then Duke made its biggest mistake of the night when McRoberts' inbounds pass for Greg Paulus went right to Hamilton just outside the 3-point arc. Hamilton's buried the shot to tie it with 1.8 seconds left, which seemed to have the game headed for overtime.

But officials stopped play to review the time left and restored the clock to 4.4 seconds. Video replays showed the clock, which stopped on Hamilton's layup, did not restart on Hamilton's steal until the ball was almost in the basket _ a pause of more than a second that led to confusion.

``It all happened so fast,'' said Hamilton, who led Clemson with 21 points. ``I really thought when I hit the 3 it was time to go to overtime.''

Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said he had no arguments with the call, even though only 0.6 seconds expired on Hamilton's steal-and-3-pointer in which the senior hesitated before the shot.

``I don't have any proof or feeling that it was handled poorly,'' Purnell said. ``As soon as they told me, we were trying to set our defense because they had some time left.''

McRoberts led Duke with 17 points. McClure finished with eight points and six rebounds in 34 minutes. The Blue Devils shot just 41 percent, but kept control of the game with a 40-24 rebounding advantage _ including a 17-6 edge on the offensive boards that led to a 19-4 edge in second-chance points.

``We're just out there making plays,'' said DeMarcus Nelson, who had 13 points, ``and that's the easiest way to put it.''

No. 3 UCLA 62, California 46

Arron Afflalo scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and made all nine of his free throws for visiting UCLA (18-1, 7-1 Pac-10) in its fourth straight win.

Theo Robertson had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists and Ryan Anderson added 13 points and six boards for the Golden Bears (12-8, 4-4).

Washington 89, No. 7 Oregon 77

Justin Dentmon, benched for the last month for erratic play, scored 24 points and had seven assists to lead host Washington (12-7, 2-6 Pac-10), which has won eight of its last nine home games against ranked teams.

Bryce Taylor scored 19 points for Oregon (18-2, 6-2), which was playing without the suspended Aaron Brooks.

No. 14 Butler 70, Loyola-Chicago 66, OT

At Chicago, A. J. Graves hit three 3-pointers in overtime, including the go-ahead basket with 55.2 seconds to play, and Butler got its eighth win in nine games. Graves scored 26 points for the Bulldogs (18-2, 6-1 Horizon League).

Blake Schilb had 27 points and Majak Kou added 14 for the Ramblers (13-8, 4-4).

No. 18 Nevada 84, Louisiana Tech 67

Ramon Sessions had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists to help Nevada hold onto a share of the lead in the Western Athletic Conference. Nick Fazekas added 13 points and Marcelus Kemp 12 for the host Wolf Pack (18-2, 6-1).

Chad McKenzie had 19 points and Trey McDowell 17 for Louisiana Tech (6-13, 4-3).

No. 20 Washington St. 70, Oregon St. 55

Robbie Cowgill had a career-high 18 points to lead No. 20 Washington State in its first home game as a ranked team in 57 years. Kyle Weaver scored 12 points for the Cougars (17-3, 6-2 Pac-10).

Sasa Cuic had 17 points for Oregon State (9-12, 1-7).

Stanford 65, No. 25 Southern California 50

Brook Lopez blocked a school-record 12 shots to go along with 18 points and 11 rebounds, helping host Stanford (13-5, 5-3 Pac-10) spoil Southern California's first game as a ranked team in five years.

After USC (15-6, 5-3) answered with a 13-0 run to cut it to nine, Lopez hit a jumper to end a scoreless stretch of 7:10 for the Cardinal.