DURHAM, N.C. — Quinn Cook followed his worst scoring game with his best — and his production helped No. 1 Duke after one of its leaders was hurt.
Cook scored 20 of his career-high 27 points in the second half after Ryan Kelly left with an injured right foot, and the Blue Devils beat Clemson 68-40 on Tuesday night after holding the Tigers to their lowest-scoring first half in 12 years.
Kelly had 12 points in the first half but sat out the second. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Kelly hurt the same foot he tweaked during the holidays and sprained last March, an injury that kept him out of both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
Krzyzewski says the extent of Kelly’s injury isn’t yet known, but a CAT scan and X-rays are planned.
“We’re hopeful that it’s not real serious, but for precautionary reasons, we felt that it wasn’t good to play him in the second half," Krzyzewski said.
With Kelly out, Cook picked up the slack by making nine of his 12 shots in the half to finish 12 of 16 from the field.
His turnaround from a zero-for-11 performance three days earlier against Wake Forest — although he did have a career-high 14 assists — prompted Clemson coach Brad Brownell to say he “played like a first-team all-league player tonight."
Also on Tuesday:
No. 10 Missouri 84
Alabama 68
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Jabari Brown had career-bests of 22 points and five 3-pointers and Phil Pressey responded from a shaky first half with 11 points and 13 assists to lead Missouri in its Southeastern Conference debut.
No. 13 Creighton 91
Drake 61
OMAHA, Neb. — Ethan Wragge matched career highs with 22 points and six 3-pointers for Creighton, which got off to a blistering start.
No. 15 Ohio State 74
Purdue 64
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Deshaun Thomas scored 22 points to lead Ohio State to a victory over Purdue.
Pittsburgh 73
No. 19 Georgetown 45
WASHINGTON — Talib Zanna scored 15 points, and Pittsburgh rediscovered its shooting touch, hitting 55 percent from the field in a win over Georgetown.
