COLLEGE BASKETBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marquette's Wesley Matthews, center, cut between Duke's Gerald Henderson, left, and Kyle Singler in the Maui final.
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Duke lovin’ Maui title
LAHAINA » Mike Krzyzewski called it "mini-Cameron."
Each time the Duke coach has brought his team to Maui, the Blue Devils have made themselves right at home in the Lahaina Civic Center. And for the fourth time in as many visits they'll return to storied Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham with three wins and the EA Sports Maui Invitational trophy.
With Duke fans chanting "our house" in the final minute and after the game, the 13th-ranked Blue Devils captured another Maui title with a 77-73 win over No. 11 Marquette in last night's championship game.
"We love coming here," Krzyzewski said. "We've been a little bit lucky and then our guys have really played tough.
"We'll come back, I know that."
Freshman forward and tournament MVP Kyle Singler did a little bit of everything to lead Duke (5-0) to the title. Singler led all scorers with 25 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
His final points -- two free throws with 13 seconds left after coming up with a loose ball -- sealed the game for the Blue Devils, who improved to 12-0 on Maui.
Singler grabbed seven rebounds and played tough defense, drawing a charge on Marquette guard Dominic James with the Golden Eagles trailing by three with 1:54 left.
"I feel very honored," said Singler, who averaged a tournament-high 18 points. "The main goal coming out to Maui was to win the championship, and that's what we accomplished. Individually, I just wanted to play hard and do whatever I could do to help the team win."
Along with Singler's play, Krzyzewski credited senior guard DeMarcus Nelson for shepherding the Blue Devils through the week. Nelson finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists last night.
"Our captain, DeMarcus, really led us in these three games," Krzyzewski said. "I would have voted him co-MVP. Nothing against Kyle, but DeMarcus was superb."
Last night's meeting came one year after Marquette defeated Duke in the final of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, and last night's loss ended the Golden Eagles' 12-game winning streak in early-season tournaments spanning four years.
"It was a great basketball game. I thought both teams brought a lot of toughness out of one another," Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "Tonight, their strengths were a little too good for us. They got a little too much off penetration, a few too many free throws. It's something to learn from."
A year after seeing James score 25 points in the CBE final, Duke held James to 12 points, just one coming in the second half as he went 0-for-6 from the field after the break.
"It was nothing they did defensively -- I just missed those shots," James said. "A lot of them were layups, and those are shots I usually make. Unfortunately I didn't make them in the second half."
There were 10 ties or lead changes through the first 11 minutes before Duke went on a 13-2 run. Nelson started the run with an elbow jumper and Singler's 3-pointer from the top gave the Blue Devils a 35-27 lead at the 4:42 mark of the first half.
With Duke leading 52-44 in the second half, Marquette answered with a 10-0 run, tying the game on David Cubillan's 3-pointer and reclaiming the lead on Wesley Matthews' driving scoop with 12:40 left.
Singler tied it again with a putback and the Blue Devils took the lead for good with an 8-0 run to open a 67-61 lead.
Marquette stayed close and drew within 75-73 on Jerel McNeal's jumper in the lane with 34 seconds left. But Singler was fouled by James in the scramble for a loose ball near midcourt and the freshman came through by draining the two free throws.
OTHER TOP 25 GAMES
No. 4 Kansas 87, Northern Arizona 46
LAWRENCE, Kan. » Darrell Arthur had 17 points and the Jayhawks (4-0) overwhelmed the Lumberjacks (3-2) in the first half for a victory in Kansas' 600th win in the 52-year history of Allen Fieldhouse.
No. 5 Georgetown 57, Ball State 48
MUNCIE, Ind. » Roy Hibbert scored 16 points and had seven rebounds, and the Hoyas (3-0) made seven 3-pointers in a win over the outmanned Cardinals.
Ball State (0-3) was led by Peyton Stovall with 16 points.
No. 6 Louisville 68, UNLV 48
LAS VEGAS » Earl Clark had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Jerry Smith added 14 points to lead the Cardinals past the Rebels.
UNLV (3-1) got a team-high 11 points from Matt Shaw.
No. 16 Texas A&M 77, Washington 63
NEW YORK » Donald Sloan scored 18 points and the Aggies (5-0) held the Huskies (3-1) without a field goal for a key 5-minute stretch in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals.
Ohio State 79, No. 21 Syracuse 65
NEW YORK » Freshman Kosta Koufos scored a career-high 24 points to help the Buckeyes (3-0) beat the Orange (3-1) to advance to the NIT Season Tip-Off final against Texas A&M tomorrow.
No. 22 Butler 79, Michigan 65
ANCHORAGE, Alaska » Peter Campbell scored 18 points, all on 3-pointers, and the Bulldogs (4-0) defeated the Wolverines (2-2).
No. 24 Clemson 74, Presbyterian 57
CLEMSON, S.C. » K.C. Rivers scored 18 points, Cliff Hammonds added 14 and the Tigers (4-0) beat the Blue Hose (0-6).
WAC
Boise St. 107, Montana Tech 53
BOISE, Idaho » Forward Larry Nelson scored 20 points to lead the Broncos (2-2) past the Ore Diggers (3-6).
Fresno State 86, Montana State 74
FRESNO, Calif. » Hector Hernandez scored 20 points as the Bulldogs (3-2) defeated the Bobcats (2-3).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.