No. 15 Duke surges past Long Beach State, 103-81

Grayson Allen scored 24 of his career-high 33 points in the second half to lead No. 15 Duke past Long Beach State, 103-81, on Wednesday at Durham, N.C.

Matt Jones added 21 points and Derryck Thornton had 18 in the final nonconference game for the Blue Devils (11-2).

They overcame some poor early shooting from three-point range by shooting 65.6% in the second half, making 28 of 32 free throws and pulling away with a 25-6 run that bridged the halves.

A.J. Spencer scored 20 points and Noah Blackwell had career highs of 19 points and four three-pointers for the 49ers (6-9), who led for almost 15 minutes in the first half but had 18 turnovers that Duke turned into 24 points.

“We could not control them on the offensive end,” Long Beach Coach Dan Monson said. “It’s embarrassing to give up 100 points to anybody.”

Allen made eight of 15 shots from the field and 15 of 17 from the free-throw line while surpassing his previous career-best of 32 points set against Georgetown last month in New York.

“I just started to see it as the game was going by, and Coach wanted us to be more active on offense when we were attacking the zone,” Allen said. “I just saw lanes to drive out there, and as the game went on I was able to see them quicker and more often.”

at No. 4 Maryland 70, Penn State 64: In a Big Ten opener, freshman Diamond Stone scored 32 of his 39 points in the second half to lead the Terrapins (12-1) to their sixth win in a row.

at No. 5 Virginia 71, Oakland 58: Anthony Gill and London Perrantes scored eight points each during a 24-7 run to open the second half and the Cavaliers (11-1) pulled away from the pesky Grizzlies for their 10th consecutive victory.

at No. 7 North Carolina 80, Clemson 69: In taking their Atlantic Coast Conference opener, the Tar Heels (12-2) improved to 58-0 against Clemson at home, an NCAA record for the most consecutive home wins against one opponent.

No. 19 West Virginia 88, at Virginia Tech 63: Jevon Carter made his first eight shots and scored 18 points to lead the Mountaineers (11-1), who never trailed and won their fourth straight since a 70-54 loss to Virginia on Dec. 8.