SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Zion Williamson scored 26 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots, and fellow freshmen RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish combined for another 30 points as No. 2 Duke rolled to an 83-61 victory over Notre Dame on Monday night.
Williamson made 10 of 12 shots from the field for the Blue Devils, who were in control all the way.
Duke (18-2, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its fourth straight game while sending the Fighting Irish (11-10, 1-7) to their sixth straight loss.
Barrett tallied 17 points for the Devils to go with nine rebounds. Reddish had 13 points.
John Mooney scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Notre Dame. It was his seventh consecutive double-double.
Prentiss Hubb added 13 points and T.J. Gibbs 12 for the Irish.
Duke, which led by as many 24 points in the second half, was up 46-28 by halftime.
The Blue Devils roared to a 17-2 lead in the opening six minutes, with Williamson scoring nine points during the spree, and were up 26-7 by the time 10 minutes had elapsed.
BIG PICTURE
Duke: The Blue Devils moved into sole possession of the lead in the hotly contested ACC for the moment by virtue of their seventh league win. No. 3 Virginia (6-1), No. 15 Louisville (6-1) and No. 9 North Carolina (5-1) each have one league loss as well, and all were idle Monday. Duke still has road assignments remaining against each of those other three clubs, plus a home date with the Tar Heels.
Notre Dame: Teetering at just over .500, the Irish are in danger of missing out on postseason for just the second time during coach Mike Brey’s 19 years in South Bend. ND has made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and five in the NIT under Brey. The lone time his Irish were shut out of either was in 2014, when the team closed at 15-17.