DURHAM, N.C. — Zion Williamson blew out his shoe, and then No. 8 North Carolina blew out top-ranked Duke.
Luke Maye took full advantage of a freak injury to the freshman sensation, finishing with 30 points and 15 rebounds to help the Tar Heels rout Duke 88-72 on Wednesday night.
“Obviously, you lose a national player of the year candidate,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “there are going to be gaps of what you have to do.”
A star-studded crowd that included former President Barack Obama, Spike Lee and Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. packed into Cameron looking for another highlight-filled show from Williamson — arguably the most exciting player in college basketball. But the Atlantic Coast Conference’s second-leading scorer sprained his right knee during the Blue Devils’ opening possession.
“It was just a shock for us,” Duke forward Cameron Reddish said. “Obviously, we’re used to playing with him, so playing without him was very difficult. We missed him today.”
Williamson grabbed the knee in pain after slipping awkwardly and falling when his left Nike shoe fell apart as he planted hard while dribbling near the free throw line. The blue rubber sole ripped loose from the white shoe from the heel to the toes along the outside edge, with Williamson’s foot coming all the way through the large gap.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski classified the injury as a mild sprain, but didn’t know how much time Williamson will miss.
Cameron Johnson added 26 points and Garrison Brooks had 14 for the Tar Heels (21-5, 11-2).
By winning their ninth in 10 games and beating a top-ranked team for the first time since 2013, they pulled into a first-place tie with the Blue Devils (23-3, 11-2).
RJ Barrett matched a season best with 33 points and fellow freshman Reddish added a season-high 27 for Duke — but the rest of the team combined to score just 12.
Duke looked lost without Williamson. Meanwhile, North Carolina took advantage of the Zion-sized hole in the lane, scoring 32 of its first 34 points in the paint and finishing with a 62-28 scoring advantage there. The Tar Heels never trailed, pushed their lead to 22 on Johnson’s layup with about 16 minutes left and held on.
“First, I’m thinking if he’s OK, man,” Maye said. “I don’t want to see somebody get hurt, especially a guy of that caliber, and I hope he makes a quick recovery. But when he goes down, I’m obviously trying to attack — and I was going to do that anyway. I was going to try to get inside and work inside out and just play my game and play the way I know I can play.”
Eight nights after the Blue Devils rallied from 23 down in the final 10 minutes to win at Louisville, they couldn’t come up with another comeback — especially without Williamson.
SAN DIEGO ST. 65, No. 6 NEVADA 57
Devin Watson and Jeremy Hemsley each scored 15 points as the Aztecs (17-9) pulled off their biggest upset in program history while ending Nevada’s 10-game winning streak.
It was the second loss of the season for the Wolf Pack (24-2), who are still atop the Mountain West Standings.
San Diego State’s defense was tough on Nevada all night, holding the usually high-powered Wolf Pack to just 33 percent shooting.
Caleb Martin had 20 points to lead Nevada but no other player was in double-figures. Explosive senior Jordan Caroline was held to just 3 of 12 shooting and finished with 8 points. It was the first time Caroline was held to single-digits this season.
NO. 10 MICHIGAN St. 71, RUTGERS 60
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Cassius Winston scored 28 points and Xavier Tillman had a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Michigan State.
The Spartans (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) moved a half-game ahead of No. 7 Michigan and No. 15 Purdue in the Big Ten standings.
Geo Baker scored 17 points and Ron Harper had 11 points for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights (12-14, 5-11) have lost five of their past six games.
Michigan State missed Nick Ward and Joshua Langford on offense against defensive-minded Rutgers. Ward had hand surgery Sunday and Langford had season-ending foot surgery earlier this month, taking more than 30 points of scoring out of Tom Izzo’s lineup.
NO. 11 MARQUETTE 79, BUTLER 69
MILWAUKEE — Markus Howard scored 28 points and Theo John added 15 points and 11 rebounds as Marquette pulled away in the second half for the win.
Marquette (22-4, 11-2 Big East) erased an eight-point deficit early in the second half with a 25-7 run.
Sean McDermott had 27 points and Kamar Baldwin 12 for Butler (15-12, 6-8).
With No. 17 Villanova’s 85-73 loss at Georgetown on Wednesday, the Golden Eagles moved into the Big East lead a half-game ahead of the Wildcats.
Howard, the Big East’s leading scorer, made 9 of 20 shots, including 6 of 13 from beyond the arc.
FLORIDA 82,
NO. 13 LSU 77, OT
BATON ROUGE, La. — Kevaughn Allen highlighted a 21-point performance with a pair of 3-pointers late in overtime, and Florida beat a ranked team for the first time this season.
Jalen Hudson and Noah Locke each scored 15 for Florida (15-11, 7-6 SEC), which has won three straight on the heels of competitive losses to Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn.
Naz Reid had 16 points and 15 rebounds for LSU (21-5, 11-2), which lost for only the second time in 16 games and saw its four-game winning streak snapped. Skylar Mays scored 18 points for the Tigers.
Tremont Waters, Kavell Bigby-Williams and Marlon Taylor each scored 10 points for LSU.
GEORGETOWN 85,
NO. 17 VILLANOVA 73
WASHINGTON — Jessie Govan had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Mac McClung scored 21 points and Georgetown snapped a nine-game losing streak to Villanova.
Georgetown (16-10, 6-7 Big East) beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 2017, and second-year coach Patrick Ewing earned his first win against a Top-25 foe in eight tries.
James Akinjo had 10 points and nine assists as the Hoyas ended a two-game slide and beat Villanova at home for the first time since 2015.
Villanova (20-7, 11-3) lost consecutive conference games for the first time in 104 games. Phil Booth had 26 points, and Eric Paschall added 16. Colin Gillespie scored 13 points.
SYRACUSE 69,
NO. 18 LOUISVILLE 49
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Elijah Hughes scored 18 points and Oshae Brissett had 16 to lead four players in double figures as Syracuse topped Louisville.
Syracuse (18-8, 9-4 ACC) found their mark from behind the arc against Louisville, hitting 11 3-pointers and holding the Cardinals in check throughout. Buddy Boeheim had 14 points and Tyus Battle 11 for Syracuse.
The Cardinals (18-9, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) were coming off two tough games. They blew a 23-point second-half lead and lost to top-ranked Duke just over a week ago, and on Saturday barely eked out a 56-55 win over Clemson.
Louisville entered the game shooting 36.3 percent from 3-point range and finished 14 of 54 (25.9 percent), a season low, and 6 of 28 from 3.