Second-half spurt helps Duke cruise past Tulsa

Nolan Smith had 18 points, Kyle Singler added 17 and No. 5 Duke pulled away to beat visiting Tulsa, 70-52, last night.

Jon Scheyer finished with 15 points for the Blue Devils (24-4). They used an big run early in the second half to break open a surprisingly tight game and extend their decadelong nonconference winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 77.

Jerome Jordan had 12 points to lead the Golden Hurricane (19-9). In losing their fourth straight, they finished with a season-low point total and were denied the first victory against a top-five team since 1996.

Leading scorer Ben Uzoh, who entered on a streak of three straight 20-point games, finished with eight on 3-for-15 shooting.

Brian Zoubek, a 7-1 senior who has emerged lately as one of Duke's most valuable players, had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Justin Hurtt added 11 points for the Golden Hurricane and tied it at 34-34 with a free throw with 19:20 to play, but they missed six of seven shots after that while turning it over three times during Duke's decisive spurt.

Steven Idlet had 10 points for Tulsa, which shot 26 percent from the floor during the second half and finished 1-for-10 from three-point range.

In another game:

* At Vanderbilt, Jermaine Beal scored a career-high 28 points and the No. 16 Commodores overcame a five-point deficit in the final 33 seconds of regulation and earned a 96-94 overtime win over Georgia. A.J. Ogilvy's tap-in with 15 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 77-77 for Vanderbilt (21-6, 10-3 Southeastern Conference). Travis Leslie then missed two chances to win the game for Georgia (12-14, 4-9).

* One unfortunate step by Robbie Hummel has put Purdue's Final Four hopes in jeopardy.

The do-it-all junior forward will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The injury occurred during the first half of No. 3 Purdue's 59-58 win over Minnesota on Wednesday. Purdue made the announcement after Hummel underwent an MRI examination yesterday afternoon.

"Injuries are a part of the game, but this is obviously disappointing on multiple levels because of everything Robbie Hummel has done for this program both on and off the court," Purdue coach Matt Painter said in a statement. "As he begins his recovery and rehab, Robbie will continue to provide integral leadership as we pursue our team goals down the stretch."

Reaching those goals - winning the Big Ten title, gaining a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and reaching the Final Four in Indianapolis - now will be more difficult. Hummel ranks second on the team with 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

The Boilermakers (24-3, 12-3 Big Ten) are on a 10-game win streak, lead the conference and are enjoying their highest national ranking since 1994. Now, Purdue heads into Sunday's showdown with Michigan State without one of their stars.

Purdue struggled last season while Hummel recovered from the back injury. In Purdue's first 11 Big Ten games last season, the Boilermakers were 6-1 with him and scored 68 points per game while allowing 60. Without him, Purdue was 1-3 and averaged 60 points while surrendering 63.

When he returned to near full strength at the Big Ten Tournament, he lifted the team by averaging 16 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and received the most outstanding player award.

* Missouri junior forward Justin Safford suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in a victory over Colorado and the injury will be assessed again next week. *