Williamson's 29 leads No. 2 Duke to rout of St. John's

DURHAM, N.C. - Freshman phenom Zion Williamson scored 29 points, Tre Jones flirted with a triple-double and No. 2 Duke routed St. John's 91-61 on Saturday.

RJ Barrett added 15 points and 14 rebounds while Jones had 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while also playing lockdown defense on Shamorie Ponds. The Blue Devils (19-2) shot 56 percent while winning their fifth straight.

Williamson stuffed the stat sheet in this one - hitting 13 of 17 shots while finishing with five steals, two blocks and a couple of his customary highlight-reel dunks.

He scored 12 points - all either at the rim or the free-throw line - during the 26-6 run that bridged the halves and pushed the lead into the 20s. Cameron Reddish capped the run with his fourth 3 of the game, making it 61-39 with about 16 1/2 minutes left.

LJ Figueroa had 14 points and Marvin Clark II added 12 for the Red Storm (16-6), who fell behind by 20 points before they hit a shot in the second half while losing their third in four games.

Ponds, the hero of last year's upset win over Duke and a 20.9-point scorer, had all 11 of his in the second half. He faced relentless pressure all day from Jones, and a couple of his five turnovers led directly to breakaway dunks by Williamson.

BIG PICTURE

St. John's: The Red Storm knocked off one Duke team full of one-and-done freshmen - stunning last year's group 81-77 in Madison Square Garden behind 33 points from Ponds - but with Jones neutralizing him this time, they couldn't do it again. If nothing else, though, they're still the answer to a trivia question: St. John's was the last non-ACC team to beat Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, pulling it off in 2000.

Duke: The Blue Devils' 3-point shooting remains an enigma. Duke entered shooting just 31 percent from long distance - the worst percentage in school history - even after a 10-for-19 performance five nights earlier at Notre Dame. The Blue Devils promptly made their first four 3s against the Red Storm's 2-3 zone - and then hit just 3 of 22 after that.

UP NEXT

St. John's: Faces another daunting road challenge Tuesday night at No. 10 Marquette - coached by former Duke assistant and player Steve Wojciechowski.

Duke: Plays host to Boston College on Tuesday night.