Duke Basketball: No. 5 Blue Devils Top Pitt 79-65 to Give Coach K 999th Win

No. 5 Duke earned its second consecutive win with a convincing 79-65 victory over Pittsburgh at Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night.

The win earned head coach Mike Krzyzewski his 999th victory, meaning Sunday's contest against St. John's at Madison Square Garden could make him the first coach in Division I history to hit the 1,000-win mark.

Krzyzewski passed legendary head coach Bob Knight back in 2011 with a 74-69 victory over Michigan State at Madison Square Garden to become the winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball history.

After suffering back-to-back losses to North Carolina State and Miami, the Blue Devils bounced back on Saturday with a 63-52 win at then-No. 6 Louisville. Their home loss to the Hurricanes on Jan. 13 ended a 41-game home winning streak.

Since those two losses, where it gave up an average of 88.5 points, Duke has been tough in its 2-3 zone defense, holding its last two opponents to just 58.5 points per game. Not only has it looked better on the defensive end, but with the offense clicking, it makes this team that much more dangerous. 

The Blue Devils opened Monday's game shooting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc and also controlled the boards with 20 total rebounds as they headed into the half up 41-25.

The Panthers looked to find their way back into the game by leaning on sophomore forward Jamel Artis, who finished with a career-best 22 points, but they were unable to stop a determined Duke squad that was led by solid guard play.

The closest Pittsburgh came to getting back into the game was when it trailed by 10 points twice with 3:05 and 1:13 remaining in regulation.

Freshman Tyus Jones tied a career best with 22 points and had a career-best four three-pointers on six attempts. Quinn Cook finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Rasheed Sulaimon came off the bench and scored 13 points.

Freshman sensation Jahlil Okafor was also a force to be reckoned with, as he chipped in with 14 points of his own.

Duke finished the contest by shooting 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) from the field, a solid 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from beyond the arc and an impressive 20-of-25 (80 percent) from the free-throw line.

Duke moves to 16-2 and 4-2 in conference play while Pittsburgh falls to 13-6 and a disappointing 3-3 in its second season as a member of the ACC.