Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is now only two wins away from capturing the 1,000th win of his illustrious career.
Krzyzewski's squad got back on track Saturday with a 63-52 victory over the sixth-ranked Louisville Cardinals.
Amile Jefferson scored 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds for the fourth-ranked Blue Devils (15-2, 3-2 ACC), who avoided dropping three straight ACC games for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign.
Jahlil Okafor added 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed seven boards for Duke, which shot 48.8 percent from the field and went 17-of-23 from the foul line.
"Obviously, we're ecstatic about the win," said Krzyzewski. "I thought our guys played with a lot of poise and they followed our game plan really well."
Terry Rozier ended with 17 points for the Cardinals (15-3, 3-2), who have lost two of three. Montrezl Harrell tallied 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Trailing 12-9, Duke put together a 17-2 run to gain control. Jefferson tallied six points during the surge that Quinn Cook capped with a 3-pointer for a 26-14 edge.
After taking a 30-20 lead into the locker room, the Blue Devils started the second half on a 12-2 spurt. Okafor scored four points during the burst, including a layup with 15:35 remaining to make it 42-22.
Louisville used a late run to make the score a little better.
"Give them a lot of credit," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino. "They did a lot of good things to hurt us tonight."
Game Notes
The Blue Devils improved to 6-4 all-time against Louisville ... Tyus Jones had 10 points and eight assists for Duke ... The Cardinals shot just 29.5 percent from the field and went 4-of-25 from beyond the arc.
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