Gonzaga falls to Duke

Greg Paulus had a career-high 20 points and combined with Josh McRoberts on three big plays in the second half Thursday night to help No. 6 Duke beat No. 22 Gonzaga, 61-54, in the Aeropostale Classic at Madison Square Garden.

The sophomores came up big for the Blue Devils (11-1) on the offensive end in a defensive game that saw plenty of missed shots and almost as many bodies on the court.

“That was a tough, hard-nosed basketball game and definitely more of a grinder game than we have been in,” Gonzaga Coach Mark Few said.

Duke bounced back from an awful first half that ended with the Bulldogs (9-4) leading, 21-20. The Blue Devils shot 22.6% and Gonzaga 35.7%.

But Duke opened the second half by making six of its first seven shots and took a 34-30 lead. Gonzaga was never in front again and Duke won its seventh in a row.

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Colgate 59, UC Riverside 56 -- The Raiders built a nine-point lead in the second half and held on to beat the Highlanders at Riverside.

Kendall Chones had 23 points for Colgate (5-5).

Henrik Thomsen had 17 points for Riverside (3-8).

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California center DeVon Hardin will miss eight to 12 weeks because of a stress fracture in his left foot, sidelining the Golden Bears’ best post player for much of the Pacific 10 season.

Hardin was averaging 10.7 points and 8.4 rebounds a game. He leads the team with 21 blocked shots.