Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team saw its stellar 2010-11 season come to an end on Saturday, as the Pirates fell to Duke 87-45 in the second round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena.

The Pirates, who were seeded No. 16 in the West Region, had their five-game winning streak snapped by top-seeded Duke and ended the season 24-9. The Blue Devils advanced to 31-4 and will face Michigan in the third round on Sunday.

“Seeing (Duke) first-hand gives you a different light on the way they work and just how good they are,” Pirates head coach Edward Joyner Jr. said. “They are big and long.”

Duke handed the Pirates their most lopsided loss of the season, as Hampton tied its season low in points scored and set a season high in points allowed.

Junior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) and senior forward Charles Funches (Jersey City, N.J.) each led Hampton with nine points, while senior guard Brandon Tunnell (Wilmington, Del.) and junior guard Mike Tuitt (Bronx, N.Y.) each poured in six points.

Funches also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while Tuitt had all four of the Pirates' assists.

Duke jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a Miles Plumlee tip-in with 18:02 left to play in the first half; Hampton didn't score until Pellum hit a jumper at the 17:37 mark. The Pirates struggled with Duke's size and length, as the Blue Devils extended the run to 16-4 at the 15:12 mark on an Andre Dawkins 3-pointer.

At one point in the opening minutes of the game, Duke held an 11-0 rebounding advantage.

The Pirates went on an 8-4 spurt to close within eight, 20-12, when Funches buried a jumper with 10:48 left in the first half, but Hampton would get no closer.

Duke closed the half out-scoring the Pirates 19-10 to take a 39-22 lead into the locker room after Nolan Smith, the ACC Player of the Year, hit a pair of free throws with 58 seconds left in the half.

The Blue Devils opened the second half on a 16-3 run to take a 55-25 lead with 15;56 to play after Smith flushed down a transition dunk.

Funches hit a trey with 11:50 to play to pull Hampton within 27, 55-28, but the Pirates would get no closer, as the Blue Devils out-scored Hampton 32-19 over the rest of the game. An Irving 3-pointer with 1:14 to play gave Duke its largest lead of the game at 87-41.

But the Pirates didn't go down quietly, as sophomore forward Koron Reed (Philadelphia, Pa.) flushed a dunk off an offensive rebound with 28 seconds to play.

The Pirates shot 34.5 percent (19-for-55) from the floor, while making four of 14 3-pointers and only making seven trips to the free throw line. Despite being out-rebounded, Hampton held an 11-8 edge in second-chance points.

The Blue Devils shot 53.3 percent (32-for-60) from the floor, hitting nine of 19 3-pointers and going 14-for-16 from the free throw line. Duke held a 38-29 rebounding edge over the Pirates, and Duke scored 27 points off 17 Hampton turnovers.

Kyrie Irving, seeing his first action since December, led Duke with 14 points off the bench, while Dawkins added 13 points. Mason Plumlee poured in 12 points and Kyle Singler added 11 points.

Miles Plumlee pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds, 11 of which came in the first half.

"Sometimes the awe of the moment gets to you," Joyner said. "We missed defensive assignments. We threw the ball away. We missed a bunch of layups. They (Duke) don't do that.

"Every college team (watches) TV and says, 'I want to play Duke, I want to see what it's like to play Duke' … we sure found out."

For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.