KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Dominic James scored a season-high 25 points and led a late surge to help No. 13 Marquette beat No. 9 Duke 73-62 on Tuesday night in the championship game of the CBE Classic. With the game tied at 56 and 6:23 to go, James scored 10 points in a span of less than 2½ minutes. He was fouled connecting on a fall-away jumper with 3:57 left, and after he made the free throw Marquette led 67-58. The Blue Devils could not mount a rally over the final couple of minutes, giving Golden Eagles coach Tom Crean his seventh win in 18 games against teams ranked in the top 10. Jerel McNeal added 17 points for the Golden Eagles (6-0) in the first meeting between the teams since Duke beat Marquette 59-49 in the 1994 NCAA tournament. James left the game with 2:04 to go, favoring his right ankle after crumpling to the floor. He was helped to the bench but was hopping around on his feet a moment later, imploring Crean to let him back in the game. James returned with 50.8 seconds to go and the game well in hand. Josh McRoberts led the Blue Devils (4-1) with 15 points. DeMarcus Nelson added 13. Nelson scored 11 of Duke's first 15 points, hitting three 3-pointers and throwing down a dunk. By the time he hit McRoberts for an ally-oop reverse jam, the Blue Devils had a 21-16 lead midway through the first half. But after Brian Zoubek scored in the post a couple of minutes later to make it 23-18, the Blue Devils went nearly seven minutes without a field goal, allowing Marquette to take a 28-26 lead with 2:38 to go in the half. McRoberts tied the game at 32 with 31 seconds left, but James curled in a jumper a few seconds later to give Marquette a 34-32 lead at the break.

Officials: Reggie Greenwood, Tim Nestor, Mike Eades
Attendance: 8,381