The Associated Press

GREENSBORO, N.C. - J.J. Redick was excited for his first start. Then the Duke freshman went out in the first half and put up a goose egg.

He more than made up for it over the final 20 minutes, scoring 20 points for a second straight game as the fourth-ranked Blue Devils beat Ohio State 91-76 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night.

"I just got off to a slow start and the shots I was taking were rushed and I was off-balance," said Redick, who missed his four shots in the first half before finishing 5-for-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from the foul line. "I didn't feel comfortable on the offensive end.

"They were keying on me pretty hard - and I was excited," he added. "In the second half, I just wanted to come out aggressive. I wanted to hit a couple of shots early and I was fortunate enough to do that and from there I was pretty good the rest of the half."

The Blue Devils have now started at least 4-0 for the 14th time in 23 seasons under Mike Krzyzewski.

Redick, who had 20 points over the weekend against UCLA, nailed three 3-pointers in the opening 8:40 of the second half, while Daniel Ewing had 13 of his 18 in the first half.

Brent Darby, with a 8.7-point career scoring average, led the Buckeyes with a career-high 35 points. His previous best was 26 against Northwestern last season.

"Thirty-five doesn't mean nothing. I would have rather scored two points and won the game," said Darby, who was 9-for-16 from the field and 13-of-14 from the foul line. "We had another opportunity to beat a ranked team and it slipped away for us."

Darby had 10 straight points as Ohio State closed to 75-67 with 4:32 left after trailing by 27.

But Redick hit a 3-pointer and Ewing made two free throws two minutes later as the Blue Devils went back up by 14 and sealed the game at the foul line.

Ohio State (1-2) held its first two opponents to an average of 53 points, but Duke had 55 by the first media timeout of the second half.

OHIO ST. (1-2)-Connolly 6-11 0-0 16, Williams 2-10 2-2 6, Dials 3-7 4-5 10, Darby 9-16 13-14 35, Jernigan 0-4 2-2 2, Bass 0-0 0-0 0, Radinovic 2-4 0-0 4, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Sylvester 1-3 1-2 3, Marinchick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-55 22-25 76.

DUKE (4-0)-Horvath 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 4-8 2-4 12, Sanders 2-6 4-5 8, Redick 5-12 6-6 20, Duhon 2-6 5-7 10, Ewing 5-10 6-8 18, Dockery 3-4 3-3 10, Williams 4-5 1-2 9, Randolph 1-1 0-0 2, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 27-35 91.

Halftime-Duke 41-33. 3-Pointers-OSU 8-18 (Connolly 4-6, Darby 4-6, Sylvester 0-2, Jernigan 0-4), Duke 10-23 (Redick 4-9, Jones 2-4, Ewing 2-4, Dockery 1-1, Duhon 1-4, Horvath 0-1). Fouled out-Connolly, Williams, Radinovic. Rebounds-OSU 29 (Williams 6), Duke 32 (Sanders 7).