ATLANTA (AP) -- As he watched J.J. Redick struggle to find his

jump shot, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski could still see everything

falling into place.

"I don't think he's ever been 2-of-17, but we just believe that

the next shot is your first shot," Krzyzewski said. "To me,

that's mental toughness."

Shelden Williams had 26 points and 11 rebounds and Redick

overcame a horrid start to score 22 points as the top-ranked Blue

Devils beat Georgia Tech 73-66 on Wednesday night.

The victory gave Duke its 11th Atlantic Coast Conference

regular-season title under Krzyzewski, but the focus was on Redick,

who entered the game with a chance to become the league's career

scoring leader.

Redick missed 15 of his first 17 shots, but he did hit the

go-ahead jumper with 8:51 remaining.

After Jeremis Smith's fastbreak jam gave Georgia Tech a 51-47

lead nearly 3 minutes earlier, Redick missed a 2-foot runner, a

jumper inside the free throw line and a fastbreak layup that Josh

McRoberts put back to tie it at 53-all with 9:34 to play.

"I never really lost my confidence," Redick said. "I did feel

a little pressure. When I missed that layup, I said that it can't

get any worse."

Redick needs nine points to break the ACC mark of 2,587 set by

Wake Forest's Dickie Hemric 51 years ago. The Blue Devils' next

game is Saturday in Philadelphia against Temple.

Duke (26-1, 14-0) has won 20 of 21 games against Georgia Tech

since losing in Atlanta 10 years ago. The Yellow Jackets (10-15,

3-11) have lost three straight overall and are 1-11 since beating

Centenary last month.

Tech coach Paul Hewitt was despondent that Redick went 11-for-12

from the free throw line.

"When you have a player of J.J. Redick's caliber, who's

obviously having a tough night by evidence of some of the easy

shots he missed, you can't bail him out by putting him on the foul

line," Hewitt said. "We committed some pretty bad fouls. You

can't do those things."

Williams kept the Blue Devils close with an eight-point barrage

after Smith's layup gave Georgia Tech an 11-point lead 1:31 into

the second half. A putback of Redick's missed 3-pointer cut the

lead to eight before Williams took Greg Paulus' bounce pass and

jammed to bring Duke within two with 14:07 to go.

"He missed a few shots early, but he came up big for us in the

second half," Williams said of Redick. "When you miss shots, you

have to keep shooting. He missed a lot of shots that usually go in.

In the end, it was the same old J.J."

The signature moment came when McRoberts, a 6-foot-10 freshman

forward, stole a pass and dribbled twice behind his back as he

drove past the halfcourt line. Seeing Redick coming up the right

side, McRoberts fed the senior guard, who buried an 18-footer to

give Duke a 55-53 lead it never relinquished.

Redick, the NCAA's career leader in 3-pointers, hit a 25-footer

on the next possession and followed that with two free throws that

ended a 24-6 run. Georgia Tech missed nine of 12 shots and

committed nine turnovers during the stretch that spanned 12:02.

Smith finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Ra'Sean

Dickey added 14 points and Zam Fredrick had nine assists and nine

turnovers.

Krzyzewski passed Phog Allen for 11th place on the career

coaching list with his 747th victory. Krzyzewski improved to 42-16

against Tech overall and 105-9 against unranked ACC teams over the

last nine years.

"Shelden and J.J. are now 110-20 in their careers, and that's a

great record in itself," Krzyzewski said. "But if you can be a

regular-season camp, a [conference] tournament champ -- both, maybe

-- this is a great league, and it's an accomplishment."

Hewitt, who dropped to 1-12 against the Blue Devils, didn't need

anyone to remind him that the Yellow Jackets allowed 22 points off

their 20 turnovers.

"If you've got any answers," Hewitt said, "I've got a

suggestion box outside."