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NEW YORK -- Almost everybody in Madison Square Garden was impressed with the game Amile Jefferson had for No. 5 Duke.Nobody appreciated it more than Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski.Jefferson set career highs with 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead Duke to an 84-74 victory over No. 21 Florida on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic.Amile played one of the great games, Krzyzewski said. God bless him. He was fantastic.Luke Kennard scored 29 points and freshman Jayson Tatum added 22 for the Blue Devils (9-1), whose only loss was to Kansas on this same court in the Champions Classic in November.Krzyzewski also praised Kennard, who established his career high for points in the previous game against Maine.Lukes played fantastic, Krzyzewski said. When you get 29 points on 16 shots -- what hed have, 35 against Maine? Really efficient. Hes come through for us beautifully. Hes starting to put it together a little bit.Twice in the final 8 minutes the Gators (7-2) got within seven points but both times Kennard scored to hold off Florida, once with a 3-pointer and again with a long layup off a steal.Down the stretch in that second half, every time they made a play, we did a great job of coming back and taking the air out of the ball, using 20 seconds and then getting up a good shot, Jefferson said. Whether it was Luke, whether it was Jayson, whether it was G (Grayson Allen) penetrating and finding somebody, our guys did an amazing job of never splintering.The 6-foot-9 Jefferson, who also blocked four shots, was 11 for 14 from the field. Kennard went 11 of 16, including 5 for 7 from 3-point range.Kevaughn Allen led Florida with 21 points, and John Egbunu had nine points and 12 rebounds.They were a better team tonight, Florida coach Mike White said. I thought our guys were really jacked up for the opportunity. I thought Amile Jefferson was amazing, just absolutely amazing.Duke closed the first half with an 8-2 run -- Jefferson and Tatum had four points each -- for a 41-31 lead.Allen, Dukes preseason All-America, had an off night shooting (2 for 10, including 1 for 5 on 3s) but he had eight assists to go with his six points.I thought Jayson came out tonight and did an amazing job of just letting it all out, Jefferson said. Luke is the smoothest player in the country. So playing with these guys has been so much fun so far.BIG PICTUREFlorida: In the first eight games of the season, six different players led the Gators in scoring. ... White was 3 years old when Krzyzewski started coaching at Duke. ... Because of renovations at the OConnell Center on the Florida campus, the Gators wont play their first home game until Dec. 21 against Arkansas-Little Rock. All their games are either on the road or at neutral sites until then.Duke: Krzyzewski is 29-10 at Madison Square Garden as Duke coach. ... The Blue Devils lead the all-time series with Florida 13-4. ... Jefferson was coming off a career-high 20 points against Maine. He had 14 rebounds four times. ... Duke had five double-figure scorers in seven of its nine games coming in. The Blue Devils had three against Florida, all over 20 points.I think were really close if were not there, Kennard said. I think we really, really shared the ball well tonight on the offensive end because we have a lot of scorers. We have a lot of playmakers and a lot of scorers and the way we can share the ball, its pretty special. Not a lot of teams have that many scorers on a team and when we share the ball and get open shots, we can be really dangerous on the offensive end.JIMMY VThroughout both games, videos were shown during timeouts featuring cancer survivors or those whose life has been affected by the disease. The Garden also showed Jim Valvanos speech at the ESPYs when he announced the formation of the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The crowd of 15,294 broke into a prolonged round of applause when it ended with Valvanos now famous Dont give up. Dont ever give up.I miss him, Krzyzewski said of Valvano. Im glad he had the vision to get this thing started.GOOD DBoth teams played solid man-to-man defense and it was such a halfcourt game that there were only 18 fast-break points, 10 for Florida.FAMILY TIESKevin White, the athletic director at Duke, is the father of Florida coach Mike White.UP NEXTFlorida: The Gators head for a real rivalry game, Sunday at Florida State.Duke: On Saturday the Blue Devils travel to Las Vegas to meet UNLV. Nike Air Vapormax 2019 Skroutz . PETERSBURG, Fla. nike vapormax plus greece . 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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- New Orleans Saints receiver Michael Thomas is technically an unproven rookie with hardly a week of training camp under his belt.Could have fooled his teammates, and even coach Sean Payton.You wouldnt know he was a first-year player if you just came to practice, Payton said. You would just think hes one of the receivers out here making a lot of plays.Payton used the word amazing, to describe one play made by his sure-handed, second-round pick. And that was only the first of two one-handed catches, in tight coverage, of long touchdown passes down the left sideline.To make both plays, Thomas had to extend and contort his body to the point of crashing to the turf. Yet he found a way to corral the ball each time, drawing roars of approval from not just spectators, but other players on the field.When Thomas has been able to stay on his feet after a catch, he has demonstrated the ability to pick up considerable yards after the catch, once using a sudden jump-step to avoid a defender before sprinting toward the sideline and turning the corner.He has been encouraging when you see him in traffic. Hes got really good hands away from his body. So, hes not someone that lets the ball get in on his chest, Payton said. That will give him a chance to have a little bit more run-after-the-catch ability.Thomas made yet another tough grab during Wednesdays 11-on-11 drills, when he reached up to snag a slant pass that second-string quarterback Luke McCown zipped between quickly closing defensive backs Keenan Lewis and Jamal Golden.Both defenders met Thomas as the pass arrived, trying to rip the ball away as they made the tackle. They were unable to dislodge the ball from Thomas grip.I love that kid. He has a nose for the football, said McCown, a 13th-year veteran who has lined up with Thomas several times in the first handful of camp practices.Hes got this kind of -- golly -- just this want to get the ball no matter where its at, McCown said.Thats what you want in a receiver -- a guy that just wants the ball to be in his ZIP code, and hes going to find a way to come down with it, whether theres somebody hanging on him or not.The 6-foot-3, 212-pound Thomas was drafted 47th overall. He had solid, but not necessarily extraordinary statistics at Ohio State last season, catching 56 passes for 781 yards and nine touchdowns.But the Saints were less concerned with Thomas stats than his particular skills.At the very least, his height and sure hands made him a good candidate to help fill the void ccreated by the departure of Saints all-time leading receiver Marques Colston, who was released last winter, following his 10th season.ddddddddddddAlready, Thomas is getting a number of snaps with starting quarterback Drew Brees, who hasnt hesitated to throw the rookies way and has praised how quickly he learns.Thomas also has a former star NFL receiver in the family -- his uncle, Keyshawn Johnson. Thomas is not as flamboyant as his uncle. He is more soft-spoken and emphasizes humility, even as he projects confidence.After a recent practice, Thomas could be seen doing extra sprints; he was punishing himself for a false start in full team drills.That was my idea. I let the team down, I feel like, by moving too early, Thomas said. I can cost the team by doing that, so do something to correct it. Stay humble.Still, Thomas said he and his uncle talk, all the time, and that Johnson has been an important resource, teaching him how to hone his receiving skills and develop into an all-around pro.Thomas eagerness to explore ways to improve led him to strengthen his hands with yoga-type exercises.Brandin Cooks, who was New Orleans leading receiver last season, said he recalled hearing about Thomas affinity for hand yoga in the offseason, but forgot all about that until he saw the first of Thomas spectacular one-handed catches in training camp.Im like, `Maybe theres something to it, Cooks said. He has great hands.Whether Thomas turns out to be as productive as his famous uncle remains to be seen, but his acrobatic catches in camp have heightened expectations.Theyre probably going to expect that from me, so Im probably going to get another opportunity to make that (type of) play, so be ready when it presents itself, Thomas said. Its a momentum game. So if I can start that fire (with a big play), Id like to be that person.Game notes CB Keenan Lewis, who began training camp on the Saints physically-unable-to-perform list, took part in his first practice on Wednesday. ... DT Nick Fairley and S Erik Harris, who both left practice with undisclosed injuries on Saturday, returned on Wednesday. ... Payton said the Saints have signed S Jamal Golden, DE Matt Shaughnessy and G Jordan Walsh. ... The Saints have waived DT Lawrence Virgil and assigned S Alden Darby and WR Kyle Prater waived-injured designations.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '