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Georgetown handles Duke 89-77

WASHINGTON (AP)—Chris Wright and Georgetown put on a show for the commander in chief.

With President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden seated in the front row, the No. 7 Hoyas literally stole the game from No. 8 Duke, forcing five turnovers in a two-minute, first-half spurt on the way to an 89-77 victory Saturday.

It couldn’t have been a much bigger day for Georgetown: the president attending his first Hoyas game, the first sellout of the season in the 20,000-seat Verizon Center, a crowd mostly sporting “We Are Georgetown” T-shirts in a school-sponsored “gray out,” the 200th win for coach John Thompson III, the launch of an initiative for Darfur schools, and, of course, a dominant program from the Atlantic Coast Conference in the building.

Wright seemed pumped for it all, scoring 21 points on 8-for-9 shooting and making two defensive plays that helped ignite an 18-3 run and gave the Hoyas the lead for good in the first half. Greg Monroe also scored 21, and Austin Freeman added 20 points for Georgetown (16-4), which shot 77 percent in the first half and 72 percent for the game.

Nolan Smith scored 19 points, Kyle Singler had 18 before fouling out with 2:10 to play, and Jon Scheyer added 17 for the Blue Devils (17-4), who shot 37 percent.

Duke committed 15 turnovers—one fewer than Georgetown—but they came in bunches in rare series of breakdowns from coach Mike Krzyzewski’s team.

The key first-half sequence began when Wright blocked Smith from behind on an outside jump shot, then seconds later stole the ball from Smith under the basket. Then came turnovers by Miles Plumlee, Smith and two by Scheyer, including a charging call. Jerrelle Benimon and Hollis Thompson each got a steal during the run, a needed boost from the thin Georgetown bench.

By the time it was over, Duke had gone nearly four minutes without a field goal, and Georgetown led 34-20.

Georgetown went 17 for 22 from the field in the first half and led 46-33 at the break.

The Blue Devils tried in vain to make a game of it in the second half. A pair of 3-pointers in the first couple minutes cut the lead to seven, but two more turnovers led to a 6-0 run and restored Georgetown’s 13-point lead.

The Blue Devils cut the deficit to seven once more at 52-45, but Monroe stopped that momentum with a spin move in the paint and a big pump of the arm to celebrate. There were plenty of free throws from there in a game that had nearly as many fouls (52) as rebounds (54).

The game provided a tough break for both schools from their demanding conference schedules. It was their fourth meeting in five years, with the home team winning each time.

Thompson improved to 200-97, including six seasons at Georgetown and four at Princeton.

The schools used the game to help publicize a new initiative to raise money for schools in refugee camps in the Darfur region of Sudan. NBA star Tracy McGrady, who has traveled to Darfur and helped start the campaign, also attended the game.

Duke invades D.C. to take on the Georgetown Hoyas

  The Duke Blue Devils will make the trek to Washington D.C. tomorrow in preparation for Saturday's show down with the 15-4, 6-3 Georgetown Hoyas. John Thompson 111 has his team rebounding from a 16-15 season that ironically started going south with their loss at Duke in mid January last year. Coach Thompson who is 131-55 in his 6th season at Georgetown has his Hoyas poised for a return to the NCAA tournament next year after missing it last year.

The Hoyas play a short bench that most times encompasses only 7 players and in their loss on Monday night to Syracuse the bench did not score. Here are the starters and key reserves.

6-3 Jr. Austin Freeman  16.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists

6-11 Soph.  Greg Monroe  14.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists

6-1 Jr.  Chris Wright  14.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists

6-2 Soph  Jason Clark 10.8 points, 3.7 rebounds

6-9 Jr.  Julian Vaughn  8.2 points, 5.3 rebounds

6-7 Fr. Hollis Thompson  3.5 points, 2.4 rebounds

6-7 Fr. Jerrelle Benimon  1.3 points

The Hoyas average 72.1 points, and give 62.0 per game. They shoot 49.4% from the field and give up 40.2%. They shoot 39.7% from three on 6.3 made and give up 32.6% on 6.1 made per game. The are out rebounding their opponents by 4.2 per game and they commit 14.6 turnovers , while forcing 13.7.

Notes:  The Hoyas and Blue Devils have a common opponent in St. Johns. Both teams defeated the Red Storm, the Hoyas 66-59. The Hoyas have a good win at Pittsburgh and a bad loss against Old Dominion. The game is scheduled for 1 pm and will be televised on CBS.

 

Duke runs by Florida State 70-56

DURHAM, N.C. (AP)—Jon Scheyer scored 22 points, Kyle Singler added 20 and No. 8 Duke held off Florida State 70-56 on Wednesday night

The Blue Devils (17-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot 43 percent against the nation’s toughest field-goal percentage defense and forced 22 turnovers but needed a late 15-4 run to seal their 14th straight win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Solomon Alabi had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Singleton added 14 points for the Seminoles (15-5, 3-3). They outrebounded the Blue Devils 40-30 and held them without a field goal for more than six minutes to erase most of a 16-point deficit, but were denied their second straight victory against a Top 25 opponent.

Singleton made things interesting late, hitting a free throw to make it 51-47 with 8:56 left, before the Blue Devils pulled away down the stretch with seven straight points.

Scheyer hit a 19-footer, Brian Zoubek added a stickback and Singler knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:45 remaining to get the decisive run rolling and restore Duke’s double-figure lead.

It wasn’t until then that the Blue Devils were assured of extending a few streaks at Cameron. They claimed their 39th straight victory there against unranked opponents—a string that dates to the Seminoles’ win in February 2007 — and improved to 12-0 this season at home, winning 10 of those by at least 20 points.

At least Florida State can take solace in this: The only team to keep things this tight against Duke here was St. John’s, an 80-71 loser in December.

For a while, though, this one was shaping up as yet another blowout for the Blue Devils, who seemingly took control early in the second half. A 12-2 spurt gave them a 51-35 lead on Singler’s free throw with 13:55 left.

But a scoreless drought of nearly six minutes allowed Florida State to creep back into the game. The Seminoles reeled off 12 straight points—nine by freshman reserve Michael Snaer—to make it a four-point game late.

Worse for the Blue Devils, Florida State was simply outhustling them, with the Seminoles missing three straight foul shots in 20 seconds—and beating Duke to all those rebounds but having trouble converting them into points.

Nolan Smith finished with 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting for Duke, which led for all of about three minutes of this one despite scoring runs proving hard to come by against a defense that allows teams to shoot just 35.5 percent.

Florida State had more turnovers (14) than field goals (13) at halftime, while Scheyer had 13 points in the opening 20 minutes. But it wasn’t until there were 70 seconds before the break that the Blue Devils took their first double-figure lead. Singler rattled in a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 37-27.

But the Seminoles had Alabi, and that meant they still had a chance. The 7-footer showed his dominance during one memorable sequence midway through the half, blocking Scheyer’s layup attempt and then beating everybody back downcourt for a layup.

Snaer finished with 13 points for Florida State, which was coming off a 68-66 victory three days earlier against then-No. 19 Georgia Tech.

Duke 16-3, 4-2, hosts Florida State 15-4,3-2

  The surprising  Florida State Seminoles who are 15-4, 3-2 coming off their second win of the season against Ga. Tech will invade Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday night hoping to derail a Duke team who has been close to invincible at home this year. Leonard Hamilton who is in his 8th year in Tallahassee and sports a 146-100 record with the Noles has a young team that plays only one senior in his nine man rotation.

   Here are the starters and key reserves.

7-1 Soph.  Solomon Alabi 12.6 points, 6.9 rebounds

6-9 Soph.  Chris Singleton  11.1 points, 7.5 rebounds

6-5 Soph.  Deividas Dulkys  10.5 points, 2.4 rebounds

6-4 Jr. Derwin Kitchen 8.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists

6-8 Sen.  Ryan Reid 7.1 points, 4.1 rebounds

6-5 Fr. Micahel Snaer  8.2 points

6-7 Jr. Xavier Gibson  5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds

6-7 Jr. Jordan Demercy  3.8 points

6-5 Soph. Luke Loucks 3.1 points

   The Seminoles average 72.6 points and give up 60.2. They shoot 47% from the field and relinquish 35.5%. They shoot 34.3% from three on 6.0 ,made and give up 32.5% on 7.1 made a game. They are out rebounding their opponents by 5.7 per game. The commit 17.4 turnovers and force 16.9.

Notes: The game is scheduled for 9pm and will be televised on ESPN.

   

Duke Stifles Clemson 60-47

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP)—Nolan Smith scored 22 points and No. 7 Duke wiped out an ugly memory from last season with a 60-47 victory over No. 17 Clemson on Saturday night.

It was last February when the Blue Devils (16-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) suffered their most lopsided defeat in nearly two decades, falling to the Tigers 74-47 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called time out in the final moments of that game, wanting his players to soak in the cheers of Tigers fans.

In this one, Smith and Duke’s defense ensured the Blue Devils a much happier finish.

Smith had 9 points during a 14-2 second half run that put Duke ahead 43-30 with 12:33 left. Clemson could not get closer than 6 points the rest of the way.

Trevor Booker led the Tigers (15-5, 3-3) with 22 points.

It was Clemson’s fewest points at home since a 52-47 loss to Maryland on Jan. 25, 2003. Booker got little help from his teammates—while Clemson’s star made 10 of 14 shots, the rest of the Tigers were just 8 of 34.

Duke broke free from a 23-all halftime tie with six straight points to open the second half. After Clemson cut the lead to 29-28, Smith helped the Blue Devils take control.

Kyle Singler started the run with a 3-pointer, then Smith added another from long range. After Singler’s driving basket, Smith scored the next six points to put Duke ahead by 13.

Lance Thomas added 13 points, Singler 12 and Jon Scheyer 11 for Duke, which bounced back from a midweek defeat at North Carolina State.

Clemson lost its second straight to a ranked ACC opponent after falling at Georgia Tech this past Tuesday.

Clemson fans were ready for this one, even if their team wasn’t.

ESPN College GameDay broadcast from Littlejohn and about 4,000 orange-clad early risers turned out 10 hours before tip-off. A sign in the crowd before gametime summed up the mood: “Breathe if you hate Duke.”

After all, many in the crowd were still jacked up from the Blue Devils’ last visit—the 27-point Clemson victory here last winter was Duke’s most lopsided defeat since the 1990 national championship loss to UNLV.

Before losing here last season, though, Duke had won 22 straight over Clemson, including nine in a row on the Tigers’ home floor.

Duke got a measure of payback earlier this month, a 74-53 win over the Tigers at Cameron Indoor Stadium to open ACC play. In that one, Clemson was a miserable 5 of 30 in the opening half to fall behind 30-12.

This time, both teams struggled to find offense early. The Blue Devils were 2 of 6 from 3-point range and made just one of four foul shots.

Clemson did even worse from the outside, going 1 of 6 behind the arc. While Booker was 5 of 7 in the half, his teammates were a combined 3 of 15.

Each team committed 11 turnovers against lockdown pressure.

Duke’s Smith hit a 3-pointer with 1:29 left in the period to tie things at 23.

Clemson did its part to keep the atmosphere going. One of the Tigers all-time greats, center Larry Nance was introduced during a timeout. Football star C.J. Spiller got an award at halftime, telling the cheering crowd to help the Tigers pull out a victory in the second half.

The Blue Devils avoided their first 0-4 slide on the road since 1981-82, although they’re 4-0 this season at neutral sites.

Before the game, Clemson held a moment of silence for Gaines Adams, the former Tigers and 26-year-old Chicago Bears defensive end who died of an enlarged heart last Sunday. The Greenwood native was buried Friday after a funeral service about 20 minutes from campus.

N.C. State runs by Duke 88-74

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)—Tracy Smith scored 23 points, Dennis Horner added 20 and North Carolina State stunned No. 7 Duke 88-74 on Wednesday night.

Javi Gonzalez had 15 points for the Wolfpack (13-6, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), including a critical 3-pointer that beat the shot clock with about four minutes left. It was N.C. State’s first home win against Duke since 2004 and the first win against the Blue Devils overall since the first round of the 2007 ACC tournament.

By the time it was over, Wolfpack fans were charging the court for the kind of home win they haven’t savored since an upset of highly ranked rival North Carolina in coach Sidney Lowe’s first season.

Kyle Singler scored 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (15-3, 3-2), who fell behind by double figures in the first half and by as many as 17 points in the second half.

This was hardly the outcome anyone could have expected. Despite a tough loss at Georgia Tech earlier this month, Duke had looked every bit like the top team in the ACC. All three of the Blue Devils’ league wins had come by at least 20 points, while their defense had allowed less than half of teams to even crack 40 percent shooting against them.

N.C. State, meanwhile, was picked to finish last in the league in the preseason and was still struggling to gain its footing in Lowe’s fourth season as coach at the program he helped lead to a national championship as a player.

Yet behind Smith—and perhaps some more magic in Lowe’s red coat he wears for rivalry games—N.C. State hit shot after shot to build a 10-point first-half lead, then pushed that margin all the way to 69-52 on Horner’s dunk with 8:53 left.

Perhaps even more surprising, the same team that couldn’t hold late leads in home losses to Florida and Virginia this month never let the Blue Devils back in it. Duke clawed to within eight points three times, yet couldn’t get enough stops against the sharp-shooting Wolfpack to make it even tighter.

The last time came at 74-66, and Gonzalez answered by draining a long 3-pointer over the outstretched arm of 6-foot-10 Miles Plumlee to beat the shot clock and push the lead back to double figures with 3:50 left. Duke got no closer than nine points the rest of the night.

Smith shot 10 for 12 to lead a balanced offense that had five players in double figures. Most impressively, N.C. State shot 58 percent—including 64 percent in a first-half performance that charged up the home crowd—while the Blue Devils hit just 39 percent.

As the final seconds ticked away, Smith motioned to the roaring crowd to get even louder, while teammate Farnold Degand simply extended his arms in the air. When the horn sounded, Lowe broke into a big smile and pumped his fists at his players before being mobbed by his assistant coaches and disappearing in the crowd of red-clad fans running to midcourt to celebrate.

Duke travels to N.C.State

  Duke 15-2, 3-1 will travel to Raleigh on Wednesday night to take on the pesky 12-6, 1-3 N.C. State Wolfpack who is coming off a tough 73-70 loss at home to Clemson on Saturday. The Wolfpack rallied from a 20 point second half deficit to nearly pull off the win. The Wolfpack won at Florida State 88-81 earlier in the week.

  Sidney Lowe who is in his 4th year as the head coach at N.C. State has the Wolfpack competitive in every game will start 2 juniors,one senior, a sophomore and a freshman. Here is the starting lineup and key reserves.

6-8 Jr. Tracy Smith 16.9 points, 8.8 rebounds

6-9 Sr. Dennis Horner 12.5 points, 7.8 rebounds

6-0 Jr. Javier Gonzalez 9.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists

6-7 Fr. Scott Wood  9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds

6-6 Soph. C.j. Williams 4.7 points

6-4 Sr. Farnold Degand  6.1 points

6-3 Soph. Julius Mays  6.9 points

6-8 Fr. Richard Howell  4.5 points, 4.4 rebounds

6-7 Fr. Josh Davis  2.7 points

  The Wolfpack average 70.7 points per game and give up 64.2. They shoot 45.7 % from the field and hold their opponents to 41.0%. They shoot 35.6% from three on 6.3 made and give up 30.7% on 4.9 made per game. They are out rebounding their opponents by 1.0 per game and they commit 13.3 turnovers and force 12.9.

Notes: The game is scheduled for 9pm on Wednesday and will be televised on Raycom. The Wolfpack in addition to beating Fla. State they also have a road win at Marquette 77-73 and two very tough losses to Florida and Arizona.

Duke out muscles the Deacons 90-70

DURHAM, N.C. (AP)—Mason Plumlee tumbled to the floor, too shaken up to try his free throws. So big brother Miles stepped in and knocked them down.

Duke’s pair of Plumlees sure must’ve seemed interchangeable to Wake Forest.

Miles Plumlee had career highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds, Mason Plumlee added 11 points and the eighth-ranked Blue Devils pulled away late to beat the Demon Deacons 90-70 on Sunday night.

“That makes us a complete team,” Miles Plumlee said. “Our perimeter’s been there, and they’re always going to be there for us. Now that we’ve got that real strong inside game, there’s not many people that can stop that.”

Kyle Singler added 21 points and 15 rebounds and Nolan Smith had 20 points for the Blue Devils (15-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). They overcame a defense determined to stop leading scorer Jon Scheyer, broke the game open with 13 straight points midway through the second half and rolled to their 13th straight win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Al-Farouq Aminu had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (12-4, 2-2), who lost their 12th straight at Cameron and haven’t won here since 1997, when Tim Duncan was still in school.

“We knew we had to concentrate on their ‘Big Three,”’ said guard Ishmael Smith, referring to Duke’s trio of Singler, Scheyer and Smith. “But the Plumlee brothers got some offensive rebounds, and we got in trouble.”

The Plumlees combined for 23 points and 17 rebounds in the first half, and it was the first time they scored in double figures in the same game for the Blue Devils, who have won nine of 10. They remained perfect at home and 10 of their 11 victories here have come by at least 20 points.

“I thought (Wake Forest) played winning basketball,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “So when you win a game where the other team was in position to be deserving to win, it makes it a better win.”

Chas McFarland added 17 points and 10 rebounds for Wake Forest, which rallied from 12 points down early in the second half with a 17-5 run and tied it at 55 on Aminu’s dunk with 14:07 left.

Singler hit a 3-pointer 7 seconds later—“the biggest shot of the game,” Krzyzewski said—and Scheyer followed that with a three-point play.

Then came the sequence that put Duke squarely in charge: Mason Plumlee soared in for a dunk and Smith collided with him in mid-air, knocking to the floor the Blue Devils’ freshman who said he didn’t even remember drawing contact because “I was looking at the rim.”

“I hate seeing people fall like that—especially when it’s my brother,” Miles Plumlee said. “I was hurting on the inside.”

Official Ray Natili called it an intentional foul, despite the Demon Deacons’ protests.

“I felt like I made the play, but the refs made the call,” Smith said. “I would never try to intentionally hurt anybody. Hey, I came down pretty hard, too. But that wasn’t the turning point of the game.”

Miles Plumlee stepped in for his baby brother and hit both free throws, Lance Thomas added a jumper and Smith capped the burst with a 3 to make it 68-55 with 11:47 left.

The traditionally guard-oriented Blue Devils knew 3-pointers were going to be hard to come by against the ACC’s best defense against the 3, and they finished 4 for 13 from long range.

In a bruising game in which the teams combined for 47 fouls and three players fouled out, the Demon Deacons made it their mission to slow Scheyer. He scored nine points—nearly 11 fewer than his average—on 3-of-11 shooting and was held to single-digit scoring for the first time this season.

“Obviously, I didn’t play as well as I could to help the team, but that just shows us a lot,” Scheyer said. “I didn’t play that well, and so many guys stepped up.”

His backcourt mate, Smith, was 6 for 17 from the field. Still, it was more than enough to help the Blue Devils win their 42nd straight at Cameron against opponents other than North Carolina—a string that dates back to 2007.

Ari Stewart added 14 points for Wake Forest, which took its only lead midway through the first half after Aminu’s free throw capped an 11-2 spurt that put the Demon Deacons up 32-28 with 6:14 left. The Blue Devils then closed the half by outscoring Wake Forest 18-6, a run that included three follow-up baskets from point-blank range by Mason Plumlee—including a nifty reverse dunk off Singler’s missed jumper.

Scheyer’s 3 from the corner—the only points of the first half for the ACC’s second-leading scorer—with 7 seconds left made it 46-38 at the break. Thomas’ jumper 19 seconds into the second half made it 48-38—the first double-figure lead by either team.

Duke hosts Wake Forest

   The Duke Blue Devils will host 12-3,2-1 Wake Forest on Sunday night. Wake Forest led 3rd year coach Dino Gaudio who 53-23 at Wake is coming off another overtime win. This one over Maryland on Tuesday night 85-83. This was third overtime win in 3 three tries this year.

   The Deacons will start three seniors,a sophomore and a freshman. Here are the starters and key reserves.

6-9 Soph. Al-Farouq Aminu   17.3 points, 11.7 rebounds

6-0 Sr.  Ish Smith  13.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists.

6-2 Fr. C. J. Harris 12.1 points

6-4 Sr. L.D Williams 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds

7-0 Sr. Chase McFarland 6.3 points, 7.5 rebounds

6-7 Fr. Ari Stewarrt 7.8 points

6-4 Jr. Gary Clark   4.8 points

6-11 Sr. David Weaver  3.5 points

6-11 Soph. Tony Woods 3.3 points

  

   The Demon Deacons average 77.3 points and give up 66.4. They shoot 45.7 % from the field and relinquish 36.7%. They shoot 33.0% from three on 4.5 made and give up 25.9% on 5.4 made. They out rebound their opponents by 6.9 per game and average 15.3 turnovers, while forcing 15.1.

Notes:  The game is scheduled for 8pm on FSN. The Deacons own wins at Gonzaga 77-75, but lost at home to William and Mary. Tim Brando and Mike Gminski are the announcers for Fox.

Duke shuts down Boston College 79-59

DURHAM, N.C. (AP)—This time, eighth-ranked Duke figured out a way to win without its trusty long-range shot.

Nolan Smith scored 24 points to help the Blue Devils pull away in the second half and beat Boston College 79-59 on Wednesday night, helping Duke regroup from a weekend loss at Georgia Tech.

Kyle Singler added 15 points for the Blue Devils (14-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who pushed ahead for good late in the first half and pulled away in the opening minutes after the break. More impressively, they carried their 3-point shooting struggles from Atlanta back to Cameron Indoor Stadium and knocked down just one 3, yet still won convincingly with defense and a group of big men who are giving Duke some steadier production in the paint.

“Last year we wouldn’t have won a game like that,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We had to hit 3s.”

That’s not to say that this year’s group doesn’t need the 3. It’s just that the Blue Devils have a few more options when that shot isn’t falling.

“We’re not going to live and die by the 3 this year,” Smith said. “We can get it in other ways. We can drive the basket, and we have bigs who want to finish inside. Whenever our 3-pointers aren’t falling, we have other ways to score.”

It’s a good thing, too. Duke went 6 for 28 (21 percent) from behind the arc in Saturday’s 71-67 loss to the Yellow Jackets, then followed by going 1 for 12 against Boston College (10-7, 1-2). In their three ACC games, Duke is 13 for 58 (22 percent) on 3s, an unusual statistic for a team that’s usually been successful from long range.

Consider that this is the same squad that entered the game shooting 46 percent on 3-pointers in its soft-rimmed home gym.

But with leading scorer Jon Scheyer having a shaky shooting night, Duke got several buckets off turnovers thanks to its defensive pressure to break open a close game late in the first half. Smith matched his career high for scoring, while Singler bounced back from a miserable day against Georgia Tech—nine points on 2-for-13 shooting—by pulling down 10 rebounds and getting several baskets in transition.

“It’s easier making those than those tough 3-point shots,” Singler said.

Reggie Jackson scored 20 points for the Eagles (10-7, 1-2), but he was BC’s only double-figure scorer.

While Boston College held up through the first 15 minutes or so, the Blue Devils’ pressure defense finally started to make a difference late in the first half and held the Eagles without a field goal for nearly eight minutes.

That helped Duke turn a 38-35 halftime lead into a 54-37 margin before Tyler Roche ended the drought with a runner with 14:40 to play. But the Eagles never challenged the Blue Devils the way they did in a steady first-half performance, trailing by as many as 26 points in the final minutes.

“We clearly didn’t match their intensity,” Boston College coach Al Skinner said. “I can’t believe that we didn’t come out with more energy than we did. We mishandled the basketball, we didn’t execute, we missed our free throws, we had a couple of layups and we missed those.

“We did not at all really try to regroup and handle ourselves and just allowed it to happen. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and making sure that we run the stuff we want to run.”

While Krzyzewski called his team’s second-half defense “outstanding,” Duke also dominated the paint in the second half to take control. Sophomore forward Miles Plumlee finished with 12 points, while 7-foot senior Brian Zoubek added six points and 11 rebounds—with almost all of that coming in the second half.

Duke also finished with 21 second-chance points and scored 12 of its 17 points off turnovers after halftime.

“We didn’t come out ready, and they took advantage of it,” Jackson said. “They played to the crowd, and the crowd was really hyped for them tonight. They kept executing and pressuring us, and we got away from what we needed to do. They just kind of ran away with the game from there.”