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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Kyle Singler scored 21 points as No. 5 Duke beat shorthanded Virginia 67-49 on Sunday night.
The Blue Devils (25-4, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) remained a game ahead of Maryland heading into a first-place showdown with the Terps in College Park, Md., on Wednesday night.
Fast Facts
• Kyle Singler scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half, and Jon Scheyer added 20 as the Blue Devils started th game on a 20-4 run and coasted to their eighth straight win.
• Duke now holds a one-game lead in the ACC over Maryland heading into their clash in College Park, Md., on Wednesday.
• Virginia played without its leading scorer, Sylven Landesberg, who was sidelined with a thigh injury.
• Jerome Meyinsse (21 points) was the only Cavaliers player in double figures as Duke held them to just 31.4 percent shooting from the floor.
Jon Scheyer added 20 points for Duke in its eight straight win and fourth consecutive victory in the series.
The Blue Devils took command right away, opening the game on a 20-4 run. Singler had 11 points before Virginia had two field goals, and from there the Cavaliers never got closer than 10. They trailed 35-21 at halftime and went 5 minutes without a field goal after the break.
The Cavaliers (14-13, 5-9) lost their seventh straight playing without scoring leader Sylven Landesberg, who sustained a bruised right thigh in Virginia's loss at Miami last week.
Jerome Meyinsse scored 21 points for Virginia, seven more than his previous career best, but was the only Cavaliers player to make up for Landesberg's missing points. Mike Scott, the Cavaliers' No. 2 scorer with a 12.8 average, went scoreless for a second straight game, with 0-for-6 shooting in 12 minutes.
Singler and Scheyer had an easy time offensively. Singler finished 6 for 10 from the field and Scheyer was 8 for 14, and both watched for the last several minutes as Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Virginia coach Tony Bennett emptied their benches.
Duke will travel to Charlottesville tomorrow in preparation for Sunday's game with Virginia. The Cavaliers started fast, but have fell on hard times of late as they are on a current 6 game losing streak.They are 14-12 overall and 5-8 in the conference. Coach Tony Bennett is in his first season after three very successfule years at Washington State. Bennett will start an experienced line up, but his best player Sylven Landesberg is a sophomore who leads the team in scoring, asssits and is second in rebounding.
The Cavaliers average 67.0 points a game and give 63.2. They shoot 42.9% from the field and allow 43.8%. They shoot 35.8% from three on 5.9 made and give up 35.3% on 5.9 made per game. they out rebound their opponents by 1.5 per game commit 10.7 turnovers while forcing 12.5.
Notes: The game is scheduled for 7:45 pm and will be televised on FSN.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Mike Krzyzewski wanted a pre-tournament test for his Duke players. For perhaps longer than expected, they got one.
But ultimately, the fifth-ranked Blue Devils -- and their "Big Three," plus one -- was too much for Tulsa, pulling away for a 70-52 victory Thursday night.
They used a big run early in the second half to break open a surprisingly tight game and extend their decade-long nonconference winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 77 by winning an out-of-the-ACC matchup designed to prepare the Blue Devils for the unfamiliar but high-quality foes that figure to lurk in the NCAA tournament bracket.
"We've got to keep getting better, and you don't get better by taking time off," Krzyzewski said. "Right now, you've got to keep working, and we knew that this game would put us in that position."
Jerome Jordan had 12 points to lead the Golden Hurricane (19-9). In losing their fourth straight, they finished with a season-low point total and were denied their first victory against a top-five team since 1996. Leading scorer Ben Uzoh, who entered on a streak of three straight 20-point games, finished with eight on 3-of-15 shooting while being hounded primarily by Smith.
"You knew they would be prepared for Ben, for the most part," Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik said. "He competed, missed a couple shots on the break. In our league, he probably gets a few more trips to the free-throw line, but it's good for him."
Brian Zoubek, a 7-foot-1 senior, has stepped out of the shadow of the Scheyer-Smith-Singler trio lately to become one of the most valuable players for the Atlantic Coast Conference leaders. He finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and started the game-breaking 18-3 run with a layup through the 7-foot Jordan's foul with 19:05 remaining.
"He isn't the athlete Jordan is, but [Zoubek] is strong," Krzyzewski said of the dueling 7-footers. "I was just happy that he held his own against Jordan. ... No one won that matchup, but we didn't lose it, so that was kind of a win for us."
Smith then reeled off six straight points and Scheyer scored eight in a row before Miles Plumlee hit a hook shot to make it 52-37 with 13 1/2 minutes left.
That had the Blue Devils well on their way to their 18th straight win at Cameron. They have won 41 straight at home against unranked opponents, they are 16-0 there this season with all but one of those victories by double figures, and Friday makes it 10 years since St. John's became the last non-ACC team to beat them on their home court.
Justin Hurtt added 11 points for the Golden Hurricane and tied it at 34 with a free throw with 19:20 to play, but they missed 6 of 7 shots after that while turning it over three times during Duke's decisive spurt.
Steven Idlet had 10 points for Tulsa, which finished 1 of 10 from 3-point range and shot 26 percent from the field during the second half.
"I thought we had some shots inside that we just didn't convert," Wojcik said. "But I'm just really proud of my team. I'm glad to have played the game and have the experience. We're going to get better from this."
Lance Thomas had 10 rebounds while his post partner Zoubek reached double figures for the third time in four games.
"I think that everybody has a lot more confidence in me right now -- offensively, defensively and all over the court," Zoubek said.
The Golden Hurricane kept themselves within striking distance through the first half, never allowing Duke to lead by more than 10 points and clawing back to tie it at 28 on Bryson Pope's layup 3 minutes before the break. That, despite a miserable start to the half by their top player: Uzoh missed eight of his first 10 shots.
"He's a very good player, and I was ready for the task tonight," Smith said. "Going forward, (in the) NCAA tournament, we're going to run into a lot of good guards and that's why I know this game ... really simulated the NCAA tournament games. Playing a guard like him, you've got to be ready."
Wojcik was no stranger to Duke's hostile arena: He was on Matt Doherty's staff at rival North Carolina from 2000-03, and those teams went 1-2 at Cameron. But ultimately, that familiarity couldn't help the Golden Hurricane claim the program's third victory against a top-five team and first since knocking off then-No. 5 UCLA in 1996.
Doug Wojcik will be returning to familiar territory when he brings his 19-8, 8-5(Conference USA) Tulsa Golden Hurricanes to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday night. The former North Carolina and Michigan State assistant coached in Cameron with both schools and was 1-3 in Cameron. Wojcik is in his 5th year at Tulsa and he sports a 100-61 record. The Hurricanes have been good all year until a recent slide where they have lost 4 of 5, that includes a current 3 game losing streak.
The Golden Hurricanes will bring a big veteran team to Durham. They will start three seniors,a junior and a sophomore. Here are the starters and key reserves.
6-3 SR. Ben Uzoh 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists
7-0 Sr. Jerome Jordan 15.2 points, 8.6 rebounds
6-4 Jr. Justin Hurtt 13.8 points, 3.3 rebounds
6-7 Soph. Joe Richard 5.9 points, 5.6 rebounds
6-6 Sr. Bishop Wheatley 5.6 points, 3.7 rebounds
6-10 Soph. Steven Idlet 7.0 points, 6.1 rebounds
6-1 Fr. Donte Medder 5.0 points
6-6 Fr. Bryson Pope 4.3 points
Tulsa averages 72.7 points a game and gives up 64.3 per game. They shoot 46.1% from the field and hold their opponents to 39.5%. They shoot 35.6% from three on 5.1 made and relinquish 31.0% on 4.6 made per game. They are out rebounding their opponents by 7.7 and are committing 13.3 turnovers, while forcing 10.4.
Notes: The game will be televised on ESPN 2 at 7pm. The Golden Hurricanes are 4-4 on the road and currently have a RPI of 75, with a schedule strength of 114.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP)—The “Big Three” kept things clicking for No. 6 Duke. They had to, because they got virtually no scoring help from their teammates.
Kyle Singler had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Nolan Smith added 23 points to help the Blue Devils pull away in a 67-55 victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday night.
Jon Scheyer had 15 points for Duke (23-4, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), which got only four points from the other six players who saw the court and flirted with their worst shooting performance of the season.
Still, they came up with a late 14-4 run to overcome their only deficit of the second half and earn their sixth straight victory. Duke strengthened its grip on first place in the league standings and keep itself on track for another high seed in the NCAA tournament.
To coach Mike Krzyzewski, nothing else matters.
“I’d like to have other people score—that’s an obvious thing—but what I want to do is win, and not let (a lack of) scoring impact in a negative way … our defense and rebounding,” Krzyzewski said. “One of these games, we’re just going to break out. … Those three players are really good. As long as they keep playing well, you’ve got to go with what you’ve got, right?”
Malcolm Delaney, the ACC’s leading scorer, finished with 19 points for Virginia Tech (21-5, 8-4), which fell to 1-17 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. His 3-pointer capped a 13-5 run and put the Hokies up 45-44 with 9:55 left.
Smith followed with a three-point play roughly 30 seconds later and scored seven points during the decisive burst that followed. Scheyer finished the spurt with a 3 that made it 60-49 with 4:15 to play. Tech didn’t get closer than six after that.
“Our kids competed at a high level, but that’s not what we came here for,” Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said. “We’re at the stage of our program now where being competitive is not good enough. It’s about winning, and playing to win.”
Outside of the Singler-Smith-Scheyer trio, the only other Duke players to score were Miles Plumlee, who hit a free throw with 13:29 left in the first half, and 7-foot-1 Brian Zoubek, who converted a critical three-point play with 7:12 to play.
“Nothing really needs to change. Guys are going to get shots,” Singler said. “But it’s just kind of how it happened tonight.”
Zoubek finished with 16 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who ran their winning streak at Cameron to 17. They’re 15-0 here this season, with 14 wins coming by double figures and 11 by at least 20 points.
This one featured the ACC’s top two scorers, with Delaney averaging roughly 20 points and Scheyer scoring 19 per game. But both players had trouble hitting with consistency in a physical game marked by rough defense.
In what Krzyzewski called “an overall decent performance against Delaney,” the Tech guard shot just 5 of 19 and missed nine of his first 10 attempts for the Hokies, who were 2 for 15 from 3-point range.
Scheyer was 4 for 19 for the Blue Devils, who shot 29 percent. Had Smith and Singler not swished 3s in the final minute, they would have finished worse than their 28-percent outing three months ago against Connecticut.
“Our offense, at times, hasn’t been good this year, and the one thing we do know is that we’re not an unbelievable offensive team where we’re just going to put 90 points up,” Scheyer said. “We know we need to do it with our defense. That’s OK if, at times, our offense isn’t going well because we rely on our defense.”
Dorenzo Hudson added 12 points for the Hokies, who had their five-game ACC winning streak snapped, a run that was their longest since joining the league. They were trying to beat North Carolina and Duke in the same season for the first time since 2007—also the last time they reached the NCAA tournament.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Hudson said. “We just didn’t make the shots we needed to.”
Both teams entered this one with more than 20 wins, but they got there in vastly different ways. One online replication of the RPI formula determined that the Blue Devils played the nation’s third-toughest schedule while Tech’s was at No. 152.
The way the Hokies kept attacking Duke, that didn’t seem to matter.
The Blue Devils’ offense came almost exclusively from Scheyer, Singler and Smith, who combined for all but one of the team’s 35 first-half points, with each cracking double figures by halftime.
“Honestly, we’ve showed this year that we can shoot bad. It’s going to happen,” Smith said. “Most years, we might lose those games. We might let that affect our defense or rebounding. But now, we’re not letting that happen.”
Seth Greenberg of Virginia Tech is bringing to Durham arguably his best team ever on Sunday night, hoping to tie Duke in the lost column for the lead of ACC. Greenberg is 128-89 in his 7th year at Blacksburg. The Hokies are very experienced, but they do not have a senior in their rotation. They start four juniors and a sophomore.
Here are the starters and key reserves.
6-3 Jr. Malcolm Delaney 20.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists
6-5 Jr. Dorenzo Hudson 14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds
6-7 Jr. Jeff Allen 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds
6-6 Jr. Terrell Bell 5.9 points, 5.9 rebounds
6-8 Soph. Victor Davila 5.8 points, 4.6 rebounds
6-6 Jr. J.T. Thompson 7.0 points, 4.6 rebounds
6-4 Fr. Erick Green 3.4 points
The Hokies average 72.6 points and give up 62.9. They shoot 42.9% from the field and hold their opponents to 39.2%. They shoot 31.7% from three on 4.7 made and hold their opponents to 29.1% on 5.0 made per game. They out rebound their opponents by 2.9 per game and commit 12.6 turnovers, while forcing 16.2.
Notes: The game is scheduled for 7:45 and will be televised on FSN.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP)—Mike Krzyzewski claimed his halftime pep talk had nothing to do with Duke’s dramatic turnaround Wednesday night.
“I don’t even remember what I said,” Krzyzewski said. “Nothing complimentary.”
At the time, there was little to praise. The No. 6-ranked Blue Devils dug a 12-point halftime hole, then used smothering defense to rally and beat the Miami Hurricanes 81-74.
Jon Scheyer missed his first nine shots and Nolan Smith missed his first six for the Blue Devils, who shot 31 percent in the opening half to fall behind 37-25. But 22 turnovers doomed the Hurricanes, who attempted only 45 shots to 60 for the Blue Devils.
“In the second half our defense, especially in the first eight or nine minutes, was sensational,” Krzyzewski said.
Better shooting helped, too. Scheyer, Smith and Kyle Singler combined for 49 points in the second half after totaling nine in the first half.
The Blue Devils (22-4, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) increased their league lead with their fifth win in a row. Smith said Krzyzewski made reference to the standings at halftime.
“He called us out,” Smith said. “He let us know, ‘It’s now or never. You can take control of the ACC right now or put ourselves in a hole.”’
Miami (17-9, 3-9) lost for only the second time in 13 home games, and the defeat ensured they’ll finish below .500 in the league. They’ve never been better than 8-8 in the ACC.
“As long as we’ve got games on our schedule, we’ve got opportunities,” coach Frank Haith said.
The way the Hurricanes started against Duke, they had a shot at an upset. But the Blue Devils outscored Miami 29-9 to start the second half and shot 9 for 15 from 3-point range after halftime.
“We just needed to come out and play angry,” Duke center Brian Zoubek said. “We know we can play harder than anybody.”
Despite starting poorly, Smith finished with 21 points, and Scheyer scored 15 while shooting 3 for 15. Singler scored 22, had 11 rebounds and played all 40 minutes.
“In the first half we did a great job on the big three,” Haith said. “They all just completely took over the game in the second half.”
Scheyer was 1 for 12 before sinking 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for a 64-59 lead with five minutes left.
“I was killing us by not hitting those open shots,” Scheyer said. “I don’t really get open shots like that in games. My teammates have confidence in me, and that made a big difference.”
Krzyzewski said Scheyer has been playing for three weeks with a sore back that may have affected him. Singler played with a black eye after getting elbowed in practice Monday.
Smith’s 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run that put the Blue Devils up 69-59, and the margin was at least five the rest of the way. Duke went 9 for 10 from the free-throw line in the final 90 seconds to seal the win.
Dwayne Collins had 21 points and nine rebounds for Miami, and Durand Scott scored 19 points.
The Blue Devils scored 56 points in the second half—remarkable considering that in the first 12 minutes, they shot 4 for 19 with seven turnovers and fell behind 23-12.
Smith was shut out for the first 18 1/2 minutes. Scheyer struggled even longer, finally scoring 24 minutes into the game to pull Duke even at 39.
Duke missed nine of its first 11 shots, and Miami scored 11 consecutive points—eight by Collins—for a 15-6 lead. Scott sank a runner at the buzzer to end the half and give the Hurricanes their largest lead.
Then the Blue Devils cranked up the defensive pressure.
“We knew we had to get stops to get back in the game,” Singler said. “That was our focus—just get stops and just try to fight our way back into the game.”
Singler scored nine points on four baskets in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second half to trim the margin to five, and his 3-pointer gave the Blue Devils their first lead since the early minutes at 42-41.
On next possession, Smith’s 3-pointer put Duke ahead to stay.
The Hurricanes were outscored by 27 points from 3-point range, and Duke enjoyed a 17-11 edge in offensive rebounds.
Michael Gbinije (pronounced bin uh jay) the 6-6 forward from Richmond, Virginia took a few minutes tonight to answer a few questions about his current season at Benedictine High School in Richmond.
BluedevilsReign: Mike how is your season going and what are you averaging per game?
Michael Gbinije: We are doing well we just picked up our 20th win. We are looking forward to the state tournament in Petersburg in a couple of weeks. I am averaging about 20 points and 7 rebounds a game.
You must be a Premium member to read the rest of this interview.
Duke will travel to Miami tomorrow in preparation for Wednesday's battle with Miami. The Hurricanes after starting 14-0 have struggled since the conference season has started. The road has been very unkind to them, they are an excellent home team. They are 11-1 at home with the only being to Boston College.
Coach Frank Haith is 105-81 in his 6th year at Miami. The Hurricanes start three seniors, a sophomore and a freshman. Here are the starters and key reserves.
6-4 Sr. James Dews 12.1 points, 2.6 rebounds
6-8 Sr. Dwayne Collins 11.6 points, 8.1 rebounds
6-1 Soph. Malcolm Grant 10.1 points, 3.4 assists
6-3 Fr. Durand Scott 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds,3.6 assists
6-9 Sr. Cyrus McGowan 3.9 points, 3.1 rebounds
6-6 Soph. Dequan Jones 5.2 points
6-7 Sr. Adrian Thomas 7.4 points
6-10 Fr. Reggie Johnson 6.0 points
6-9 Soph. Julian Gamble 2.6 points
6-6 Fr. Garcius Adamas 4.3 points
The Hurricanes are averaging 73.1 points and give up 63.5 per game.They shoot 46.5% and hold their opponents to 40.2%. They shoot 37.8% from three on 7.9 made and give 31.5% on 6.0 made per game. The out rebound their opponents by 4.5 per game. The commit 14.8 turnovers per game and force 14.1.
Notes: The game is scheduled for 7 pm and will be televised on ESPN.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP)—Jon Scheyer scored 22 points and No. 8 Duke marked coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 1,000th game at the school with a 77-56 rout of Maryland on Saturday in a matchup of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top two teams.
Brian Zoubek had 16 points and 17 rebounds for the first-place Blue Devils (21-4, 9-2). They dominated this matchup by shooting 41.5 percent and locking down the Terrapins, who finished 25 points below their season average.
Greivis Vasquez scored 17 points and Cliff Tucker added 12 to lead the Terrapins (16-7, 6-3), whose late run couldn’t make up for going 7 minutes between baskets in the first half. They were 2 of 13 from 3-point range.
Former Duke players from Art Heyman to J.J. Redick came to Cameron Indoor Stadium to celebrate a double milestone for Krzyzewski, who on his 63rd birthday became the eighth Division I coach to reach four figures at one school. He’s 781-219 in 30 seasons at Duke.
After the final horn sounded, he was presented with a framed Duke No. 1,000 jersey, the players pulled on T-shirts adorned with Krzyzewski’s silhouette and the Cameron Crazies sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
“A guy couldn’t have a better job than I’ve had for 30 years,” Krzyzewski told the crowd.
Nolan Smith had 14 points and Kyle Singler finished with 10 for the Blue Devils—who have won four straight, six of seven overall and 40 in a row at home against unranked teams.
They have rarely been tested at Cameron this season—14-0 with all but one of the victories coming by double digits.
This time, they held off a late charge by Maryland and kept control throughout against the second-place Terrapins, the last visitors not named North Carolina to win here when they did it in 2007 when Vasquez was a freshman.
Since then, Duke has won all six meetings between the teams, though in his final visit to one of college basketball’s most inhospitable arenas, Vasquez recovered from a rocky start and nearly clawed Maryland back into the game.
Vasquez scored nine consecutive points during a 10-0 run, hitting a jumper to pull the Terrapins within 54-44 with 9:26 to play. Duke responded with a reverse layup by Singler, two free throws by Smith and a three-point play by Scheyer to stretch the lead to 61-44.
That came after Vasquez was held without a point for the opening 16 minutes, prompting the Cameron Crazies to chant “scoreless” at him. By the time he hit his first basket—a floating jumper at the 4-minute mark of the first half— the Blue Devils already were up by double figures for good.
Duke, which beat the Terps by 41 in last season’s visit, looked well on its way to another easy win when they reeled off 15 consecutive points during the early 25-6 run that pushed their lead into double figures. Singler and Scheyer capped the burst with 3-pointers 15 seconds apart to make it 30-14 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half.
Zoubek, a 7-foot-1 senior making his first start of the season, was effective in doing the dirty work underneath for the Blue Devils, with one impressive individual effort pushing him into double figures in two stat categories and gave him his first double-double of the ACC season.
After Singler missed a 3-pointer 3 minutes into the second half, Zoubek broke unimpeded down the lane and dunked the rebound to make it 48-26.
