[private]Duke came into the game with Purdue undefeated in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and Boilermaker fans were chomping at the bit to get them in Mackey Arena.  Tickets were going for as much as

500.00 each on a cold Indiana evening and most of the nation was expecting a very competitive game.

Duke came out of the gate running to a 7-0 lead and they never looked back in route to a 76-60 win which lifts them to 8-0 for the season.  To get to that undefeated record, the Blue Devils used three key areas of strength.

The first of course is stellar defense where they held Purdue to just 60 points on 37% shooting from the field.  Add to that, just two made three point attempts for a team known for their accuracy behind the stripe.

The two Purdue stars, Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore were totally taken out of their game.  Moore scored 10 points with all of them coming 30 minutes into the game.  Hummel tallied 15 points to go with 10 boards, but Duke soph Kyle Singler frustrated the pre season Big Ten Player of the Year pick throughout the game.

Speaking of Singler, he continued his tenacious play with 20 points to go with a career tying effort 12 rebounds.  He was clearly the best player on the court this evening and showed why he is one of the elite players in the land.

Then there was another nice effort from the free throw stripe which has also been and early season strength.   They connected on 20 of 26 for the game while hitting many down the stretch not allowing a comeback attempt by the countries ninth ranked team.

The third area of mention which contributed to a convincing Blue Devil victory was their work on the boards where they out rebounded the home team by a whopping 49-29 margin.  Krzyzewski made board work an off season priority and the team has improved significantly and was the second best rebounding team in the conference going into the game.

Speaking of board work, Brian Zoubek scored just 4 points, but garnered 8 rebounds in just eleven minutes of play.  Not to be outdone, Henderson took his early season offensive struggles in stride by going to the glass for 8 defensive rebounds and led his team with five assists.

Jon Scheyer tied Singler for the scoring lead with twenty points, three being three point buckets.  Smith who was in foul trouble throughout the contest added 12 points. Paulus had 7 points, McClure 6 and Thomas 5 points and the aforementioned Henderson 2 points to round out the scoring for Duke.

In the end, Duke showed their experience in making Purdue play their style of game.  It was the Blue Devils most consistent effort from begging to end on the season as well.  It was also a game which showed that Duke was having fun playing and that made for an impressive team effort.

Duke went to 10-0 in the Challenge and will now face Michigan for the second time this season in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

Official Box Score Link

Updated Facts and Figures-

• The 2008-09 season marks the 10th year of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The ACC has won each of the first nine ACC/Big Ten Challenges. ACC teams have won 56 of the 87 games played over the 10 years. The ACC and Big Ten are currently tied 3-3 in the challenge with five games remaining to be played on Wednesday.
• Duke is 10-0 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, including a 3-0 record in true road games. Boston College (3-0) is the only other undefeated team in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The previous two road games for the Blue Devils came against Michigan State in 2003 (W, 72-50) and Indiana in 2005 (W, 75-67).

• Duke improved to 8-0 with a victory on Tuesday, marking the fourth time in the past five seasons they have won their first eight games. The Blue Devils have now started the season 8-0 a total of 20 times.
• Under Mike Krzyzewski Duke has started 8-0 a total of 15 times in his 29 years. Since the 2000-01 season, the Blue Devils have gotten off to an 8-0 start in seven of the nine seasons.
• The school record for most wins to start a season is 17 set by the 1991-92 national championship team and the 2005-06 squad.

• The Blue Devils played their first true road game of the 2008-09 season on Tuesday at Purdue. Duke has now won 12 of its last 13 road openers with the only loss coming at Georgia Tech on Jan. 10, 2007. Under Coach K, Duke now has a 22-7 record in road openers.

• In overall road games, Duke has now posted a 185-95 record under Coach K. The Blue Devils have posted a winning record on the road in five straight seasons and 11 of the past 12 years. Since 1996-97, Duke has recorded an 90-30 (.750) record on the road.

• Duke began December with a 16-point victory at Purdue on Tuesday. Under Coach K, the Blue Devils now have a 153-24 all-time record in the month of December.
• The Blue Devils are now 45-2 in December since 1999-2000 with the only losses coming to No. 3 Stanford (84-83) on Dec. 21, 2000 and No. 11 Pittsburgh in overtime (65-64) on Dec. 20, 2007.
• When playing on Dec. 2, Duke is now 15-5 all-time, including a 9-2 record under Coach K.

• Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski earned his 811th victory as a head coach on Tuesday. He ranks fifth all-time in NCAA Division I history for career victories and is first among active coaches.

• Krzyzewski is now 19 victories shy of Jim Phelan for fourth all-time.

• Coach K now has 738 wins as the head coach at Duke, ranking him sixth in NCAA Division I history for victories at one school and second among active coaches (Jim Boeheim, Syracuse – 771). Krzyzewski is 21 wins shy of Western Kentucky’s Ed Diddle for fifth all-time.

• Krzyzewski’s 811 victories are the second most by a head coach through 34 years of coaching. Only Dean Smith of North Carolina won more games with 830 victories.

• Duke scored 76 points against Purdue and has scored at least 70 points in all eight games of 2008-09. The Blue Devils are 652-129 under Coach K when scoring 70 or more points.

• The Blue Devils made 8-of-22 (.364) from behind the three-point line. In the last two games, Duke has 18 made treys after only making 19 in its previous four outings.

• Duke made 20-of-26 (.769) from the free throw line. It was the fourth time this season the Blue Devils made at least 20 free throws. Purdue only attempted 20 free throws, making it six of the eight games this year that Duke has made as much or more free throws than its opponent has attempted.
• The Blue Devils outrebounded the Boilermakers 49-29. Duke has outrebounded its opponents 339-248 on the season, a margin of +11.4 per game. The Blue Devils have now grabbed at least 20 more rebounds than its opponent twice this season.
• Duke had 16 offensive rebounds, the third time on the season they have had at least 15 offensive boards. The offensive rebounds led to an 18-9 advantage in second chance points.

• Duke held Purdue to 60 points and has now held its opponent to 60 or fewer points in six of the eight games this season.

• Purdue shot just .373 (22-of-59) from the field on Tuesday. The Blue Devils have held six opponents to under 40 percent from the floor this year. Duke is 285-9 under Coach K when holding an opponent under 40 percent shooting.

• The Blue Devils also held Purdue to just 2-of-13 (.154) from behind the three-point line. It marked the second straight game and third time this season the Blue Devils held an opponent under 20 percent from long range. It was the 121st time in school history the Blue Devils have held its opponent under 20 percent from deep. Duke has a 109-12 record in those contests.

• The two made treys by Purdue were a season low by a Duke opponent. The Boilermakers were averaging 7.7 made three-point field goals per game coming into Tuesday’s contest.[/private]