Duke finishes up the exhibition season with a 84-48 win over Findlay

Photo courtesy Duke SID
Photo courtesy Duke SID

Durham, N.C. - The Duke Blue Devils wound up their exhibition season with a 84-48 win over the defending Division-II National Champions, the Findlay Oilers.

The Blue Devils started the game without Nolan Smith who sat for the first half after a release stated that he'll miss the first two games of the regular season from performing in two unsanctioned summer league.  His absence effected the Blue Devils chemistry early on as they took a 36-23 lead into the half.

The second half was a different story as Duke rolled out to a 60-27 lead less than eight minutes into the contest.  The Blue Devils were spread out for the entire game by the Oilers offensive attack and playing against a team like this will certainly help once Duke starts the regular season.

Duke took advantage of their height in blocking 12 shots and they held a 21 rebound edge and 42 points in the paint in the final stats.  The Duke defense also forced 20 turnovers but committed 19 of their own.

The most effective player on the court was Kyle Singler, who was recently named to the Associated Press All American team.  Singler went 8 of 12 from the field translating into 20 points to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists.

"Team wise, we could have played better.  Findlay is a good team, especially for their division," said Singler after the game.

Jon Scheyer warmed up in the second half 11 of his 19 points, but had just 1 assist.  Scheyer ran the point against constant pressure for most of the game.

"It was about a B-.  We had some good moments, but we have a lot of things to work on.  It was a decent job overall," said Scheyer when asked of his teams performance.

Lance Thomas brought energy to the court where he was 3 of 3 from the field finishing with 8 points and 9 rebounds.  His teammate Brian Zoubek also garnered 9 rebounds.

Miles Plumlee joined the rebounding party as well with a team high of ten to go with his 9 points.

BDN will have up more player comments shortly as well as comments from Krzyzewski.  Duke will next face UNC-G in their opening game of the 2009-10 season on November 13th.