Monthly Archives: January 2012

Duke Basketball

Duke gains big ACC win over Virginia

Duke toughed out an important ACC win over Virginia on Thursday night pushing it's conference record to 2-0 in league play.  And the reason they got the win?  Defense.  Coming into the game all the media outlets were talking about the Virginia defense and slept on the Blue Devils.  In fact, some admonished them for being ranked lower than seasons past. Tonight, Duke held Virginia to 29% shooting in the second half and they also held them to just 0 of 11 from the three point stripe and that allowed them to come away with a hard fought 61-58 win.  When the going got tough in ACC play, so did the Blue Devils defense.

Juniors step it up

The Blue Devils contingent of juniors stepped up big tonight.  Mason Plumlee earned great praise from Krzyzewski in the post game interview and ended the game with 12 points and 7 boards, but he altered a lot of shots.  Ryan Kelly added another 9 points and 7 boards and 3 huge blocked shots., while Seth Curry added 11 points a couple of dimes.  But Andre Dawkins was huge in the early going and he too went for double figures with 10 points.  Krzyzewski said it was Dawkins best overall defensive game of the season and that's high praise.

Plumlees earn Krzyzewski's praise as well

Miles fouled out and scored just 4 points but he helped on the defensive end against ACC POY candidate, Mike Scott.  After his 16 first half points, the brother Plumlee held him to seven in the 2nd half. 

Defense

Defense has long been a staple of the Duke program and tonight it was stellar.  The game was not as close as the score indicated in the 2nd half mainly due to missed free throws where Duke went just 8 of 19 for the game.  If those free throws drop, Duke coasts. 

This and that

Duke won it's 19th straight ACC home opener and improved to their steak of ACC home wins to 44 straight, the last loss coming to UNC.  Duke is now 3-1 against top 25 teams this season.  Did you know that Duke is only the second team to score 60 or more on Virginia this season?   They were also the first team to shoot 50% or better from the floor against Virginia.  Duke used just eight players in the contest for the second time this season.  Did you know that Andre Dawkins tied the game four times tonight?  The 60 points combined by both teams was by far the lowest in Cameron this season.  Mason Plumlee made his 37th straight start at Duke and freshman Austin Rivers scored in double figures for the 13th time this season.  Duke next plays at Clemson at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

BDN Premium Articles, Duke Basketball

BDN Premium – One on One with Mason Plumlee

Blue Devil Nation Premium went one on one with Duke junior Mason Plumlee and we spoke of the big game with Virginia which tips pff at 9:05 on Thursday, his future plans and more in our latest offering to BDN members.  As the interview ends you can feel the fury of the team walking to the locker room after a hard practice in the backdrop. [private]

Next up - Marshall Plumlee opens up about his redshirt year and how he's handling it. [/private]

 

Duke Basketball

Virginia at Duke Game Notes

• Game 16 •

[8 AP / 6 Coaches] Duke (13-2, 1-0) vs. [16 AP / 17 Coaches] Virginia (14-1, 1-0)

Thursday, January 12, 2012 • 9:05 p.m. • ESPN (Numbers reprinted via direct permission of Duke Sports Information Department)

The Opening Tip

• Duke (13-2, 1-0 ACC) faces Virginia (14-1, 1-0 ACC) on Thursday, Jan. 12 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Tipoff is set for 9:00 p.m. (ET).

• The game will be televised by ESPN with Mike Patrick (play-by-play) and Dick Vitale (analyst) calling the action.

• Duke is ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll and No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Virginia ranks 16th and 17th, respectively, in the two polls. The Blue Devils are 68-16 all-time when ranked eighth in the AP Poll.

• Duke is 16-6 against ranked opponents in the last three seasons, including a 2-1 mark in 2011-12 against ranked teams.

• The Blue Devils have won 18 straight ACC home contests entering Thursday’s contest.

• Duke is one of three teams in the NCAA to rank in the top 10 of the RPI, Strength of Schedule, AP and Coaches Polls.

Duke-Virginia Series

• Duke and Virginia have met 162 times heading into Thursday’s game with the first meeting between the two schools coming in 1911.

• The Blue Devils lead the all-time series 114-48, including a 48-8 mark at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

• Duke has won seven consecutive games and 16 of the last 17 in the series. The Blue Devils have won by 10 or more points in 15 of the games during that span.

• Mike Krzyzewski is 50-16 at Duke against the Cavaliers. He has led the Blue Devils to a 24-4 mark at home against Virginia. Coach K was not on the sidelines during a double-overtime home loss to Virginia in the 1994-95 season.

• Duke has won 14 consecutive home games in the series (all by double-figures) and 24 of the last 26 games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

• The Blue Devils have won 29 of the last 32 games in the series.

Numbers Game

l Duke is 57-1 at home since the start of the 2008-09 season.

l The Blue Devils have won 43 consecutive games in Cameron Indoor Stadium with 37 of the victories coming by 10 or more points.

l Duke has scored at least 40 points in 13 of the last 14 halves. The Blue Devils rank ninth in the NCAA in scoring offense at 82.1 points per game.

l Mason Plumlee leads the ACC with seven double-doubles on the year. He has posted a double-double in three of the last five games and is averaging 10.6 points and 10.0 rebounds during that stretch.

l Miles Plumlee is averaging 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game over the last seven contests. He is 26-of-34 (.765) from the field and 12-of-16 (.750) from the foul line in that span.

l Either Mason or Miles Plumlee has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 10 of Duke’s 15 games this season. Mason has reached double figures in rebounds eight times, while Miles has three double-digit rebounding efforts.

l Ryan Kelly has scored in double-figures 10 times this season, including a career-high 21 points in the win over Georgia Tech. Duke is 19-0 over the last three seasons when Kelly scores 10 or more points.

l Quinn Cook leads the NCAA with a 4.50:1 assist-to-turnover ratio (minimum 2.0 apg.). Cook has eight turnovers in 189 minutes for an average of 23.6 minutes between turnovers.

l Tyler Thornton has made seven consecutive three-point field goals over the last four games. He is 12-of-21 (.571) from behind the arc this season.

l Duke ranks eighth in the NCAA in field goal percentage (.498). Miles and Mason Plumlee are a combined 64.2 percent (113-of-176) on the year.

l Austin Rivers is averaging 17.3 points per game against ranked opponents on the year. He has scored 20 or more points in two of Duke’s three contests against ranked teams.

Duke Basketball

Quinn Cook talks starting at the PG spot for Duke as a freshman

The Duke Blue Devils had a team meeting as soon as they got back from the Temple game where several things were discussed behind closed doors.  It was decided that Quinn Cook would start at the point guard spot and he had a pretty good outing.  BDN was on the scene during today's media day and we spoke to Cook about several things which you can see here via BDN Video -