Durham, N.C. - BDN was once again on hand for this weeks player availability and we had a chance to ask Nolan Smith about the Wake game as other media members chimed in. In fact, Al Featherston who you all know does some work for us led the way with some really good questions.
Just press play -
Durham, N.C. - BDN caught up with Mile Plumlee after Duke defeated Boston College 79-59 on Wednesday evening. Plumlee went 5 of 6 from the field for 12 points and pulled down 5 rebounds in 19 minutes of action.
Press play to hear Miles comments on the game and his development -
Durham, N.C. - On a night when Duke 14-2, 2-1 in the ACC] hit a single three point shot one would think they may have lost the game, but that was far from the case in 79-59 win over Boston College.
After the two teams played an almost identical first half in statistics and score, Duke outscored the visiting Eagles 15-2 to start the half.
The Blue Devils defense simply held the Eagles in check and if it were not for Krzyzewski clearing his bench, they would have scored a lot less than the 24 points they put up.
Nolan Smith led the way for Duke with a team high 24 points [tied his career high] to go with his 4 assists. Smith made several key buckets to keep runs alive on a night when Scheyer was off by his standards.
"Beginning of the second half, we started with defense. We were able to execute the play that we drew up at halftime. Miles got a dunk right off the bat that keyed our defense," said Smith after the win.
Scheyer still ended the contest with 12 points, but he was just 1 of 6 from the three point stripe. But considering he had Duke's only three, the Blue Devils won the old fashioned way on two point buckets.
The aforementioned Miles Plumlee played his best half of the season and he ended the game with 12 points total, ten in the first half. After his 5 of 6 shooting from the field, he leads the team in field goal percentage.
When asked of his thunderous dunk to open the half, Plumlee said, "I felt great after the shot. I know I can make those plays all the time and I can make other plays that I haven't made yet. I just need to keep doing it in practice and it will show up in games for me.
Singler had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and interestingly, he got it going after his fourth foul which was a technical.
The game was heated at times and the refs let the two teams play for most of the game and there is a bit of a chippy history between the two teams.
Flying under the radar were Brian Zoubeks 11 rebounds to go with his 6 points.
Duke benefited from points off defense outscoring Boston College 15-4 on the fast break and held a 17-10 edge on points off turnovers. The royal blue also outrebounded the Eagles by a 40-27 margin.
Duke will next take on Wake Forest at 8:00 on Sunday evening.
Stay tuned for the Blue Devil Nation Locker Room Report where you will hear from Scheyer, Singler, Smith and Miles Plumlee.
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[8 AP/7 Coaches] Duke (13-2, 1-1 ACC) vs. Boston College (10-6, 1-1 ACC)
Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. • ESPN
Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) • Durham, N.C.
The Opening Tip
Duke (13-2, 1-1 ACC), ranked eighth in the AP poll and seventh in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, faces Boston College (10-6, 1-1 ACC) at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday’s game will air on ESPN with Rece Davis, Bob Knight and Holly Rowe calling the action.
The Last Time Out
Duke dropped a 71-67 decision at Georgia Tech on Saturday in its last outing. The Blue Devils, playing their third game in six days, shot just 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from three-point range in the contest.
Senior Jon Scheyer continued his All-America caliber season with 25 points and six assists in 39 minutes of action. Freshman Mason Plumlee was the only other player in double-figures with 10 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Sophomore Miles Plumlee added eight points, five rebounds and two steals in the loss.
Juniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler combined for just 18 points on 6-of-23 shooting after entering the game averaging 34.4 points per game combined. Smith’s nine-point effort snapped a string of 12 straight double-figure scoring games this season, while Singler failed to reach double-figures for just the 15th time in 86 career games.
Duke controlled the glass (20-12 rebounding edge) en route to taking a 35-29 halftime lead. Georgia Tech turned the tables in the final 20 minutes, outrebounding the Blue Devils 26-12 and outscoring them 42-32.
Numbers Game
l Duke is the only team in the country to rank in the top 10 in both the AP Poll and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll as well as the College Basketball News Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and Strength of Schedule (SOS). The Blue Devils, eighth in the AP Poll and seventh in the Coaches Poll, rank second in the RPI with the 10th-best SOS.
l Wednesday’s game is the 299th consecutive sellout at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The last time Duke did not have a sellout at home was on Nov. 16, 1990, against Boston College.
l The Blue Devils have won 11 straight and 41 of the last 43 games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
l Duke has won 22 of its last 24 games in the month of January. The Blue Devils are 201-56 under Mike Krzyzewski in January games. Duke has lost back-to-back games in January just two times in the last 12 seasons.
l The Blue Devils have won 36 consecutive home games against unranked opponents.
l Senior Jon Scheyer leads the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.65:1) while playing 35.5 minutes per game. He has led Duke in assists in all 15 games with six turnover-free games. Scheyer also ranks ninth in the NCAA at 6.2 assists per game.
l Nolan Smith has 26 three-point field goals and is shooting an ACC-best 51.0 percent from three-point range. He is one three-point field goal shy of matching his single season high. Smith entered the year shooting 36.2 percent (49-of-135) from three-point range.
l Duke has had 18 individual 20-point scoring games this season, including seven by Jon Scheyer. The Blue Devils have had multiple 20-point scorers in the same game six times on the year.
l Jon Scheyer has scored 20 or more points in six of the last seven contests, including a pair of 30-point efforts. He has scored 15 or more points in 13 of 15 games this season.
l Junior Nolan Smith is averaging 19.5 points per game, while shooting 58.1 percent (43-of-74) from the field and 64.0 percent (16-of-25) from three-point range, in the last six games.
l Miles and Mason Plumlee are averaging 16.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game combined over the last four contests. The duo is shooting 60.9 percent (25-of-41) from the field during that span.
After a tough road loss to Georgia Tech, Duke is looking to regroup at home against Boston College Eagles on Wednesday night. The Blue Devils are well aware at how important it is to win at home in the ACC this season and they'll surely come out with a lot of fire in an effort to avoid a second straight loss.
One of the keys will be for the Duke front court to establish themselves offensively in not only this game, but the remainder of the season.
To date, Duke has done an admirable job by committee with their front court and it is a well known fact that Krzyzewski said he will play who is playing the best of these guys from game to game.
While the Blue Devils have had solid overall production from their quartet of seniors Brian Zoubek and brothers Mason and Miles Plumlee, there is still a need for these guys to further establish their roles on the offensive end.
In short, I am talking about being more consistent scorers when opportunities are presented.
For this to happen, Duke needs further development from Mason Plumlee, a true freshman who was hampered with pre season injuries and just now getting up to game speed.
Mason grew leaps and bounds in the Georgia Tech loss and many will be watching to see if he can match that production with two ACC opponents at home this week.
It's no secret that the Duke staff feels Mason is a key cog to the Blue Devils success and as he adjusts more to the physical play and speed of the college game and he could well become the fourth go to scorer.
In a recent interview for the Blue Devil Nation Locker Room Report, Mason admitted that he needs to make simpler plays instead of the flashy ones, but he also knows his teammates have been trying to feed him for some emphatic dunks.
The youngest Plumlee gets those feeds because his teammates know what he can do.
Mason already has great chemistry with Jon Scheyer and as he adjusts to his teammates, we could see him reach his lofty potential before seasons end.
His brother Miles will play a key role as well and like Mason, Miles knows how to finish when open.
Ask any Duke player and they will tell you that Miles can jump out of the gym and that he is freaky athletic jumping over players for dunks in practice.
There is a reason Miles started as a freshman in the opener and many of this seasons games for Duke sees what he can do in practice where he seems consistently good.
In short, Miles is a very athletic big who needs to work on said consistency with his game and he has all the tools to make this happen.
If he can establish himself as more of a down low presence on the offensive where he is needed most on the scoring end for a team that is riding the play of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith; he'll become a major factor.
Another key will be when the brothers Plumlee get used to one another in the Duke system for there is no doubt they know one another well but that has yet to fully materialize on the court at the ACC level.
Seniors Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas both have the potential to score well in games.
While Zoubek isn't the most athletic big man, he is a huge presence and he has earned Krzyzewski's praise on many occasions when press members were asking about other players.
The reason being that Zoubs as he is known to his teammates, has had several games where he had or was near a double-double in scoring and rebounding in limited minutes.
As the Plumlee's develop, Zoubek and Thomas will be looked to for toughness and leadership.
There is no reason to think Zoubek cannot relish his role as a senior down the stretch and if that happens Duke will be a tough team to handle.
Zoubs senior teammate Lance Thomas is Duke's equivalent of the Energizer Bunny for the energy and hustle he brings to the court.
Thomas only knows one way to play and that is all out, but that can get him into some tough situations as was seen when he fouled out against Georgia Tech.
Granted, Thomas draws the some of the toughest defensive assignments each game, but he will need stay in contests down the stretch.
While he is not depended on the score a lot for this team, Thomas needs to continue to take his shots with confidence after working on it so hard in the off season.
Thomas is at his best when teams overlook him on the offensive end and he will likely look to exploit that in the coming games where he has proved to come up big at times in the past in ACC games.
While Ryan Kelly gets some minutes down low, I consider him to fall into the category of a "hybrid," alongside Andre Dawkins, thus they are not discussed here.
Of course for any of these guys to progress Duke's big three [Scheyer, Singler, Smith] will have to get them the ball where they need it.
The bottom line is that Duke's front court is still a work in progress and as they become accustomed to one another even more, they will surely get better.
And it'll be important that Duke gets offensive production from them when the teams shooters go cold.
ATLANTA (AP) - Gani Lawal scored 21 points, including a crucial shot with just over a minute remaining, and No. 20 Georgia Tech bounced back from a dismal loss with a 71-67 upset of fifth-ranked Duke on Saturday.
Photo Courtesy of Duke Photography
Lawal worked the boards hard, putting back two straight misses during one pivotal stretch, and Georgia Tech (12-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) went ahead for good on yet another hustle play. Zachery Peacock grabbed an airball under the basket and flipped in a shot that put Georgia Tech ahead 62-60 with 1:52 remaining.
After Kyle Singler missed again for Duke (13-2, 1-1) on a 3-pointer - the junior forward was 2-of-13 from the field - Lawal knocked down an awkward turnaround jumper from about 10 feet to give the Yellow Jackets some breathing room.
Georgia Tech avoided an 0-2 start in conference play and made up for a 73-66 loss to state rival Georgia on Tuesday. Jon Scheyer led the Blue Devils with 25 points.
Duke, which had a seven-game winning streak, was stymied by a miserable performance beyond the arc (6-of-28 from 3-point range), had its slim depth exposed by foul trouble (Lance Thomas picked up his fifth with more than 10 minutes left, three other players finished with four) and didn't provide Scheyer much help.
The star point guard followed up a 31-point effort against Iowa State with another strong showing, also chipping in with six assists while handling the bulk of the scoring load. But Mason Plumlee, with 10 points off the bench, was the only other Duke player in double figures. Singler was held to nine points - nearly seven below his average.
The Yellow Jackets knew they couldn't afford another effort like the one they had against Georgia, having already lost their ACC opener at home to Florida State in overtime. They managed to avert an 0-2 start in conference play by turning up the defensive pressure on Duke, pressing and trapping much more than they did against the Bulldogs, and crashing the boards in the second half against a team playing its third game in six days.
The Blue Devils had a 20-12 rebounding edge in the opening half, but Georgia Tech dominated 26-12 after the break. Lawal led the Yellow Jackets with nine rebounds, including back-to-back plays that gave the home team a big boost.
Iman Shumpert missed on a drive, but Lawal slammed home the rebound with a thunderous dunk that left the backboard shaking. After Duke turned it over at the other end, Derrick Favors missed for the Yellow Jackets. But Lawal was in the right place again, grabbing the rebound and banking it in for a 52-47 lead.
Each team had its run early on. Duke ripped off 12 straight points shortly after the opening tip, then Georgia Tech responded with a 14-2 spurt. The Blue Devils led 35-29 at halftime, and the margin was never more than that the rest of the way.
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