lt was a great night for quarterback Sean Renfree (20 of 30, 290 yards, 2 touchdowns) and one of his favorite targets was Jamison Crowder (6 catches for 102 yards and 1 TD). Check out what they had to say post-game after the Blue Devils' huge opening day victory over Florida International.
BDN was on the scene in the Duke locker room where we spoke with Ryan Kelly, Mason Pumlee and Austin Rivers. Enjoy their videos -
Here are our BDN Post Game Video interviews with Mason Plumlee and Seth Curry -
The Duke junior class had not lost a game in Cameron and that in itself should make Blue Devil fans appreciate just how awesome the streak was despite a 76-73 heart breaking loss to Florida State at the buzzer. The Blue Devils built little leads along the way, but Florida State answered all of them in the 2nd half where they score 50 points. Another contributing factor to their late success inside was the fact that Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee were saddled with four fouls apiece.
Austin Rivers drove the basket and hit a key shot for Duke tying the game with 4.8 ticks left, but the Seminoles found a wide open Michael Snaer who hit the best three point shot in his life. The win puts Florida State atop the ACC while Duke is now in 2nd both with 4-1 marks. Austin Rivers led Duke in scoring with 19 points and was very upset with the loss in the locker room which is to be expected. Andre Dawkins with 14 and Seth Curry with 12 rounded out the double figure scorers for Duke.
The Florida State defense slowed the Duke offense as well holding them to 31.4% from the field in the first half while they shot an impressive 66.7% in the second half. The Noles shot three more free throws than Duke in a game where the score was tied 11 times and the lead changed 5 times. It doesn't get much easier for Duke as they next travel to Maryland in what is always a hostile environment.
Coach K comments in the video below -
The Duke Blue Devils defeated the Miami Hurricanes 74-63 in their ACC Opener on Sunday evening and in the process pushed their season record to 13-0. BDN takes a look the win -
The Nolan Smith Show
Just when the Blue Devils needed a boost, Duke senior Nolan Smith scored 13 straight points in the first half. Smith told BDN that he was getting used to the point guard position and that comfort made him confident on the offensive end. Smith led the Blue Devils with 28 points to go with 5 rebounds and a team high 4 assists. His 28 points were a season high, his 4 threes were a season high as well.
A new identity, sort of ...
When Duke came into the 2010-11 season they were trained and expecting to run. With Kyrie Irving's injury, Duke has now become more of a half court team and will rely on the old stand by, defense. Duke played good defense on the Miami guards and they are some of the best they'll face in conference this season. A telling statistic is that Duke scored 2 points on the fast break, but at least four of those breaks were mishandled resulting in turnovers. Duke scored just 2 points off turnovers as well.
Kelly adds a spark off the bench
Ryan Kelly played 25 minutes versus Miami and he responded with two key follow up buckets which revved up the crowd. Mind you, the crowd was minus cheerleaders and the Blue Devil Mascot and many students are just coming in, so Duke needed the lift. Kelly ended the contest with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Duke had 8 blocks as a team.
The Plums
Mason Plumlee led Duke is rebounding with 10 and he swatted 4 shots back, but the sophomore struggled a bit on the offensive end. His brother Miles was praised by Krzyzewski during the post game for knocking down two free throws after a hard foul. Miles added 6 rebounds to his 6 points and had the other Duke blocked shot.
Kyrie Irving update
Irving returned to campus today and had a new cast put on upon arrival. He will have his injury evaluated on Wednesday and so far, surgery is not planned which is a good sign. However, it is clear that the Blue Devils are playing and planning strategy as if he will not return. I remain optimistic that we'll see him again this season.
Andre Dawkins spurt
Dawkins can score with the ball and that means he is capable of putting up points quick. After a slow start, Dawkins became the third Blue Devil in double figures with 16 and his defense showed up as well where he had a team high 4 steals. Dawkins has scored in double figures in nine of the Blue Devils 13 games. He also has scored two or more three point shots in nine games this season
Duke looks to get Curry untracked
The Blue Devils will try and get Seth Curry untracked after an 0-4 from the field performance. Curry was saddled with 4 fouls for much of the game but was not particularly effective in his 18 minutes of play. Curry made his third straight start.
No worries with Singler
Singler was just 5 of 15 from the field but many of those three point attempts (2-8) rimmed in and out. Singler was an Iron Man tonight joining Nolan Smith in the 40 minute club. Krzyzewski said it would not be unusual to see those kind of minuted from them as the season progressed. Singler has started 123 of 124 games at Duke. Singler moved past Shane Battier and Art Heyman on Dukes all time leading scoring list. Two pretty good guys to pass, huh?
Sidebar -Duke will next face Alabama Birmingham in Cameron on Wednesday evening. Duke was outscored in the paint 38-26. Duke's bench outscored the Canes by a 18-10 margin. Duke shot light out from the free throw stripe going 14 of 15. Duke was outscored in the second half for the first time this season.
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE Updated Team Stats Note- We are making some behind the scenes site changes in the next two weeks and going with a new audio file system, thus no Coach K or player audio interviews until then. Thanks for your patience!
DURHAM - Here's a couple of post game interviews with Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving who form the Blue Devils starting backcourt. Smith led the team with a game high 9 assists while Irving tallied 7 and the two have a friendly competition going. Just press play -
And here is Kyrie Irving -
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