Tag Archives: Duke advances in NCAA’s

Duke advances in NCAA’s with a 73-44 victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff

Go Duke

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Duke had little trouble disposing of Arkansas Pine Bluff  by a score of  73-54   in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament.  This one was pretty much over from the opening tip in that the Blue Devils are far too deep for the game but undermanned Golden Lions.

Duke pushed their season record to 30-5 overall and they will next take on the winner of the California-Louisville game on Sunday with the time yet to be determined.  The Golden Lions fell to 18-16 and were led in scoring by Tavaris Washington with 9 points.

Krzyzewski used this game as an opportunity to play several players extended minutes helping develop their bench.  Duke was led by Kyle Singler with 22 points, while Jon Scheyer added 13  points and Lance Thomas added 12.

Singler continued his torrid play of late with his 15th 20 points or more this season.  Singler also recorded his seventh double-double of the season by grabbing 10 rebounds in the game.  In fact, Singler has 728 career rebounds at Duke which is more than Carlos Boozer had in his first three seasons.

"One of the keys for s coming into the game was just attack, to attack their defense," said Singler.

The win helped Duke improve to 23-2 in  NCAA opening round games under Krzyzewski.

The taller Devils dominated the boards holding a 41-24 edge in rebounding.   "One of the advantages we have is our size, especially inside," said senior Jon Scheyer.

Then there were the second chance points where Duke held a 16-2 advantage.

Krzyzewski has now had 9 teams reach 30 wins in his 30 seasons as Duke's head coach. "It's nice to have.  I mean, but no I don't -- I know we've done it a number of times, I don't know how many," said Krzyzewski when asked of his teams 30th victory.

Stay tuned for interviews with the Duke players

Duke is Sweet 16 bound after defeating Texas 74-69

NCAA Texas Duke BasketballThe Duke Blue Devils are Sweet 16 bound after holding on to a 74-69 victory over Texas on Saturday evening.   Duke made some big plays down the stretch, starting with a Kyle Singler tip in that gave the Devils a two point lead.

Shortly thereafter, Singler was called for his fifth foul with 1:07 left in the game.  Gary Johnson stepped to the line and sank two free throws to tie the game at 69 apiece.  On the other end, Nolan Smith scrapped for a rebound off a miss and was fouled.

Smith, who ended the game with 11 points and a team-high 3 assists, calmly drained both of his free throws to give Duke a 71-69 lead.

The Blue Devils then leaned on their defense and kept the Long Horns from scoring, thanks to an incredible save.  Jon Scheyer made a save in front of the Texas bench, making a backhanded pass with his left hand all in the same motion.  That save was an almost perfect toss down court and Elliot Williams battled for the ball and was fouled by Johnson.

While Williams missed the two free tosses, a mad scramble ended with the ball in Gerald Henderson's hands.  "G" was fouled as he attempted to get a pass off while on his knees and that allowed him to seal the game with two free throws to give Duke a 74-69 win.

Henderson had a game-high 24 points and 6 rebounds, and his play helped Duke push their season record to 30-6.

Kyle Singler chipped in with 17 points and 7 rebounds and Jon Scheyer added 13 points to go with 3 steals.

Oddly, the Blue Devils were out-rebounded and outscored by 12 points in the paint, not to mention their bench had just 13 points to the Horns 24.  Duke didn't even have a single point on the fast break, but they did what it takes to win.

One of those things was the fact that Duke protected the ball, making just 9 turnovers.  Duke was also solid from the free throw stripe, but hitting 7 of 14 three pointers could have been the key.

The Blue Devils also held A.J. Abrams in check, not to mention harassing Texas' three-point shooters and holding them to 5 of 22.

Duke will return to Durham before departing for Boston, Massachusetts where they will play Villanova to see which team will advance to the final eight game on Saturday.

Stay tuned for more on this game and the NCAA Tournament from Blue Devil Nation.  And yes, I got lucky with my pick of Duke 75-70, missing each team's score by a single point.  Everybody gets lucky every now and then.