Tag Archives: Duke-Davidson

Duke Basketball

#2 Duke holds off Davidson 79-67

[private]The Duke Blue Devils boosted their record to 13-1 with a 79-67 win over Davidson in Cameron Indoor Stadium.  Duke was led by the dynamic duo of Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler who scored 22 points apiece.

Duke held Stephen Curry in check during the first half, but the nation's leading scorer erupted for 25

Photo is courtesy of GoDuke.com
Photo is courtesy of GoDuke.com

points in the second half.  Curry's scoring effort allowed Davidson to cut a 25 point lead to 8, before Duke gained control to close out the victory.

"I think their help defense allows them to do that because if they create a mismatch where I’m guarded by a big guy, I usually try to take him off the dribble. If I see a guy right behind him on the second line of defense it’s tough to create something. That’s why they’re really good if they can switch and take away the initial shot and then when you drive they’re right there to help and make you make a tough decision,” said Curry in regards to the way the Devils defended him.

Early on, the Dukies defense picked up where it left off against Virginia Tech.  Davidson finally scored Curry's average as a team at the 15:20 mark in the second half making it 51-29.  They finally found their offensive game scoring 38 points to close out the game.

"We beat an outstanding team tonight. I think when two really good teams play one another, you have blows. At the end of the first half, those last eight minutes, we played really well and gave us the lead, and the first six minutes of the second half we played great. Then it looked like we got tired. We took some quick shots that missed, and I thought Lovedale made some big blocks when we did get a good shot," said Krzyzewski.

The Blue Devils played very well as a team for the most of the game before losing some momentum after maintaining large leads.  There is no question that the strong play of Jon Scheyer helped Duke thwart the Wildcats comeback.

"It was just plays needed to be made and opportunities were there, and I just had my shots, had some drives.  We took some pretty good shots in the second half I thought.  Most of them fell, some of them didn’t, but we when we move the ball like that, whether it’s me, Kyle, G or whoever, we can have some good opportunities to make some plays like that,” said Scheyer.

The victory was the Blue Devils 67th straight in Cameron versus a non conference opponent.  Duke will now travel to Talahassee to take on Florida State in a nationaly televised game which tips off at 2:00 this Saturday.

Sidebar -The Blue Devils have started the season 13-1 for the 17th time in school history. The Blue Devils have begun the year 13-1 for the third straight season and sixth time this decade. Coach K has led Duke to a 13-1 start a total of 11 times.

-Duke has now won its first nine home games in a season a total of 25 times, including 17 times under Coach K.

-Duke now leads the all-time series with Davidson, 87-17. The Blue Devils have won the last 22 meetings in the series dating back to a 75-73 loss in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 29, 1981.[/private]

Duke Basketball

Gerald Henderson talks of his improvement, Zoubek and more

[private]Statistically, you've really picked it up of late.  What do you attribute that to?  Are you getting in a comfort zone or something like that?

I guess you could say that, but I'm just realizing that I need to play like a really good player every game - not just every now and then.  Part of becoming the player I want to become is being that person on a consistent basis.

My teammates are finding me and I'm being more aggressive on the offensve end.  Being more hungry to score with the ball and also getting points off of my defense, getting out and running the floor has helped.

After the Michigan loss, I felt like I had't contributed like I need to do.  Even though we lost, we were in the game for most of it and that kind of pushed me to contribute more.

Now that the team is getting into ACC play, do you feel fresher as a team than say last year?

Definitely my body feels good.  The guys fell good.  We've have some hard practices, but we've rested ourselves well and are prepared for whats coming.

Is there more intensity going into ACC play during practices?

Coach is always intense.  We are always intense, but there is an added level of intensity as we go into the season - a little bit more urgency.  Every ACC team - you're going to get their best fight every game - we get that from anybody.  You can't get knocked back.  Really at the beginning of the game we try to set the tone early.

Can you comment on the play of center Brian Zoubek -

He's a heck of a player.  He's really developed his game and is becoming one of the better post players in the country.  There are some simple things he does which make him a better player.  Since Brian has come here, we've always had confidence in him.  I think a big thing is that his injuries have definitely set him back.  He played well as a freshman, but injuries were a set back.  Brian is going to do fine.  We have confidence in him and he is confident himself now.  He's going to be a huge part of what we do this year.

Are you guys at the place you want to be so far this season?

Absolutely.  We feel like we are in a good spot.  We feel like we are in a good spot, but we can definitely continue to get better.[/private]