Many of you are wondering about the injury situation at Duke. Here is the latest as of this afternoon. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek. Thomas suffered a left ankle sprain in the first half of the game and is listed as day-to-day. Zoubek suffered a broken nose and is day-to-day. Jon Scheyer also suffered an ankle sprain in the second half on Tuesday and Nolan Smith’s status remains unchanged after sustaining a mild concussion on Feb. 25.
I wasted little time in asking Jon about starting at the PG spot. Scheyer was patient as always answering questions.
So, let’s get right to the point, pardon the pun. What’s it like to run the point?
You know, I feel comfortable with it. It’s something I have done in practice a lot and through out the year. I think that it gives some advantages to the offense on our team and I feel comfortable doing it. I 
think some of it has to do with match ups. Also a big thing is guarding the ball and Elliot has been doing a good job of that of late, guarding a point guard. And Nolan is really our best guy doing that. In practice recently he’s done a better job in trying to get back to where he was guarding the ball. I think for myself I can create mismatches bring the ball up. I can work off the ball … it’s not like I need to bring the ball up.
Did you sense Elliot was a little bit more under control?
He was. That’s as strong of moves he’s made all year in a game. He’s done it in practice, but in games … for being a freshman in that situation starting a pretty big game, he had a lot of poise in that game.
Can you talk of the defense which was so good all season? What has been going in in the last few games?
I think the biggest thing is us determining what the offense is going to do. They just played their offense and we just followed them around the court. We’re at our best when we are attacking people offensively and defensively. I think that’s what we lost during that stretch. Even though we had some losses, those games were learning experiences for us.
After the Boston College loss Duke seemed to pull close together and little was heard until now. Was that K’s way of saying …
I think he … the main thing was we need to have toughness on the court, we need to play defense and whatever the lineup was going to be, Coach wanted to put a line up out there that could do that. Going into the St. John’s game we were to be tough, play defense and not be scared. Moving forward that’s the things we have to do.
When did you first know you be starting at point?
The day after the game he told me. That’s something I was excited about because for me I felt it would be kind of a way to play a new position a little bit. Just trying to think of the season from the St. John’s game on is kind of like a new season in a way.
Do you feel like the line-up will stay in place?
I don’t know. Coach seems really serious. All the guys like the way it’s going right now. So we are probably going to stay with it, but I can’t really predict how long or if the next game we’ll switch it up. But right now, I feel like this is something that can help our team. The season is so long that it’s almost like a fresh feel to it, especially for me, but the team in general sometimes needs something different in the middle of the year. Also, someone like Elliot - he’s having some great minutes for us in practice and that’s exciting.
How about Gerald Henderson, whats he like at home?
Aw, he just like sleeps on the couch all day. (smiling) I’ll say one nice thing about him and that’s it. He really loves basketball and he really studies the game as well as anybody I know. As much as I make fun of him for watching Kobe Bryant all the time. He studies Kobe and tries to do some of his moves and gets yelled at in practice for doing them. He’s always watching our games and opposing teams plays. Pretty much anytime he hears Kobe, he just stops everything and switches the TV.
Do you have anybody you watch?
You know, I like a bunch of players, but I’m not (laughing) obsessed with one person like he is with Kobe. God forbid what would happen if he played him in a year or two. I don’t what would happen if he was guarding him, he might ask him for his autograph on the court.
In the last couple of seasons there has been a late year slide. Is that what’s sort of going on here?
I think we got into the same thing. This is the point in the season where we can either change it or have it be the same thing. In my freshman year I didn’t have too much control. The upperclassmen that are going through it … it’s up to us. That’s something we feel we’re in control and we can change it. We just have to take it game by game and not put too much pressure on ourselves.
Duke used an early 27-7 run to build a 22 point halftime lead and coast to a 79-54 win over the Virginia Cavaliers. Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith led the Blue Devils with 18 and 15 points respectively. Jon Scheyer contributed 11 points and was the team's leading rebounder with seven.
Duke utilized tough defense to fuel its offense turning Virginia over 23 times including 17 turnovers in the first half. Duke scored 29 points off of turnovers, while Virginia only managed two points off of nine turnovers. Throughout the game, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski urged the Blue Devils to stay in passing lanes and push the ball off turnovers and rebounds.
Gerald Henderson made a 3-point bucket to start the game and Duke never relinquished the lead. Sylven Landesberg led Virginia with 20 points.
This was an important win for Duke as they were coming off a disappointing loss to Wake Forest on Wednesday. Next up for Duke is a trip to Littlejohn Coliseum to face the Clemson Tigers.
LINKS:
Smith sets tone as Devils rout Cavs
Give Duke its due, but Virginia is pitiful
Henderson scores 18, leads Duke past Virginia
Devils put on a dominating show
Cavs fall apart - yet again
Cavaliers Can't Slow No. 1 Duke
Tomko: What A Difference A Game Makes
Jon Scheyer took the time to answer a few questions on Monday. Scheyer addressed being ranked number one and the upcoming game at Wake Forest.
What is it like to be ranked number one in the nation?
Obviously it's an honor to be number one at any time in the season. It's a lot of great teams out 
there besides us and any one of them want to be ranked number one at the end of the year. It's exciting, but we have a big win coming up. We enjoyed it for a little bit and now we'll move on.
As a team you could probably see this ranking coming. Did Coach K tell you anything?
We talked about it even before we were number one. We talked about it way back when Pittsburgh lost that we could have possibly been number one then. The one thing we talked about is if we were one or two our focus has to be on the next game. That's something we've done a good job with it. We've seen the number one team get knocked off the last two weeks, so we see that you can't enjoy it. Wake was just number one and now we're going to play there. The rankings will take care of themselves at the end of the year, so we just have to get ready for the game with Wake.
How familiar are you with the Wake and how they play?
They're really long and athletic so you have to be strong with the ball, every pass you make. With Wake - you're not going to overpower them because they have a lot of athletes. They get out on transition. They want to make people take forced or quick shots and get out and run. We just have to make smart plays.
Wake plays a lot of big guys, so there will be situations where you may be guarding Aminu or Johnson on a switch. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Well obviously, they start a really big line up and come off the bench with big guys. For Gerald and myself getting switched off we have to be smart the way we play them.
[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
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]
[private]Duke played it's best game of the season in a route to a 82-64 win over the seventh ranked Xavier Musketeers. It was a game where they put it all together on both ends of the court. Be it stifling defense or the extra pass, these Blue Devils came to play.
"Our kids played a heck of a game. The defense was outstanding. We talked so well and had switches and we played off their five to clog up the lanes so we wouldn’t foul. They were averaging 35 free throws a game because they are so balanced and they are a really good team. Offensively,
we really executed well. Our two wings had fabulous games. (Jon) Scheyer and G were outstanding. Brian had four blocks and had some really nice passes. We played really well as a team and we beat a real good team. I am happy about our team coming off the exams. I thought the Asheville game really set us up for this because we had a great second half against Asheville," said an elated Krzyzewski.
The Devils play in the first half was pristine perfect as they had their way opening up a 22-3 lead before Xavier made a single field goal. The run proved to be a knock out punch for Xavier never recovered and two late game threes made the margin look closer than the game actually was.
When asked of his teams first half play Krzyzewski stated, "It’s one of those halves that’s unexpected against an outstanding team. We were very well prepared. Our team mentally took a step up, I could feel it. They prepared so well these last two days. I knew we were going to play well, I didn’t know we were going to win because they are a good team. We played great. You know what I think with Jon? Jon wants to be a player that sometimes doesn’t look for a shot and by the time the shot is there the place he is looking for, the shot passed. He should look for a shot first and then make a play. If he didn’t have a shot, he can make a play. Jon’s been a good leader for us."
Scheyer was clearly the player of the game for Duke where he scored 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting and had 16 of those points in the first half.
When asked of his play Scheyer stated, It felt good. "I don’t feel like I’ve been getting many bounces this year. It’s good when you get a win like this. We played really together and made the extra passes except for maybe the beginning of the second half. Besides that, we made the extra passes, played together and we created shots for other people rather than create them for ourselves. That’s a big dimension that our team has had recently. It was big for us. Every night when we step on the floor we have to play like we did today.
If the team plays as it did today, then it will be hard not imagine not seeing them in the Final Four.
Link to Official Box Score We'll have more on the game later -[/private]
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