Tag Archives: Kyle Singler

Duke Basketball

Duke stymies the Hokies 77-63 advance to championship

Nolan Smith drives the ball vs the Hokies - Rick Crank photo for BDN

Greensboro -


The Duke Blue Devils advance the to ACC Championship game with a 77-63 win over Virginia Tech, setting up Duke-UNC III in the process.  There was some questions as to whether Smith would play, but he started and he thrived. 

"An injury is not going to stop me this time of year.  We only have a couple of more games to go.  I'm a senior and I just want to help my team win games," said Smith while being bombarded by a bevy of media types.

Once again, Kyle Singler had a good game.  After falling one rebound short of a double-double last evening, he accomplished the feat tonight scoring 13 points and grabbing a game high 11 rebounds. 

Seth Curry rounded out the double figure scorers for the Blue Devils, scoring 10 points.  Duke outscored the Hokies 28-24 in the paint and they got 14 points from their bench.

"Our guys played really well today, becasue I thought Virginia Tech played well.  Defensively we played well, making them more of a one on one team," said Kryzewski.  He continued, "They didn't have a lot of assists and I thought it was because of some good team defense.

It never seemed like Duke lost control of the game, but it got ugly in the end where technicals and some strange  if not inconsistent calls  prolonged the game.  Duke loses an hour to daylight savings time tonight, making their turnaround a quick one before they face North Carolina and Harrison Barnes who is the talk of the tournament after he scored a whopping 40 points as his team advanced.

North Carolina gained a huge advantage down low in the first game when Mason Plumlee was called for some early fouls.  In fact, Duke will have to control John Henson and Tyler Zeller better to win.  Duke will also have to combat a predominent Tar Heel crowd, one which really helped the Tar Heels in two tournament historic comebacks.

It's likely that the winner gets a number one seed while the loser is likely a two, so it should be a battle for the ages.

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OFFICIAL GAME NOTES FROM DUKE SPORTS INFORMATION -

  • The Blue Devils advance to the ACC Championship game for the 30th time in school history. Duke has won an ACC-best 18 championships in their previous 29 title game appearances, including the last two years and nine of the last 12 seasons.
  • Sunday’s championship game will be the 11th time Duke and North Carolina have met in the ACC Tournament finals. North Carolina has won six of the 10 but Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is 4-3 in his seven games against the Tar Heels for the conference title. The last time it happened was 2001 when the Blue Devils earned a 79-53 victory in Atlanta. The two schools have played 19 times in the ACC Tournament with Duke winning 11 times. The last meeting was in the 2003 semifinals, a 75-63 Duke victory.
  • Duke has now won eight straight ACC Tournament games in Greensboro and have also won eight straight overall with championships in 2009 and 2010. The Blue Devils have won a record 89 ACC Tournament games all-time and are 35-15 when playing in Greensboro. 
  • Since 1999 Coach K is 6-0 in the ACC Tournament when playing teams the Blue Devils lost to in the regular season. Duke lost to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, 64-60. Coach K is 15-10 all-time in the ACC Tournament when playing teams Duke lost to in the regular season. Saturday marked the first time Duke and Virginia Tech had ever met in the ACC Tournament. Virginia Tech was only team the Blue Devils had never faced in the conference tournament entering this season.
  • Head coach Mike Krzyzewski earned his 51st career ACC Tournament win and is now 51-17 all-time. He is one of only two coaches in conference history with at least 50 tournament victories, joining North Carolina’s Dean Smith (58). Since 1998, Duke is 34-4 in the ACC Tournament.
  • When playing in the Greensboro Coliseum, Duke is now 41-9 under Coach K with victories in 14 straight contests dating back to the 2004 ACC Championship game.
  • The Blue Devils have won 19 straight neutral site games dating back to a loss to Villanova in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.  
  • Over the last three seasons the Blue Devils have collected 94 overall victories to rank fifth most over a three-year span in school history.
  • Duke limited Virginia Tech to 2-of-16 (.125) shooting from behind the three-point line. It is the sixth time this season a Duke opponent has shot under 20 percent from deep. 
  • The Blue Devils made their final 13 free throw attempts in the game over the final 15 minutes of the game and finished 22-of-26 (.846) for the game. 
  • This season Duke is 22-1 when outrebounding its opponent.  
  • Duke held Virginia Tech to fewer made field goals (9) than made free throws (10) in the first half. The Hokies were 9-of-26 (.346) from the field and (0-for-5) from behind the three-point line.

Player Notes:

Seth Curry

  • Sophomore Seth Curry tallied his 15th double-figure scoring game of the season with 10 points. He has scored 10 or more in four straight games, averaging 12.3 points per game during that span.
  • Curry made two three-point field goals, giving him 16 games this season with two or more treys. 

Mason Plumlee

  • Sophomore Mason Plumlee made 3-of-4 field goal attempts and is 7-of-9 (.778) from the field in this ACC Tournament. He had back-to-back possessions with alley-oop dunks from Nolan Smith in the second half to change a 10-point lead into a 61-47 advantage.

Kyle Singler

  • Senior Kyle Singler matched a school record with his 144th consecutive game played, equaling the total for Chris Duhon and Jon Scheyer. His 144 career games played ranks tied for fourth most at Duke with Duhon and Scheyer. Singler made his 101st consecutive start and extended his school record to 143 career starts.
  • His 10 career starts in the ACC Tournament is tied for fifth most in Duke history with Mike Gminski, Kenny Dennard, Gene Banks and Christian Laettner.
  • His double-double was his fourth of the season and 24th of his career.
  • With his 13 points he moved into the top 10 in Duke history for points in ACC Tournament play and now ranks ninth with 168 points. 
  • He has scored in double figures in 30 of the 33 games this year and has 125 career games with at least 10 points. 
  • In Duke’s two ACC Tournament games he has corralled 20 rebounds. He has four games this season with 10 or more boards.
  • Singler moved into seventh on Duke’s career rebounding list, passing Gene Banks. He now has 988 career rebounds. 
  • He was 5-of-5 from the free throw line and is a perfect 14-of-14 from the charity stripe in the two games of this year’s ACC Tournament. He has made 45-of-49 (.918) from the foul stripe in the last seven games.
  • In the last eight games, Singler is 2-for-25 from behind the three-point line. He is 0-for-11 in the last three games. 
  • The victory gives him 122 for his career, moving him into a tie for fourth most in ACC history and third most at Duke with Christian Laettner.

Nolan Smith

  • Senior Nolan Smith has scored at least 20 points for the 19th time this season and 36th career game. He has 10 games with 25 or more on the year. He reached double figures in scoring for the 31st time in 33 games this season.
  • With his 27 points he became the 19th player in school history to score 700 or more points in a season. He now has 703 points on the season.
  • He has shot 10 or more free throws in a game seven times this season.  

  • Smith posted his 19th game this season with at least five assists. He now has 11 games on the year with at least 20 points and five assists.
Duke Basketball

Duke drops Maryland 87-71 behind Singlers 29 points

Singler knocked down 9 of 9 free throws helping Duke to a 87-71 win over a pesky Maryland team - BDN Photo, Rick Crank

GREENSBORO - The name of the game in March is to survive and advance and Duke did just that on Saturday night.  The Blue Devils took out a game Maryland team with a 87-71 victory.  Had someone told you before the game that Nolan Smith would score just 7 points and commit 5 turnovers to 2 assists you would have thought Duke lost.  If somebody told you Duke would knock down 3 of 15 threes you may have thought the same thing.

Duke won because players stepped up in a big way, in short, it was a team effort. When Smith went down with a stubbed second toe, Seth Curry rose to the occasion and ran the point as if he'd been doing so all season.  Curry struggled early, but his game came togehtr at just the right time.

Then there was the play of Kyle Singler who went 10 of 15 from the field and 9 of 9 from the free throw stripe for 29 points to go with his 9 rebounds.   Singler played with confidence and really put the Blue Devils on his back scoring 6 of the Blue Devils first eight points.

"Kyle had a magnificent game and out bigs really rebounded well, Kelly especially in the first half," stated Krzyzewski. Ryan Kelly finished the game going 5-5 from the field for 11 points and 2 rebounds in 13 minutes of play.

The brothers Plumlee were very effective as well.  Mason had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds while Miles had 10 points and 9 rebounds.  The duo helped hold Jordan Williams to just 16 points, but he did manage a whopping 16 rebounds.  Miles also had success with his perimeter jump shot, something he leaned on in high school.

Duke also got a boost from Andre Dawkins who tallied 9 points while playing 18 meaningful minutes.  Duke outscored the Terps 34-32 in the paint, 13-9 off turnovers and got 20 points from their bench as they pushed their season record to 28-4.

"It was a a hard fought win for us.  Maryland is always an unbelievably tough game for us," said Krzyzewski.  Duke will face the winner of the Virginia Tech- Florida State game tomorrow.

**I hope to have videos up, but it is not looking good at the moment due to unforseen issues.

Team Notes:
  • Duke has now won seven straight ACC Tournament games in Greensboro and have also won seven straight overall with championships in 2009 and 2010. The Blue Devils have won a record 88 ACC Tournament games all-time and are 34-15 when playing in Greensboro.
  • Head coach Mike Krzyzewski earned his 50th career ACC Tournament win and is now 50-17 all-time. He is just the second coach in conference history with 50 tournament victories, joining North Carolina’s Dean Smith (58). Since 1998, Duke is 33-4 in the ACC Tournament.
  • When playing in the Greensboro Coliseum, Duke is now 40-9 under Coach K with victories in 13 straight contests dating back to the 2004 ACC Championship game.
  • The Blue Devils have won 18 straight neutral site games dating back to a loss to Villanova in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.  
  • Duke improved to 4-0 this season in games following a loss and have not lost back-to-back games since the 2008-09 season. They are 17-2 when following a loss over the last four years.
  • Over the last three seasons the Blue Devils have collected 93 overall victories to tie for the fifth most over a three-year span in school history.
  • The 87 points were the most by Duke since Jan. 19 when they scored 92 in a win over N.C. State. The Blue Devils are 18-0 this season when scoring 80 or more. 
  • The 31 made field goals gives Duke 13 games with 30 or more made shots. It is the first since the last time the Blue Devils faced Maryland that they have made at least 30 shots.
  • The Blue Devils continued their struggles from beyond the arc, making just 3-of-15 (.200). They have shot under 25 percent from deep in three of the last four games.
  • Five Duke players scored in double figures. The last time the Blue Devils had five players score at least 10 points was the last time they were in the Greensboro Coliseum on Dec. 29 against UNC Greensboro.
  • Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee and Kyle Singler combined for 29 of Duke’s 41 rebounds. Miles Plumlee and Singler each were one rebound shy of a double-double. It was the 22nd time Duke has outrebounded its opponent with a 21-1 record in those games.
  • Duke’s Ryan Kelly and Kyle Singler combined to go 10-for-10 in the first half. The two players bounced back from a poor shooting performance at North Carolina where they combined to go 4-for-21. Kelly was 1-of-7 and Singler was 3-of-14. 

Player Notes:

Seth Curry

  • Sophomore Seth Curry played in his first career ACC Tournament game as he sat out last season’s championship run due to NCAA transfer rules.
  • Curry finished with 11 points to give him 14 games this season with 10 or more. 
  • He had three steals to extend his team-high total to 46 on the year. He has six games this season with three or more steals.

Andre Dawkins

  • Sophomore Andre Dawkins came off the bench to make two three-point field goals. He has made two or more treys in 16 games this season. His nine points were the most he has scored since he had 11 at Maryland in the two school’s last meeting.

Ryan Kelly

  • Sophomore Ryan Kelly scored 11 points for his eighth double-figure scoring game of the year.
  • Kelly made all five of his field goal attempts. It is the second time this season he has had five or more field goal attempts without a miss. The other was a 6-for-6 performance at Wake Forest on Jan. 22.

Mason Plumlee

  • Sophomore Mason Plumlee recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. It was the second straight season Duke had a player post a double-double in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals as Kyle Singler had 18 points and 11 rebounds against Virginia last year.
  • It was his ninth game this season with at least 10 points and 12th career game.
  • He has posted 10 or more rebounds in 14 games this season. 
  • Plumlee also set a career high with five assists. His previous high was four assists earlier this season against Princeton.
  • He played a career-high 38 minutes in the win. His previous best was 36 minutes at Maryland.

Miles Plumlee

  • Junior Miles Plumlee earned his 10th start of the season and 36th career start. It was his first start since the first time Duke played Maryland on Jan. 9.
  • Plumlee reached double figures in scoring for the fourth time this season and 11th time in his career. 
  • He finished with eight offensive rebounds, one shy of the ACC Tournament single game record. It was the most by a Duke player since Kyle Singler had nine against Princeton on Nov. 19, 2007.

Kyle Singler

  • Senior Kyle Singler made his 100th consecutive start and extended his school record to 142 career starts. His 143 career games played ranks tied for sixth most at Duke with Danny Ferry.
  • He tallied his 12th game this season with 20 or more points and 44th career game. It was his fourth 20-point game in nine career ACC Tournament games. 
  • With his 29 points he climbs three spots on the ACC career scoring list and now ranks eighth all-time. He passed N.C. State’s David Thompson, Virginia’s Jeff Lamp and Duke’s Mike Gminski. He now ranks fourth on the Duke career list.
  • Singler made his first six field goal attempts of the game, including 5-of-5 in the first half. It was the fifth game this season he has made 10 field goal attempts.  
  • He was 9-of-9 from the free throw line and has made 40-of-44 (.909) from the foul stripe in the last six games. 
  • The victory gives him 121 for his career, moving him into a tie for fifth most in ACC history with North Carolina’s Deon Thompson.

Nolan Smith

  • Senior Nolan Smith had his streak of 22 straight games with at least 10 points snapped. He had scored in double figures in 30 of the 31 games this season.
  • The victory gives him 117 for his career, moving him into a tie for eighth most in ACC history and tied for fifth in school history with Danny Ferry and Nate James.
Duke Basketball

Singler, Smith help Duke down Clemson on Senior Day

Photo by Lance King for BDN

DURHAM - Having followed both Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith's path to Duke since their high school days, it was hard for me to come to the realization this was their last game in Cameron.  Singler picked Duke late in the process and I can remember discussing that he'd watch video of Larry Bird with his Father.

Smith was smiling the first time I met him and he'll be smiling the last time I see him or maybe I should say, he smiles every time I see him?  I guess as you age time flies, for it seem like just yesterday when I was interviewing them for the premium section of our site.

The two seniors went out with a bang tonight helping Duke set up a showdown with North Carolina for the regular season championship this Saturday.  Make no mistake, the Clemson Tigers came to play and Brad Brownell has made quite the impression as their first year coach.

In the end, there was just too much positive mojo in Cameron for the Tigers to do anything other than keep the game close as Duke cruised to a 70-59 win.  Smith ended the game with a game high 21 points and 7 assists while Singler added 18 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double and his 25th game at Duke with 10 or more boards.

Seth Curry bounced back after a miserable game at Virginia Tech and added 16 points while Mason Plumlee chipped in with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks.  His aggressive play earned the praise of Coach K un the post game press conference.

We'll have more on the game shortly.  Actually, it could be morning in that we are running quite late this evening.