One of the key performers in the Duke win over Pittsburgh last evening was Vernon Carey Jr. The big freshman tallied a team-high 26 points to go with 13 rebounds but he also had a career-high 4 assists. Carey now has nine double-doubles this season and he has scored 20 points or more and grabbed 10 or more rebounds in eight games. Blue Devil Nation caught up to Carey for a brief post-game chat.

It seemed like they wanted to get the ball into you early and often. Was that part of the plan against Pitt?

That was our gameplan coming in, to look inside early and just kind of play through me and I feel like we did a pretty good job of that as a team.

You have come into Duke and had a good shot from day one. What kind of work did you do in the offseason and here for that to happen?

I have always worked inside-out game or post and perimeter. We just work on screens and pops and just everything really.

The team was a little sluggish early after the break and you allowed them to make a comeback in the second half.

We came out a little sluggish and they cut the lead to three and just need to be more poised and turn the ball over less and get more stops.

You get to play in that [Carrier] Dome next. Have you ever played a game in a dome before and are you looking forward to it?

No, I have not played in one yet. I am looking forward to it.