The Blue Devil Nation caught up with Duke senior Brian Zoubek after he helped Duke to an easy 82-50 win over North Carolina to clinch the ACC regular season title. Zoubs had 8 points and 13 rebounds in his final game.
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When ESPN's Game Day crew comes to town, it is a big event for the host school and this weekend the nation's focus is on Cameron Indoor Stadium where Duke takes on Carolina this evening in a game which will decide the ACC Champion and send off some beloved seniors in Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek,
A solid turnout of students and fans attended ESPN's Game Day morning session which was of course televised live and nationally. Jay Bilas drew some cheers as did Bobby Knight while Digger Phelps got a little love simply because he picked Duke as a number one seed recently.
Then there was Hubert Davis, a former Tar Heel who likes to take some light shots at Duke from time to time. Needless to say, he was greeted with a lot of boos. Duke radio host Bob Harris also participated in the event as did several other local types.
Fans cheered on cue and were indeed loud as they held up car board cut outs of the player's heads and other signs which pretty much said "Go to Hell Carolina." The students were treated to Game Day sweatshirts after the event and a walk around campus shows tents in every crook and cranny. Everywhere you look there was Duke Blue as music filled the air on a bright and sunny day.
The ESPN Game Day crew moves outside of Cameron for the rest of the day and festivities pretty much continue as I type. BDN will be on the scene to bring you all of the action and we will update from twitter throughout the evening. So, stay tuned and tell your friends about Blue Devil Nation.
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Durham, N.C. - Duke just defeated Tulsa by a 70-52 score to push their season record to 24-4. We have some comments from Brian Zoubek below who scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. We are experiencing technical difficulties so it may or may not be morning before we can get other interviews posted.
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Durham, N.C. - While the "Big Three" of Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler have carried the Blue Devils on their shoulders this season, senior Brian Zoubek is coming into his his own to help at just the right time.
Quite simply, it's been the Big Three and Brian Zoubek of late and as of last night, the seven foot center's 16 rebounds in a key win over Virginia Tech shows consistency from a fourth player.
It's not like Zoubek hasn't had a good season with numbers of 5.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg but he admits that his play of late has been due to a better understanding of his role thus he is taking another step in his career.
"I'm in the game more because I'm being smarter about fouls. A lot of times I would play pretty well but get two quick fouls and have to come out so that's really frustrating. So, being smarter and that' s what I've been trying to do all year," said Zoubek when questioned by Blue Devil Nation after his teams 67-55 win over the visiting Hokies.
At the 7:08 mark, Zoubek made a lay up and one to put Duke ahead 52-47 and that play put the Blue Devils ahead for good. "We had a if series of plays and got a three point play and then another one after that. And then we hit had another three point play and that had not scored during that time and that is really disheartening for the other team, especially when they had just made a run to come back," said Zoubek.
Zoubek seemed elated last night, still perky after a tough conference win and he should have been. He also like the fact that those TV cameras have been edging his way more and more in the locker room.
"You can get a little complacent when you are at your job for a little while and you're doing okay, but then you step up like I did in the Maryland game and it brings on even more responsibility and I want to do that every game."
When asked what the difference has been in the last few games, Zoubek said, "It's a combination of me playing smarter in terms of screening in going right to the basket and right to the boards. I'm in the game more from playing smarter and that means more rebounds."
He then continued by stating, "It's been a natural progression for me and after the Maryland game I didn't want to go back, didn't want to regress."
Well, Duke fans and Krzyzewski want Zoubek to remain a main member of the party as well in that Duke is about to hit the stretch run. And that stretch run will be "Zoubs" as he is called by his teammates final run.
During his time at Duke, Zoubek has staved of a myriad of injuries during his Duke career, but there are no regrets according to Brian.
"You can't look back like that. There's no regrets on my part, I've loved my time here. I'm happy with the place I'm at and everything is paying off now."
We'll know in the next few weeks if Brian Zoubek continues his torrid play in the boards and if he does so, it will be even more of a special day when he comes out and talks with the Cameron Crazies one more time on March 6th. That's when Duke will take on their arch rival North Carolina and the table could be set for a really nice exit.
Despite his obvious joy of being the current media darling for Duke, Zoubek is quick to deflect the attention off himself.
"It feels awesome. As well as I have been playing it's just great to have the team in this position in the league. I love all these guys and we're having a great time and all things are better when you are winning."
Duke is indeed winning pushing their season record to 23-4 overall and 11-2 in the ACC and for now it seems Duke is the Big Three and Brian Zoubek.
Durham, N.C. - Duke defeated Virginia Tech by a 67-55 score to remain atop the ACC standings with a 11-2 mark and in the process pushed their record to 23-4 over all.
The Blue Devils overcame their second worst shooting performance of the season 29%, to win a very physical contest over the Hokies who dropped to 8-4 in the ACC and 21-5 overall.
Once again, the Blue Devils big three came through on the offensive end. Kyle Singler had one of his better games of the season, scoring 25 points to go with 10 rebounds. Singler earned the praise of Krzyzewski after the game, "Kyle played a great game defensively and he kept the ball alive. Some of his offensive rebounds turned into points."
Nolan Smith was huge down the stretch on his way to 23 points and Jon Scheyer added 15 points and a team high 7 assists.
Oddly, Miles Plumlee was the only other Blue Devil who scored, hitting 1 point, meaning just four players scratched.
Once again, Brian Zoubek was a man on the boards grabbing a game high 16 rebounds and adding 3 points. "He [Zoubek] played with a lot of emotion ... 16 rebounds is a lot and eight of them were on the offensive end where he kicked it back out," said Krzyzewski on the seniors play.
Notes - Duke outscored their opponent 27-9 on second chance shots and had 14 points off turnovers. As usual, the Blue Devils knocked down their free throws going 21-26 while the Hokies were 15-16. Another huge difference was that Duke hit 10 three pointers to the Hokies 2. The lead changed seven times. Duke's largest lead was the final margin.
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Durham, N.C. - The Blue Devil Nation celebrated Coach K's 1000th game and birthday with a convincing 77-56 win over Maryland on Saturday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium. All fans remained seated after the game as Krzyzewski addressed the crowd before he left for the locker room to talk with his Blue Devil team that now sports a 9-2 record in the ACC and 21-4 overall.
It's been quite a week for these Blue Devils, for they beat the two rival teams in Maryland and North Carolina on their schedule and in the process held them both in check. In fact, both teams combined scored only 110 points for a 55 ppg average.
But then today, Brian Zoubek must not have gotten the memo saying he wasn't in the big three, for the lanky senior had career highs of 16 points and 17 rebounds, prompting several cheers from the frenetic Cameron Crazies.
"He should be getting a lot of credit with what he's done as a basketball player from when he was a freshman to where he is now. He's a guy who has found a way to enjoy his basketball career which is a great thing. It's nice to see that happen to people when they are doing a great job," said Krzyzewski of Zoubs, as he is called by his teammates.
Duke held Maryland in check from beyond the arc, where they allowed just two three-point baskets and for most of the game they held Greivis Vasquez in check before he reeled off several baskets in the Terps comeback effort. Vasquez finished the game as the Terps high scorer with 17, while Cliff Tucker chipped in with 12.
Jon Scheyer led all scorers with 22 points and Smith, who was cold from the field, still tallied 14 points to go with a team high 6 assists. Kyle Singler added 10, Mason 7, Thomas 4 and 2 each for Miles and Kelly to round out the Blue Devils' scoring.
Duke scored 18 points off 14 Maryland turnovers and 20 points on second chance buckets. Duke led by 24 at one time but let off the gas in the final couple of minutes, winning by 21 over their assigned rival. Another huge stat for Duke was their 18 of 22 free throws.
Duke has won six consecutive games against Maryland in the series and Duke has won 13 games by 20 or more points this season. Duke held 44-37 advantage in rebounding and four players scored in double figures for the 14th time this season.
The Blue Devils will travel to Miami on Wednesday for a game televised on ESPN. Stay tuned for the BDN Duke Locker Room Report.
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