CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Nolan Smith had 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists as No. 5 Duke overcame a sluggish start to beat Virginia 56-41 on Wednesday night.
The Blue Devils (24-2, 11-1) won their fifth straight, despite getting just two points from second-leading scorer Kyle Singler. The senior was in foul trouble for much of the game and didn't score his first bucket until the 16-minute mark of the second half.
Duke held Virginia to 15 second-half points and beat the Cavaliers for the seventh straight time.
Mustapha Farrakhan led Virginia with 11 points.
Virginia (12-13, 3-8), which dropped under .500 for the first time this season, has lost three straight.
The teams combined for seven turnovers before the first television timeout and Virginia took a 12-7 lead on Farrakhan's fast-break layup.
Duke answered with a 15-5 run over the next six minutes.
Just before the half, Smith raced out in transition and converted a layup as he was being fouled by Sammy Zeglinski. While standing over Zeglinski, Smith did a little dance. Duke was in control the rest of the way.
Duke led 34-26 lead at the break and clamped down on the Cavaliers in the second half.
The Cameron Crazies took it easy on Harrison Barnes, mainly due to Kyle Singler slowing him down. Photo - Lance King for BDN
Blue Devil Nation Video brings you raw footage from the Blue Devils thrilling 22 point turnaround to defeat North Carolina last evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Check out this video a few minutes after Duke defeated UNC. You will see the Cameron Crazies still in the stands chanting away while Nolan Smith is interviewed as the player of the game.
If Nolan Smith was the player of the game, Seth Curry was Player of the Game II. Check out his comments not seen on any television station.
Kyke Singler, ever the competitor, bristled when asked what happened to his intensity or why he scored just 10 points, saying, "I guarded Harrison," before we joined in the Q & A.
Nolan Smith put Duke on his back last evening, dropping a career high 34 points in the Blue Devils victory over arch rival North Carolina.
Kyle Singler is one of those special four year players for Duke. He has six more home games in Cameron Indoor Stadium as Duke enters the stretch run. Photo - Lance King for BDN
DURHAM - When Duke takes on Boston College this Thursday evening, it'll be their 20th game of the 2010-11 season. I don't know about you, but for me the season is flying by. In fact, it seems like a few months ago I was on the court in Indianapolis watching a group of joyous Blue Devils celebrate a national championship.
Coming into the season, Duke fans were giddy over the prospect of another title, especially with the arrival of Kyrie Irving, one of the best point guards ever to come out of New Jersey. Ironically, Irving went down in New Jersey after stepping on Matt Howard's foot a mere eight games into the season. Howard of course, plays for Butler the team Duke beat to win their fourth national title.
Irving's absence dominated the lips of many Duke fans for a long, long time, so much so that a portion of the season seemed to be taken for granted or lost in the shadow of his much talked about toe. It has now become clear that if Irving does come back, that he'll need to get into playing shape, but most fans would rather have an 80% Irving than none at all.
His injury caused an always unwanted in season adjustment, where Duke, who was running at will suddenly went to more of a half court game. The style is not as pretty but last seasons team used a similar half court sets and look what happened to them. Of course, it is hard to repeat no matter who the cast of players might be and for Duke to make it to Houston, Texas for the Final Four, it'll take some luck along the way for they are each opponents main target and or their big game.
But let's keep in mind that some teams make their own luck and that is generally evident from improvement on the court. Suppose Irving comes back, that would be great and he'd add that much needed ability to stretch the court. But the lessons his teammates have learned in his absence will be of major value, especially when they face critical half court situations during March Madness.
There has yet to be a third scoring option step up since the untimely injury and now Duke enters the stretch run with just a dozen games left in the regular season to find one. Ryan Kelly has showed the ability to do so of late, but the key will be if he can find consistency. After all, there is usually no doubt that Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler will show up, but there are occasions when any solid player goes cold and that means others have to step in.
Each season is a new challenge and each team is handled differently. The Duke Coaches have had to adjust their game plan with the injury of Kyrie Irving.
Last season Duke had three seniors in Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek. This season they have but two in the aforementioned Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Seniors have been through the wars and last years really stepped up their game and left with something special, a national title.
But last seasons three seniors had Singler and Smith behind them while this season as seniors have far less experience, so there is a major drop off from a year ago in seasoning where Miles Plumlee is the only junior on a team full of sophomores and freshman. Duke is still a young team past two seniors, and yes, I played the young card.
Then again, Irving is young as well but he had a savvy about him that is rare, yet he was still learning the game. Even so, Irving made Duke better, a legitimate number one if you will. Furthermore, he was the third scoring option.
During his absence Seth Curry has had a golden opportunity to step up but he is seemingly adjusting to the speed and physical nature of the division one game. Andre Dawkins has showed flashes of brilliance but he is still rounding out his game and the Plumlees are still finding their way. But there is hope for even more improvement and Krzyzewski recently said he liked where the Plumlees were at this point in the season.
Miles Plumlee started slow, but he is now getting where he fits in and that's a good sign. His brother Mason has become a rebounding and shot blocking machine and he simply needs to keep that up. However, Mason can break out at any time on offense where he is adjusting to the slower pace rendered by Irving's absence. In fact, both the Plumlees's are capable of turning another corner as the season goes on.
Is the Kyrie Irving era over at Duke? LK Images
During the many pre season interviews with Mike Krzyzewski, he stated this team would be a work in progress and that he did not want them to gel too early. There is a lot of wisdom in that statement for it is clear a team must get hot for six to eight games to take home the big prize. And his comment rings especially true with Irving's absence.
That said, it's time to relish and enjoy each and every game during the stretch run for there are a lot of questions which need to be answered. Will Irving come back and if so what kind of game will he display? Are two sensational seniors in Singler and Smith enough to put a team on their backs should Irving not return? Can Curry start knocking down his shots which he drills in practice? Can the Plumlees step up and will Ryan Kelly continue his play of late?
Maybe we'll see Andre Dawkins game swell, but who really knows? And that is not all to watch out for. Will Duke get the coveted number one seed where they'll play in New Jersey, Charlotte and Houston should they make a run?
With a bevy of Big East teams adorning the Top 25 a number one seed in the east is no longer as clear as it once seemed, so that means, Duke has to win it's share of games against conference foes while taking their best shots. It's no secret that defeating Duke is a resume builder for the NCAA's and there are a lot of balanced conference teams looking for a signiture win.
Again, there is nothing more exciting than the stretch run into the tournament, so now is the time to beam in and savor each game for it will pass you by if you don't. It all starts with an upstart Boston College team this Thursday night and this weekend Duke faces a dangerous trap of a game versus St John's in New York. And for those of you who are unaware, the game with the North Carolina Tar Heels is now just tens days off.
By the end of the journey, fans will find out if Krzyzewski found the right buttons to push along the way. But it'll be up to some young players to step up their game as well. Let the games begin.
DURHAM - Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said it best, "It was just one of those games where our shots weren't falling, but our second half defense saved us." The Blue Devils found themselves trailing 31-25 at the half but they righted the ship after being down nine in the second half. They went on to outscore the Cavaliers by a 24 point margin, closing the game out with a 76-60 win.
It was a night when the three point shot wasn't falling until late where Duke sophomore knocked down three of them in the second half. Dawkins' play came at a time when Duke needed a lift. Dawkins had just turned to the Cameron Crazies and exhorted them before he went in on a slashing drive, scored and was fouled.
Dawkins' 14 points were huge for a Duke team that needed a scoring lift from someone other than seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. But it was Smith who really sparked the Dukies with a stat line of 29 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists. Smith's big play was a tomahawk dunk which shifted momentum for Duke where it stayed.
The Virginia defense was tough all day in that they were quick to the ball and doubled down each time Duke would try to go inside. Mustapha Farrakhan led the Cavaliers with 15 points, but he was effectively shut down after the first half. Joe Harris added 15 as well.
Duke also got 16 boards from Mason, wh Coach K praised for grabbing everything near him in the post-game meeting with press. We'll have more on the game a bit later.
Sidebar - Dawkins scored in double figures for the 10th time this season. Duke now has a 30 game winning streak in Cameron. Mason Plumlee's 16 boards were his career high. Smith leads the ACC in 20 plus point games this season. Smith has 9 steals in the last two games.
And our cheerleader of the week is a member of the Dancing Devils who filled in for the cheerleaders last evening and did an admirable job. If we had a team shot, I would have selected all of them. Lance King Images for BDN
Welcome to another edition of BDN's Monday Musings where we talk of random happenings around Duke Athletics. It was fun to see the students start to come back in force in Cameron last evening and props to the dance team lasses for filling in for the cheerleaders and doing an admirable job. On to today's chatter -
Anytime you get an ACC win, it's sweet and Duke moved to 2-0 in conference with last evenings 71-64 win over a pesky Maryland team. When the Terps come to town, you will always hear "Sweat Gary Sweat," from the Cameron Crazies but last evening, a few Blue Devil fans were sweating along with him, as Duke found themselves trailing by as many as 6 points at home. But the team itself never seemed too worried, or should I say the staff never fretted, from my vantage on press row. Duke has been in these games before and with 883 wins, this is not Coach Krzyzewski's first rodeo.
For the first time since his toe injury, the media didn't question Coach K on Kyrie Irving's status in the post game press conference. And last night seemed like the first time the focus turned to the team on the court and that is probably a good thing. As crazy as it sounds, Irving's toe gets more hits than Duke Basketball itself of late, just ask many of the ACC bloggers who speak of his status on a regular basis, like my pal Brett Friedlander who writes an ACC Insider column for Star News in Wilmington. Of course, there was a Seth Davis tweet last night alluding to some sort of breaking news he would share on the "toe' a bit later. Does he have the "real" scoop? If he does, he is in rare air, for the real deal is protected like Fort Knox and not the type of fodder which might leak. Irving has avoided surgery and his mystery injury to be named later seems to be on the mend. Maybe we are blindly positive, but we think Irving returns to the court down the road. If I am wrong, I am wrong, but my hunches are usually accurate. As for the getting into shape questions ... I will take Iriving at 80% any day, eh?
copyright LKI
Taking a look at Atlantic Coast Conference stats, you'll see that Nolan Smith leads the league in scoring and assists. Yep, he's the current heads on favorite to win ACC Player of the Year, but we have a long ways to go. Kyle Singler moved ahead of Jordan Williams into third place in scoring last evening as well. It is also worth noting that Duke scores ten more points a game than any other conference team.
Duke's next contest is indeed a "trap game." Florida State is coming off a road loss to but they are 1-1 overall and tough when they play at home. The Seminoles are long and athletic and they struggle at times scoring the ball, but they get pumped up when Duke comes to town, especially when they're the defending national champions and number one ranked team in America. At 15-0 and atop the polls, Duke will get every team's best shot.
Duke had two prospects at last nights game, one being junior Alex Murphy a wing forward who is ranked in most top ten lists for his class. Jabari Parker, a 2013 budding front court player. For more on Duke Basketball Recruiting, join BDN Premium for the latest.
The odds on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy next season in college football will be Stanford's Andrew Luck. It's rare that a possible first pick in the NFL Draft opts to return. Duke Football will take on the Cardinal next season in Wallace Wade Stadium, so you will get a chance to see him go up against Sean Renfree and the Blue Devils. As for Luck, turning down 5o million with a new agreement being reached on rookie salaries going into place the following year, this situation is something he might consider revisiting. Meanwhile the struggling Carolina Panthers await and one has to think San Francisco may negotiate a trade with Jim Harbaugh at the helm.
Check out the Duke Blue Devils Women's Basketball team, which is ranked #3 in the nation! Coach P's gals have avoided nobody with a tough early season schedule yet they remain undefeated. Duke is still a work in progress as the entire team is getting minutes thus far. Of those players, many are very young and that bodes well in the future as does a stellar class coming in to join them next season. That said, all I have left to say is Jasmine Thomas is a gamer, worthy of the name Ms. Clutch.
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Former Dukie, Carlos Boozer, has really been playing well for the Chicago Bulls and he's a big reason they hold their divisions lead. Bull's fans are concerned that the return of to the lineup will disrupt team chemestry, so stay tuned.
We are hearing Player of the Year talk concerning senior Duke standout Nolan Smith. That came as no surprise to me as I discussed the possibility of Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith splitting votes during the ACC's media day in Charlotte. To his credit, Winston Salem writer Bill Cole, tabbed Smith as his pre season favorite in the ACC while many played it safe with Kyle Singler.
Duke lost Co-Marion Hobby to Clemson this past week and I have both good and bad vibes from this latest happening. One would think he'd remain in a stable situation before heading to Death Valley where the fans have little patience if their team is not winning and Dabo Sweeny has yet to prove himself. On the bright side of things, Duke will have a fresh look on defense and we'll stay on top of who Coach David Cutcliffe will hire.
Duke Basketball will entertain two prospects tonight against Maryland. Alex Murphy pays a visit to Durham and he is high on Duke's wish list and likely down to Duke and Boston College, in my opinion. Duke will also entertain Jabari Parker, a young stud who you'll hear more of as we move forward. There is the possibility of Quinn Cook showing up as well. For those who are there tonight, make them feel welcome. For more on recruiting, join BDN Premium and gain full site access.
We are opening up our Duke-Maryland prediction contest on twitter. Get your pick in and be the closest to the score and win one month of BDN Premium Access. Also, follow us on twitter and Facebook and we'll keep you in the know. Our tweets along the Road to the Final Four hooked a lot of people last season and we'll continue updates from press row all season long.
And congrats to Trajan Langdon who was named to the FIBA All Decade Team which is quite an accomplishment.
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