Blue Devils Improve to 7-1 with Victory Over Big East Foe St. Johns
In Pictures - PHOTO GALLERY
Top Plays
Turning Point
A 14-2 Duke run after St. John’s had cut our lead to four with about 10 minutes left put the game out of reach.
Blue Devil Ballers
Kyle Singler scored 17 points and Nolan Smith added 16. Big guys Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek were strong inside, combining for 22 points and 15 boards.
Duke Data
17-0 – Duke scoring run midway through the first half
41-31 – Duke rebounding advantage in the game
8.4/1 – Jon Scheyer’s A/TO ratio on the year (he had six dimes, zero TO’s in the game)
46 – Consecutive Duke home wins in the month of December
Coach K’s Comments
“I’m proud of my team. It has been a rigorous stretch for us these last four games. The NIT, at Wisconsin …we got back at four in the morning on Thursday. We played against as athletic a team that we have faced all year. They have seven kids who are juniors, who know how to play… They just know how to score. In saying that, in the first half, our defense was magnificent. I thought we had a chance to be up more. We missed some opportunities in execution. I think we are a little bit mentally and physically tired right now. They [St. John’s] make you that way, too, by the way. We would play great, then there would be a stop in play with a timeout called or a television timeout, then we didn’t execute it as well. To me, that shows that we are a little mentally tired. And again, they are going to make you mentally tired. Jon [Scheyer] to have six assists and no turnovers in this game is remarkable. Our two guards Nolan [Smith] and Jon [Scheyer] had nine assists and no turnovers against the best ball pressure we have faced so far. Their team [St. John’s] plays really good man-to-man defense. They have good character. I think they are a very good basketball team. Obviously, they were undefeated coming in here. Besides caring for the ball, because we only had eight turnovers, the story was also Lance [Thomas] and Brian [Zoubek]. To get 22 points and 15 rebounds … they have been in a fight before. This was like a big conference game. It’s a fight early in December. I thought they did extremely well. So I’m pleased with the win and to come back with that type of vigor after a really tough loss at Wisconsin and getting back so late. It was a really good performance by our team.”
Locker Room Reaction
Nolan on the performance of the post players: “We’ve definitely started to count on our bigs more, and they’re ready to play. We’ve concentrated on that in practice and the film sessions. So whether it’s a penetrate and kick or an inside out, it will just make our offense a lot easier. It’s just a mentality. Our perimeter, with Jon, Kyle and me, we know we’re going to take shots and be aggressive, but we know we’ll get better shots if we use [our big men].”
Sixth Man
There was a holiday feel in Cameron tonight with Santa in attendance, along with this Crazie excited for the season of giving. Fortunately, Santa delivered on this Crazies’ wish list item (Thunderbird is the SJU mascot).
Around the Web
Box Score – Stat recap
Big Men Shine – Seniors LT and Zoubs productive in the paint
Blue Devils Go Inside – Duke “mucks it out”
Quotes — Coach and player reactions
Notes
*Next up: Blue Devils take next week off for exams before returning to the court on December 15th for a 7 PM game against Gardner-Webb on ESPN2.
Fave Photo - HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Tags: "St. John's"
