Blue Devils Blow Past Quakers, Ready to Begin ACC Play Sunday
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Turning Point
The Blue Devils had control of this one from the tip, rolling to a double-digit lead within the first five minutes before blowing it open with a 23-3 run.
Blue Devil Ballers
Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Mason Plumlee had particularly outstanding performances. Nolan netted a game-high 23 points (8-11 FG, 4-5 3pt), Kyle contributed 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Jon had a double-double with 19 points and 11 assists, while Mason had a career-high 18 points to go with seven boards and four steals.
Duke Data
294 – Duke wins this decade, most in college basketball
114 – Points scored by Duke, most ever allowed by a Penn team in program history (Duke’s 59-point win was also the largest margin of victory ever against Penn)
3 – Blue Devils among the top nine in the ACC in scoring on the year (Jon Scheyer- 2nd, Nolan Smith- 3rd, Kyle Singler- 9th)
10 – 3′s made by the Blue Devils (10-21 3pt FG for the game), marking the 5th time this year Duke has made at least 10 triples
Coach K’s Comments
“I thought we played really hard and unselfishly tonight. They [Penn] played very hard, too. They’re in the process of trying to build their program with a new coach. I just told our team before the game, let’s just try to play as hard as they’re going to play against us, and I thought we did . Our talent level is obviously greater than theirs. If we’re playing hard and they’re playing hard, we should win and we should win by a significant margin. But I was happy with the way our kids played.”
Locker Room Reaction
The Blue Devils were pleased with the performance and excited to start ACC play on Sunday. Said Jon Scheyer, “I think we’re in a really good position. We have to get two really good days of practice in the next couple of days, and we’ll be ready to go. There are obviously things we can improve on, but we’re in a good place right now and we feel very confident going into the ACC season. We’ve been really close [to winning the regular season] the last couple of years, and this group of juniors and seniors, we really want to win it bad. We’re going to work our butts off. We know how you can’t take any games off in the ACC, and it starts Sunday. We feel confident and good going in. I think we need to get more consistent on our rebounding. Obviously, we’ve done a really good job as a team taking care of the ball. Those two things for our team will be two keys for us.”
Sixth Man
A number of Crazies in attendance, such as this duo and these ladies, kicked off their New Year’s celebration in Cameron. We also appreciated the great signs in the crowd, including this one by a fan enjoying his chance to be a Crazie in Cameron. The sign contest winner was this young Crazie, as he showed great style in his presentation, putting together a paper mache homemade Blue Devil head with a Happy New Year sign. The top sign display at each game receives two tickets behind Coach K at the next Blue Devil game so be sure to bring an awesome sign to Cameron!
Around the Web
Box Score — Stat recap
AP recap — Duke rolls past Penn
Duke leaves Quakers blue — News & Observer recap
Quotes — Coach K and player reactions
Notes
*Actor Denzel Washington was in Cameron tonight. His son Malcolm is a player on the Penn team.
*Next up: Duke opens ACC play on Sunday when Clemson visits Cameron (7:45 PM, Fox Sports Net).
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