Furious Blue Devil rally from 12 down at halftime pushes Duke to 10-2 in ACC
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Turning Point
The Blue Devils erased the 12-point deficit with a 29-9 run to start the second half, setting the tone with a much better defensive effort.
Blue Devil Ballers
Kyle Singler scored a game-high 22 points while pulling down 11 boards to record his fourth double-double of the year. Brian Zoubek had a second consecutive outstanding game with 10 points, five boards, five steals and several dozen hustle plays and great screens. Nolan Smith scored 18 of his 21 points and buried four big 3′s in the second half.
Duke Data
56-37 — Second-half score after the Blue Devils headed to halftime down a dozen
10 — Combined steals by Jon Scheyer and Zoubs (five each)
10 — ACC wins by Duke on the year, marking the 13th time in the past 14 years the Blue Devils have won at least 10 conference games (four more than any other school)
27 — Points by which Duke outscored Miami from behind the arc (the Blue Devils were 13-for-29, including 9-for-15 in the second half)
49 — Points scored by Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith in the second half (12 more than the entire Miami team in the second half)
Coach K’s Comments
“It was a heck of a win for us because Miami was unbelievably ready for us and totally outplayed us in the first half. They were terrific. Actually I thought they played a terrific game the whole way, but in the second half our defense, especially in the first eight or nine minutes, was sensational. I think they only got about five points. We stared hitting some shots… Kyle’s three to start the half was big, but the defense in the second half was the turning point for us. Also in the last 10 minutes we attacked the zone in a little different way. We went to a different attack and it opened it up a lot of open looks. We made a couple mistakes, but most of the things we did were really good. Our perimeter had one of its worst halves of the year in the first half. They played with a much different resolve in the second half. I think we beat a really good team tonight, a team that played their hearts out against us.”
Locker Room Reaction
The Blue Devils played perhaps their best half of basketball of the season in the second half and the team was pleased with the effort. Said Kyle, “Every one of us felt like we weren’t playing as hard as we could, and we just weren’t being smart. We weren’t playing defense. We needed to get back to that, and we played great in the second half.” Jon added, ““I think we showed a lot of heart. We got together [at halftime] and said, ‘Hey, we know what we need to do. It’s on us. We’re not losing this game.’”
Sixth Man
There was a nice scattering of Duke Blue mixed among all of the Miami orange in the BankUnited Center. We spotted one Blue Devil fan sporting an impressive retro Carlos Boozer jersey in the Miami student section and another Duke fan who happens to be the NCAA’s all-time leader in assists.
Around the Web
Box score — Stat recap
AP recap — Duke pushes past Miami
Blue Devils recover — Strong second half propels Duke to the win
Singler leads Duke — Duke rides second-half surge
Hurricanes handed tough loss — Blue Devils rally in second half
Canes can’t be satisfied with good enough — Duke tough in second half
Zoubek emerges — Gives Duke more options
Miami needs a win — Duke upset would help NCAA Tourney hopes
Notes
*Next up: For the fourth time in the past five home games, first place in the ACC will be on the line in Cameron. This time, Virginia Tech (8-3 in the ACC) visits the Blue Devils (Sunday, 7:45 PM, Fox Sports Net).
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