Nolan Smith scores 20, Brian Zoubek adds 14/13 and Duke earns Sweet 16 spot
In Pictures — Game Gallery
Top Plays – Duke in Jacksonville
Turning Point
Duke used an 11-2 run beginning with 8:10 left in the first half to enter halftime up by 11. The Golden Bears closed within seven in the second half before back-to-back buckets by Brian Zoubek ignited an 8-0 Blue Devil run beginning with 12:33 remaining. Duke led by a comfortable double-digit margin the rest of the way.
Blue Devil Ballers
Nolan scored 20 points, Kyle netted 17 points and Zoubs contributed a strong double-double with 14 points and 13 boards.
Duke Data
19 — Sweet 16s reached by Coach K, the most all-time by a coach
11 — Sweet 16s reached by Duke in the past 13 years (two more than any program in that time period)
5 — Turnovers by Duke in the game
.500 — Combined shooting percentage of Nolan and Kyle (15-for-30 FG for 37 points)
3 — 3′s made by Cal (on 12 3pt FGA’s), after the sharp-shooting Bears hit eight on Friday against Louisville
Coach K’s Comments
“We played an outstanding defensive game tonight against a championship team. Cal with Mike Montgomery right away did something that no one has done for 50 years at Cal and their conference; they won the regular season. And we knew that they would have that pedigree, that air of a champion about them. And we had unbelievable respect for them, and especially their perimeter. Those three kids are such good shooters, and I thought the discipline that we had defensively was the difference in the ballgame. Also we could match up a little bit better with them with Lance being on Robertson instead of a bigger guy, and so we — the kids played really hard, and Brian and Miles on the highball screen with Randle stayed up there long enough so Randle couldn’t measure Nolan until Nolan got back. Just the kids played a beautiful defensive game. I’m really proud of them. And when it got down to seven points, then there’s a lot of game pressure on you. We went to run motion and Brian got two big buckets. Zoubs was huge for us throughout the game, especially at that time. We know we beat a really good team, and we’re happy to be moving on obviously.”
Locker Room Reaction
A big focus going into the game for Duke was to limit Cal’s three-point shooting, especially from Randle, Christopher and Robertson. The Blue Devils answered the call, as that Cal trio combined for only three 3′s. Nolan said about Duke’s defensive effort, “We stuck with their shooters. We couldn’t give them any breathing room, and we just really stuck with them. We really gave them no open looks on ball screens. Our big guys really helped us, and Jon and Kyle, their perimeter three-point shooters, they just stayed with them the whole game.”
Around the Web
Box score — Stat recap
AP recap — Duke rolls past Cal
Quotes — Postgame thoughts from Coach K, Nolan, Zoubs (PDF)
Zoubek looms large — Senior center dominating the interior
Smith’s D lifts Duke — Nolan leads great Blue Devil defensive effort
Blue means stop — Duke does it with D
Duke gets defensive — And moves on to Sweet 16
Notes
*Next up: Duke travels to Houston for a Sweet 16 matchup against Purdue on Friday (9:57 EST on CBS).
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