Kyle Singler pours in 24 points to push Duke past Purdue, into Elite Eight
In Pictures — Game Gallery
Turning Point
Nolan Smith hit a jumper at the first-half buzzer and the Devils closed the opening stanza on a 5-0 run to grab a one-point lead at the break. From there, Duke outscored Purdue 46-34 and shot 59% in the second half (improving the Duke FG% by 38 percentage points).
Blue Devil Ballers
Kyle scored 24 points and grabbed eight boards, Jon netted 18 and Nolan added 15. The center duo of Zoubs and Miles were huge on the boards, hauling in a combined 21 boards in 39 minutes.
Duke Data
48 — Rebounds in the game by Duke (compared to 27 by Purdue)
12 — Elite Eight appearances by Coach K, most among active coaches
40-8 — Duke’s record as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament
32 — Wins on the year by Duke, fifth-most by a Blue Devil team all-time
Coach K’s Comments
“Well, we beat a heck of a team tonight. My hat goes off to the Purdue Boilermakers, Matt and his team. Boy, they play so hard. I mean, really hard. I thought for the first 17 minutes of the game they were playing — even though we were playing hard, they were playing harder than we were. But then the rest of the game we either played as hard or harder than them. So I’m proud of my team. You saw two teams really competing out there tonight. Our execution in the second half was terrific. Overall, the rebounding was the key to the ballgame, especially the defensive boards. All three of my perimeter guys came up with big, big buckets and free throws. I thought this is an example of a game someone doesn’t lose. You know, we had to really win this game because Purdue’s effort was a winning effort.”
Locker Room Reaction
The game was a tale of two halves for Duke, scoring 24 points in the first half followed by 46 in the second. Jon said after the game, “I thought they did a good job at first really rushing us. And they stood us up at first. We didn’t catch the ball strong. They set us back a little bit. I think in the second half we did a better job of just attacking. We moved the ball a little bit better, and set screens and set up our screens better. That was the big key.” Added Kyle, “I think we just took care of the ball better in the second half. We didn’t turn it over as much. I thought Nolan did a great job of really attacking the basket and coming up with big buckets.”
The Blue Devils were excited to win but quickly turned attention to the Elite Eight. “It feels good, but we really can’t relax at all,” stated Jon. “It’s really important to refocus. We can’t enjoy wins right now. After the season, we can look back and enjoy them. But for us, we want to keep moving forward.”
Around the Web
Box score — Stat recap
AP recap — Singler leads Duke past Purdue
Quotes — Postgame thoughts from Coach K, Nolan, Zoubs (PDF)
Strong second half propels Duke — Blue Devils finish game strong
No question about it — Duke is back
Devils advance — Strong halftime response from Blue Devils
Devils Ready for Elite Eight Moment — Big Dance provides big stage
Notes
*Next up: Duke battles Baylor Sunday in Reliant Stadium (5:05 EST on CBS).
Fave Photo
Tags: "Ncaa tournament", "purdue"