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Turning Point
After falling behind by 20 with 11:30 left, Duke used rallies of 13-0 and 20-3 to take over the game. The Blue Devils took the lead for good on an Austin Rivers 3pt FG with 2:26 left.
Blue Devil Ballers
Seth Curry scored 21 of his career-high 26 points in the second half. Austin Rivers added 16 points in the comeback win.
Duke Data
16 — The Blue Devils overcame a 16-point halftime deficit for the largest halftime comeback under Coach K
37-12 — Duke scoring margin over the final 11:33 of the game
5 — Turnovers by Duke (season low)
14 — Consecutive wins by Duke over NC State in Cameron
Coach K’s Comments
“That was an amazing win. They thoroughly outplayed us for about 29 minutes and then we thoroughly outplayed them for 11. They were really good, and we were great in the last 11 minutes. It was really one of the more amazing games that I’ve been a part of. I thought our fans were terrific. They never let us die, I thought it was one of those games in Cameron where the fans and the players were one, and I think that was a huge part of the basketball game. Seth [Curry] was incredible, they had a hard time defending him on the wing, and he was really strong with the ball, everyone thinks of him as a shooter, but he was really strong with the ball and made plays. He and Austin [Austin], we had a couple of things that kept working and we used our timeouts judiciously instead of four minute segments kind of going in two minute segments, but not to take full time outs, just to keep the momentum, but get squared away. We got it down to one possession with under five minutes and I think we called a timeout just to tell our guys don’t press anymore, just play solid defense just so we wouldn’t foul them. We’ve had a team that’s played so hard for six and a half, seven minutes like that, our kids were able to go to another mode and they did that. They came out of timeouts really, really well. It’s really a special win, wow, special win. It’s tough to say anything else.”
Locker Room Reaction
“When we made that run I could feel it. I could just feel it. I felt confident. I love those games. I love those situations. It’s a tie game, two minutes left – that’s what you play basketball for, and I think that’s what a lot of guys on our team love to do, and I think that’s why we won this game.”
Austin Rivers
“We were just trying to push the ball and get a fast tempo. Every time we got a stop and a rebound, we were trying to push it up and just attack the paint, get to the free throw line, and get good shots off. The biggest thing was that we tried to do was to get stops, because they were scoring in our paint a lot.”
Seth Curry
Crazies
Around the Web
Box score — Stat recap
AP recap — Curry Leads Duke
Quotes — Coach and player comments
Notes — Team and player updates
Notes
*Next up: Duke travels to Boston College for a Sunday matchup on ESPNU (6 PM).
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