Duke Blue Planet BLOG

Blue Devils erase 14-point halftime deficit to win memorable rivalry matchup

In Pictures   Game Gallery | Crazies Pre-Game | Crazies vs. UNC | Campus Bonfire

Top Five Plays/Postgame Reaction

Highlights from GoDuke.com

Turning Points

A Seth Curry jumper to close the first half sparked an 18-6 run to get the Blue Devils back in the game.  Duke then almost blew the top off Cameron with a 13-1 spurt beginning with a Curry 3 with 10:51 left that left the home team on top for the first time.  Seth scored the first seven points of the run and the Devils led the rest of the way.

Blue Devil Ballers

Nolan scored a career-high 34 points and Seth also set a new career high with 22 points.
Nolan’s line: 34 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists (13-23 FG, 3-6 3pt, 5-7 FT)
Seth’s line: 22 points, six boards, 5 assists (8-12 FG, 2-5 3pt, 4-5 FT)

Duke Data

890 — Career wins by Coach K, second-most all time in college basketball

14 — Duke’s halftime deficit, the largest ever overcome by Duke against UNC

27 — Consecutive wins by Duke in the state of North Carolina

50-30 — Duke scoring advantage in the second half… The comeback win after being down 14 points at halftime ties for the second largest in school history and was the largest for the Blue Devils since 1959 when Duke trailed 32-18 at the break against Navy and came back to win 64-63.

20-8 — Duke’s record against UNC in the past 28 meetings with the Tar Heels dating back to 1999… The Devils have won three straight in the rivalry.

Coach K’s Comments

“That was a heck of a performance by both teams. You talk about vintage Duke and North Carolina games, that was one of them. I want to thank our fans. They never let down on us and created an amazing atmosphere in here. Obviously it was a tale of two halves. They were just so fast in that first half I thought they knocked us back. We seemed scattered. We were ready to play and sometimes you get so ready to play that you go nuts. I just felt we were kind of nuts in the first half. Not for lack of effort or anything like that. At halftime – and I don’t usually do this – I usually just say something to them and let them relax a little bit or get their thoughts together. I must have talked to them for about five minutes. We didn’t yell or anything like that. We were just trying to say, ‘settle down, settle down.’ We’re a lot better than that. They’re really good, but we’re better than what we’ve shown and if we just play four minutes at a time and let’s execute. And I thought our offensive execution in the second half was outstanding and so were the performances of Nolan and Seth. Seth started the second half and both of those kids were sensational, and our defense picked up. They didn’t get the fast breaks in the second half that they got in the first half. Part of that is because our shots were better and our shots were going in. They run so well off of missed shots and if you have a missed bad shot they are going to score on you. Our big guys played really well in that second half. They’re an outstanding team. We beat an outstanding team tonight and we played a great, great second half. I’m proud of our guys. We grew up a lot tonight there is no question about it.”

Locker Room Reaction

Nolan, on how Duke was able to come back: “Whenever we started to miss shots, guys wanted to do something spectacular to get a run going. Including myself. Guys wanted to do something so bad. And we said, ‘We’ve just got to relax, play together, and it’s going to work out.’”

Seth: “It was more than what I thought it would be. The atmosphere was crazy, just seeing all the people come back for Duke-Carolina that in previous games I watched them play. I was looking around before the game, and I was like, ‘This is what I dreamed about growing up.’ So just coming out, playing well, and getting that win just adds to that rivalry.”

Sixth Man

The Crazies found the warmth they were looking for after tenting out for the game for 5+ weeks… This bonfire roared on West Campus after the game.

Around the Web

Box score — Stat recap

AP recap — Smith Leads Duke’s Comeback Win

Game notes — Facts/figures

Quotes — Coach and player comments

Nolan Smith — Bringing Showtime to Duke

Nolan for NPOY — Duke senior among best in the USA

One for the books — Duke makes huge comeback in Cameron

Notes

*A number of former Duke players were in the house, including Clay Buckley, Kenny Dennard, Danny Ferry, Steve Gray, Billy King, Greg Koubek, Lee Melchionni, Ricky Price and Kevin Strickland.  Also, Mike Gminski was calling the game for Raycom (local TV affiliate).

*The decibel meter at the scorer’s table reached a high of 121.3 db during the second-half rally.

*Next up: The Blue Devils travel south to face Miami on Sunday (6:45 PM, FSN).

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Blue Devils grab 53-24 halftime lead, cruise to 8th ACC win

In Pictures   Game Gallery

Top Plays and Post-Game Reaction

Highlights from GoDuke.com

Turning Point

The Blue Devils broke it open with a 21-2 run midway through the first half that included a 6-0 run by Mason Plumlee.  Nolan Smith had 18 points at halftime and Duke led 53-24 at the break.

Blue Devil Ballers

Nolan scored 20 points and Mason contributed 16 points (7-8 FG), 12 boards, three blocks and two steals.

Duke Data

889 — Career wins by Coach K, second-most all time in college basketball

61-2 — Duke record at home over the past four seasons

30-5 — Duke record in the past 35 games against NC State

64.5% — Duke FG% in the first half (20-31 FG)

Coach K’s Comments

“I was pleased with our team. We came out and played a great first half. After the Maryland game, I thought we maintained that intensity. Then the second half, I thought State didn’t give up. We probably had a little bit of an emotional letdown, but that’s not taking away that State played well. I thought [NC State] just played better in the second half. Overall it was a big win for us, our eighth win in conference. I thought Mason did a fabulous job tonight. [He] just played really well and goes 7-for-8 from the floor; that’s a really big boost for us. I’m just happy that nobody got hurt and we won our eighth conference game.”

Locker Room Reaction

Nolan: “In the first half, we played the way we wanted to play. We came out, played defense, and we were playing together and hitting shots. It was just pretty much a near-perfect first half that we played. It was just fun playing. In the second half, guys got comfortable. Of course we wanted to stay on them and keep playing, but we didn’t. That’s something we’ll have to get better at and just grow up as a team.”

Mason: “I thought I had a good offensive game against Maryland too, maybe not the same numbers, but I just tried to keep that momentum going and just attack the basket. The biggest thing, before the game we talked about running the floor and getting out and running, and I got a couple of easy [baskets] like that.”

Sixth Man

It turns out that scary, crazy zombies are Duke fans.

Around the Web

Box score — Stat recap

AP recap — Mason leads No. 5 Duke

Game notes — Facts/figures

Quotes — Coach and player comments

Mason Playing to Strengths — Duke rolls

Notes

*Next up: The Blue Devils face North Carolina in Cameron on Wednesday at 9 PM (ESPN).

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Kyle Singler leads a balanced Duke attack as Blue Devils roll in College Park

In Pictures   Game Gallery

Top Plays and Post-Game Reaction

Turning Point

Kyle Singler netted 11 straight Duke points in the second half from the 16:52 mark to the 8:22 mark and the scoring helped the Blue Devils fight off a second-half Maryland push.  Andre Dawkins followed with back-to-back 3′s and Duke led by double digits the rest of the way.

Blue Devil Ballers

Kyle Singler: 22 points (10-15 FG), 6 rebounds
Nolan Smith: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Mason Plumlee: 12 points (6-7 FG), 11 boards

Duke Data

2,166 — Career points by Kyle Singler, 5th-most in Duke history

2o — Wins this season by Duke, marking the 15th straight 20-win campaign and 46th all time for the Blue Devils

8 — Wins by Duke in the past nine meetings with Maryland… The Blue Devils have won four of the past six in the Comcast Center

50 — Wins by Coach K against Maryland (Coach K is 50-21 vs. the Terps)

5 — Games this season in which Duke has shot over 50% in both halves, including the win at Maryland

Coach K’s Comments

“We’re obviously very pleased with our effort tonight. I think we played our best game since Kyrie got hurt. I think we had to because Maryland was primed to play an outstanding game. They are coming off of three straight wins and their crowd is unbelievably good. It’s a great atmosphere to play basketball, and our bench really contributed tonight when Kyle and Nolan were in foul trouble. Our bench really did a good job, and for Tyler to get his first start and do well and play tough in this environment. I thought it was Mason’s best game. When we had a five-point lead, that dunk along the baseline was huge. And Andre hit two of the biggest shots of the game to give us a double figure lead when Maryland made their push. At the end, Nolan really handled everything well, and Kyle was really tough where he was just hitting everything. Overall, where we only turned the ball over eight times was the key stat.”

Locker Room Reaction

Nolan Smith: “We did a great job beating their press, just being poised. In this environment, for us to get this win was huge, for us just showing that we can get big wins on the road. This is one of the best atmospheres to get a win like this and we were poised. Kyle did a great job taking the ball in and Mason was just a receiver of all those passes looking over the top and he did a great job being poised and getting it back to a guard.”

Sixth Man

There aren’t many Duke fans around the Comcast Center but we did have some alums in the building.  Jay Bilas (1986 grad) was calling the action for ESPN and Greg Paulus (2009 grad) made the trip in from Annapolis where he is an assistant coach for Navy.  In addition to Greg and Jay (pictured), past Duke national champions Reggie Love and Clay Buckley were in attendance.

Around the Web

Box score — Stat recap

AP recap — Singler & Smith Lead No. 5 Duke

Game notes — Facts/figures

Quotes — Coach K’s comments

Coach K, Duke deserve respect — Washington Post article

Notes

*Next up: Duke plays NC State in Cameron on Saturday evening (6 PM, ESPN).

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St. John’s handle Devils in NYC

In Pictures   Game Gallery

Turning Point

St. John’s took control in the first half with a 7-0 run to take an 18-10 lead.  The Red Storm maintained that momentum throughout the first half, dominating the first 20 minutes.

Blue Devil Ballers

Nolan Smith scored 32 points in the loss.

Duke Data

7 — The loss snapped a seven-game win streak against St. John’s

5% — Duke’s 3pt FG% on the first 20 3′s attempted by Blue Devils in the game (1-for-20)

19-2 — With the loss, Duke falls to 19-2 on the year

Coach K’s Comments

“It’s not an Xs and Os thing today. I felt we were not ready to compete, we had blank expressions on our faces and guys weren’t talking and that’s my responsibility. Our program didn’t do well today and that is all our responsibilities.”

Locker Room Reaction

Kyle: “To sum it up they got whatever they wanted and we just weren’t able to bounce back and match them.”

Around the Web

Box score — Stat recap

AP recap — Duke suffers first loss

Game notes — Facts/figures

Big NYC win — St. John’s in control at MSG

Notes

*Next up: Duke resumes ACC play on Wednesday with a 9 PM game at Maryland (ESPN).

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Nolan scores 28 points and drops eight dimes as Devils fly past Eagles

In Pictures   Game Gallery

Top Plays and Post-Game Reaction

Highlights from GoDuke.com

Turning Point

Seth Curry scored 11 of his 20 points during a 26-9 Duke run starting early in the second half that left the Blue Devils in control of the game.

Blue Devil Ballers

Nolan Smith scored a game-high 28 points while dishing out 8 assists (with only one turnover).  Seth Curry netted a career-high 20 while Ryan Kelly and Kyle Singler each scored 14.

Duke Data

887 — Career wins by Coach K, second-most all time in college basketball

7 — Duke players this year who have scored at least 20 points in a game (fourth time in school history that Duke has had at least seven 20-point scorers)

15 — Games this year out of 20 in which Duke has scored 80 or more points

50.0% — Duke FG% in the game (30-for-60)

Coach K’s Comments

“Well, we won a really good game tonight. I mean they’re very good; they put so much pressure on your defense. You know, they’re experienced, very well-conceived offense. It’s a tough offense to defend. And I thought one of the keys to the game was how well our big guys played. This is the first team that plays a little bit unconventionally, unconventionally means they don’t have your center in the low post and your four man at the top of the key, they’re doing that. And they spread you, they attack you, and for the most part, our five man is never playing post defense. He’s playing perimeter defense at the top of the key or he’s involved in ball screens or dribble hand-offs. And then to have two big guys, the other big guys playing the wing, guarding their 2-3. And I thought our big guys really moved their feet well. Their defense and how they handled that was key. And then they played well. You know, Ryan, again had an outstanding game. Mason, with 12 rebounds, and Miles had four steals by playing away from the basket. And Ryan had four blocks. Our big guys were really good. The obvious guys, like Seth was hot, made five-for-seven threes and the three he hit in transition. I think it put us up by 14 on an outlet pass, it was a helluva an outlet pass, caught it, and just fired it. Both teams were kind of tired at that point. That gave us a big lift and then Nolan was spectacular. You know, Nolan had a spectacular game. You know with 28 points and eight assists and one turnover. As a team to only have seven turnovers and 16 assists, that’s one of our best ball-handling games. We played well. We had to because they are a very good basketball team, very, very well-coached. Extremely well-coached.”

Locker Room Reaction

Nolan, on leading the ACC in points and assists: “I’ve never really thought about it. I just want to win games and just be productive. If it happens, I feel like it’d be a great accomplishment and I’d definitely be proud of it, but going forward, I just want to continue to make plays and win games.”

Ryan, on his streak of 18 straight shots: “It was going to happen. I wasn’t going to keep making shots, but every shot I take, I’m confident in it. I’ve said it before, and that shows when I miss a couple shots in a row and shoot the next one and make it.”

Sixth Man

GO DEVILS GO.

Around the Web

Box score — Stat recap

AP recap — No. 3 Duke Tops BC

Game notes — Facts/figures

Quotes — Coach and player comments

Notes

*Next up: The Blue Devils travel to NYC for a Sunday afternoon game against Big East foe St. John’s in Madison Square Garden (CBS, 1 PM).

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