Duke men's basketball implements 3-2 zone to limit 3-pointers in victory

<p>Duke held Iona to only 28 points in the second half, using a new defensive scheme.</p>

Duke held Iona to only 28 points in the second half, using a new defensive scheme.

PITTSBURGH—Duke looked like it was settling into a new defensive identity with a lot of success in a 2-3 zone for the last month.

But when that foundation started to crumble, the Blue Devils showed they have more in their bag of tricks.

After Iona beat Duke's zone with a few early 3-pointers from the wings and top of the key Thursday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Blue Devils went to a 3-2 zone extensively for the first time this season in the second half. The Gaels had no answer, scoring just 28 points after the break and shooting 1-of-15 from 3-point range.

"In the 2-3, it’s really made to take away the corners and take away the inside game, but they were shooting a lot of threes," freshman big man Wendell Carter Jr. said. "Switching into a 3-2, that took away all those top three spots for threes, so I think that helped us a lot."

Although the Blue Devils made their first six shots, they were still only tied at 19 through seven minutes, with nothing working on defense early. Iona was finding holes in the 2-3 zone, but Duke rarely even had time to set up its defense, with the Gaels pushing it down the floor for several transition layups.

"Knowing that they leaked out, we’ve got to have at least two people get back," Carter said. "That’s basically what Coach was preaching to us."

When the Blue Devils made Iona slow down into its halfcourt offense, they got a little bit better defensively, but there were still holes. Roland Griffin infiltrated the middle of the zone for midrange jumpers, and Zach Lewis knocked down a 3-pointer late in the half to bring the Gaels' total to 39 points. Although Duke had a 14-point lead at intermission thanks to a lights-out shooting performance, its defense was still leaving a lot to be desired.

Then, head coach Mike Krzyzewski said his top lieutenant Jeff Capel made the key suggestion in the halftime locker room.

"We went with it in how to change the zone just a little bit, and that worked for us," Krzyzewski said. "But they can shoot the ball. And that's the scariest thing for us going into the game. Because if we're tight a little bit, they start shooting like they did—it's one game, you get a shooter's chance."

With guards Grayson Allen, Trevon Duval and Gary Trent Jr. all in the top row in the zone, Iona could not get the ball toward the free-throw line, where it did a lot of its damage in the first half and North Carolina's Luke Maye and Theo Pinson both had success last week in the ACC tournament along with Notre Dame's Bonzie Colson.

The 3-2 defense is more vulnerable in the post, with no defender typically directly under the basket and just two big men manning the bottom row, but against an Iona squad that did not have any starters taller than 6-foot-8, that wasn't as much of a concern.

"A lot of times, they went five out, so the 3-2 allowed us to kind of match up, and then when they were flashing guys middle with the two posts low, one of the posts was able to take him," Allen said. "Really kind of throwing out a new defense like that, it forced us to talk a lot more because we weren’t exactly sure everything we were doing, but we figured it out and played hard, and that’s what made it work."

The Blue Devils probably didn't need to get creative defensively to beat the Gaels, but their experience in a new scheme could pay off if they need to use it again later on in the tournament in a closer matchup. Rhode Island—Duke's second-round opponent Saturday—also does not start anybody taller than 6-foot-8 and spreads the floor with four players who have range out to the 3-point line.

Guarding the Rams will be a more difficult task for the Blue Devils in whatever defense they use, but they at least showed Thursday they have more options than their standard 2-3 zone that might not work forever.

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