"I'm just glad it's over."
Ironically, it was The Citadel's head coach, Pat Dennis who muttered this after his Bulldogs (1-1) were defeated by the men's basketball team 78-63 in Cameron Indoor Stadium in a game that was marked by Blue Devil frustrations.
"I think its kind of disappointing when we practiced so very well for two days and came out with this type of effort," junior Kenny Blakeney said. "It wasn't a bad effort, but we just didn't execute the way we did in practice, so that was a problem for us."
After a lackluster win over Northeastern, the No. 6 Blue Devils (2-0), were eager to take the court and gain a decisive victory, yet were challenged for 40 minutes by a Bulldog team that exhibited character and determination.
"We played hard and scrapped for 40 minutes," Dennis said. "We played with a lot of confidence, we hung in there, we hit some big shots."
A solid performance by The Citadel resulted in Duke's inability to put away a lesser opponent for the second-straight game. The Blue Devils needed a wake-up call from their opposition to ignite their struggling offense and seal a victory.
Last night, the wake-up call came when the Bulldogs' senior guard David Stevens drained a three pointer to cut the Duke lead to eight points, 66-58, with 4:18 remaining.
After Stevens' three pointer, the Blue Devils outscored The Citadel 12-5 to secure the win. In those final minutes, Duke netted 10 of its 12 points from the free-throw line, where it essentially won the game. The Blue Devils hit 30 foul shots in the contest to The Citadel's five.
Though Duke did struggle at times, the Blue Devils demonstrated isolated sparks of brilliance. With 2:26 remaining in the first half, freshman Jeff Capel grabbed an outlet pass from classmate Greg Newton. Capel drove to the basket and threw down a thunderous tomahawk dunk, raising the fans to their feet while drawing a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
Ignited by the slam, the Blue Devils looked to stage a run to close out the half and strike a devastating blow to The Citadel. Despite its efforts, Duke was unable to break the game open and finished the half with a 37-28 edge.
The second half started off strong for the Blue Devils when junior Cherokee Parks pulled down an offensive rebound and scored baskets on the first two Duke possessions. Parks played a solid game, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Co-captain Grant Hill added 15 points and pulled down seven boards.
Last night, however, the spotlight belonged to co-captain Antonio Lang who registered his second consecutive double-double of the season.
"I thought Tony Lang was terrific for us," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He played so well, and I think he was the key factor in the game."
Lang was the game leader in points and rebounds, scoring 18 and hauling in 12 boards, both career highs.
"I'm taking what the defense gives me," Lang said. "I play with great players, I mean like Grant [Hill] and Cherokee [Parks], so all of the defense is really concentrating on them. A lot of opportunities are there for me and I'm just trying to take control of those opportunities.
"I am just concentrating on being aggressive. I'm just trying to play the best I can play. I'm constantly thinking that [playing at the top of my game] is something I haven't done the first three years I have been here."
Still experimenting with lineups and rotations, Krzyzewski started Blakeney, who assumed the role of bringing the ball up court.
"We are trying some different things with different lineups and Tony has kind of been like a stabilizing force for us," Krzyzewski said.
Haunting the Blue Devils, however, was the legacy of Bobby Hurley. Without Hurley running the show, the Blue Devils are struggling to establish their own identity.
"I don't think we know how this team has to play," Krzyzewski said. "We need to analyze the game just a little bit differently, and that is a part of learning, and that is where we are at."
Currently, Duke is looking for someone to step up and distribute the ball. Newton, the team's reserve center, led the Blue Devils in assists with three in only 10 minutes of play. The team, as a whole, totaled just eight assists.
Duke boasted a tremendous size advantage over the Bulldogs, whose starting frontcourt measured 6-8, 6-5 and 6-4. But The Citadel was only out-rebounded by Duke 39-35. The smaller Bulldogs also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, five more than Duke.
The Blue Devils, though not playing at the level they believe they are capable of, know the areas in which they must improve in preparation for upcoming games against Xavier and fifth-ranked Michigan.
"I thought we played hard. I don't think we did the little things," Krzyzewski said. "We didn't show poise in the post sometimes when we had the ball there on offense. On the break, we tried momentum stuff.... There were some positive plays, yeah, but those positive plays didn't turn into points."
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