Back door shut: Duke handles Princeton

The Blue Devils probably did not need a career night from a captain to knock off the Princeton Tigers. Shane Battier gave them one anyway. The senior player of the year candidate scored 29 points and hit a school record nine three-pointers to lead the No. 2 Blue Devils (1-0) over a pesky Princeton club (0-1) 87-50 in Cameron Indoor Stadium last night. "It was a good win for us," said coach Mike Krzyzewski, who moved within a single win of the 500-win mark at Duke. "We played hard when we had to. They're so disciplined in their offense that they could have caused us trouble." But trouble only had one name last night, and it was Battier. The senior connected on 9-of-12 three-pointers, including all six of his second half-attempts, breaking Will Avery's school record of eight set two years ago against Florida. "I got great looks," Battier said. "My teammates got me the ball when I was open and then I hit the shots. It felt great tonight." After misfiring on his first attempt on Duke's second possession of the evening, Battier finally connected from behind the arc less than four minutes into the half, giving him his first points of the night and giving his team an 8-6 advantage it would not relinquish the rest of the night. A 12-3 run by the Blue Devils, which included Battier's second three-pointer of the night, gave Duke a 20-12 advantage, but it did not finish the Tigers. Led by Nate Walton, son of former NBA star Bill Walton, the Tigers executed Princeton's trademark motion-offense from the high post and mounted an 11-2 run to pull back within two at 22-20. "Defensively, we were still playing well," Krzyzewski said of the run. "The offense wasn't good. We rushed things. We wanted to blow them out. We didn't' have any patience on the offensive end and it broke us down on defense." And as quickly as Princeton had made a game of it, the Blue Devils turned the game into their own highlight reel. Senior co-captain Nate James scored six straight points, including a breakaway dunk, and sophomore Mike Dunleavy added an impressive follow-up jam on a rare missed three by Battier as the Blue Devils launched a 24-5 run that ended the half with a 49-25 score and effectively ended the game. "Losing the lead was disappointing," said a worn John Thompson after losing his first game as a head coach. "We just got tired and we didn't have subs. Duke is a great team and they will wear you down. They wore us down." But the offensive show was not through. Led by three more three-pointers from Battier (Nos. 4, 5 and 6) and a pair from point guard Jason Williams, who dished out seven assists to go with 17 points, the Blue Devils connected on seven straight three-point attempts, pushing the Duke advantage to 34 points. "They just played a hell of a game," Thompson said. "At one point, I thought Battier had 20 three-pointers." Mike Bechtold led the overmatched Princeton team with 12 points, but with a team depleted due to injury, he and the Tigers could do little more than watch as Duke made quick work of the game and Battier, with 5:39 to play, made history with his ninth three-pointer of the night. "He's just a tremendous player," Thompson said. "Being 6-foot-8 and hitting threes these days isn't odd, but hitting that many at any size is odd. He just causes matchup problems not because he's tall, but because he can do everything." For Battier, a preseason All-American, the game proved to be just another clip in an ever-growing career scrap book. But to his team, the win, which was the worst defeat Princeton had suffered in 46 years, meant a lot more. "After starting out 0-2 last year, it feels great," Battier said. "Now we just need to carry that momentum on." Note: Sophomore Nick Horvath, who is sidelined with continuing ankle problems, is not expected to play Friday when the Blue Devils meet Villanova, a first-round winner over Fairfield, in Cameron at 9 p.m.