Head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been working on getting Chris Duhon to play more on the inside. His goals were fulfilled Monday, as the junior captain demonstrated a new willingness to penetrate into the lane, particularly in the first half of the game.
Duhon had several layups off the charge, leading to a career-high 20 points. His double-double was coupled with 10 assists.
The Slidell, La. native came just two rebounds shy of a triple-double.
"I was just trying to be aggressive and to take what the defense gave me," Duhon said. "I didn't want to be a guy that just relies on the three-point shot, and with my penetration, it didn't feel like I always had to cause opportunities for me. It sets up opportunities for my teammates. I'm just trying to go in there and make plays."
A defensive rebound by Duhon early in the game led to a fastbreak three to tie the score at seven apiece.
Less than 20 seconds later, the point guard had another defensive rebound and later assisted on a Daniel Ewing layup.
About a minute later, Duhon set up a Michael Thompson dunk and after a Davidson turnover, the captain penetrated to the basket for a layup.
"This gave us the opportunity to play in a pressure situation and to see how we would overcome it," Duhon said. "We did a great job."
In the middle of the first half, Dockery came in at the one spot, allowing Duhon to immediately become more of an offensive threat. Duhon hit a three with 11:50 on the clock off a Dockery assist to put the Blue Devils up 21-20. The junior attributed his offensive performance to Dockery.
"He was probably the best player on the court tonight," Duhon said. "He led this team and he hit the big shots. He's a good player. He did everything he could."
Shavlik Randolph agreed that the presence of the freshman allowed Duhon to free himself on the offensive end of the court.
"Tonight we needed some pressure to be taken off Chris so that he could open up his offense," Randolph said. "Sean did a great job of that."
With just over eight minutes left in the half, Duhon again assisted a fastbreak dunk, this time by Daniel Ewing, that gave Duke a 36-32 lead. Entering into halftime, the captain had 11 points and six assists, and was 4-for-7 in field goal shooting.
When the Blue Devils found their lead shrinking, the captain stepped up and found his way to the basket, be it himself or through an assist.
Early in the second half, Shelden Williams stole the ball from Davidson's Michel Lusaku and passed it to Duhon for another fastbreak layup, to give Duke 58 points and a 10 point lead.
Duhon assisted a third dunk when he found Shavlik Randolph in the key with 7:45 remaining in the game. The freshman spoke confidently about his captain's assertive play.
"I'm not surprised in the least," Randolph said. "Chris does whatever we need to do for this team to win, that's what makes him preseason conference player of the year. He stepped up so much. When we were on the ropes, he kept on helping us keep a bigger lead. They were taking away shots so he penetrated and he made some huge buckets."
With just over three minutes to play, Duhon penetrated to the basket for a layup that once again allowed Duke to maintain a 10-point lead over Davidson.
His teammates acknowledged his greater presence inside the paint, which was necessary in the situation of this game.
"That's just the way the game went," Jones said. "They were pressuring him a lot and he had to make them respect that part of his game for our offense to open up and be able to get to our shooters."
Duhon's aggressiveness continued up through the final minutes, as the junior scored six of his points in the final 3:01, including four of Duke's nine free throws after the 1:03 mark. Perhaps his strong offensive performance will become the norm as the season progresses.
"I'm just trying to be a basketball player and make reads," Duhon said. "I'm not just going to rely on shooting my jumper. I'm just going to take what the defense gives me and I know when I penetrate, guys are going to have to respect me, so I'm either going to get points for myself or set up my teammates."
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