GREENSBORO -- As Duke strolled onto the floor at the beginning of the second half, the Blue Devils decided it was time to turn up the volume in Greensboro Coliseum. Duke's defensive play made an immediate impact as Daniel Ewing stole the ball and sprinted down court ready to make an easy dunk. Dahntay Jones, however, had other ideas about the end of this play as he called for an alley-oop from his sophomore teammate.
Ewing lofted the ball in front of the basket for Jones, who caught the rock in mid-flight before bringing down a windmill jam that erupted the Duke bench and crowd into a frenzy.
"I heard Dahntay behind me and he was saying 'windmill, windmill,' and I just wanted to be unselfish," Ewing said. "I got an assist and it will probably be on ESPN tonight. I think we have a lot of athleticism on the team this year and when we have an opportunity to make big plays we go for them."
Ohio State's head coach Jim O'Brien called for a timeout to stop the bleeding as his Buckeyes fell victim to an 8-0 run early in the second half by Duke. O'Brien's game break with 18:23 remaining did not stop the Blue Devils' momentum as Jones and Casey Sanders stole the ball on consecutive Ohio State possessions.
Duke's burst of energy forced O'Brien's squad into a physical stretch of the game, which favored the Blue Devils Tuesday night. The Buckeyes managed to score for the first time in the second half with 16:18 on the scoreboard.
About 30 second later, after a rejection, Shelden Williams' assertive play resulted in a pair of back-to-back fouls, which sent Ohio State to the line for a one-and-one opportunity with 13:28 on the clock.
Duke's aggressive play to open the second half certainly busted open the game, but it would also lead to several fouls which eventually slowed the pace of the contest considerably.
"We helped them by fouling so much," Krzyzewski said, adding that his team could never get into a rhythm because it kept fouling. "At one point they couldn't miss a shot, they either hit the shot or got fouled.
"The last two games we've been fouling way too much. That's not like this is a hidden signal to the refs, we're just fouling too much."
The Buckeyes, also, were not immune to foul trouble, as the Blue Devils forced a different style of play to begin the second half causing more OSU hacks.
Despite logging only 14 minutes in the contest, reserve Velimir Radinovic committed his fifth foul of the game with 13 minutes still on the game clock.
All told, the referees blew the whistle 31 times Tuesday night in the second half alone; in the first, both teams combined for only 17 fouls.
As a result, Jones was strapped with four personal fouls with more than 16 minutes left in the half.
"I thought Dahntay's fourth foul was key," Krzyzewski said. "We were getting ready to sock them and then he reached over and got called for a bad foul. I thought he played a good game tonight. That was not a good decision."
Duke's high energy level came at the start of both halves as the Blue Devils ran a scripted play to perfection after they won the opening tip-off.
Chris Duhon maneuvered down court and threw a lob over the heads of the confused Ohio State players to a streaking Casey Sanders, who slammed the ball through the basket.
"That's a play that I think we're 100 percent on this year," Sanders said. "It's something that's worked well in London and I feel comfortable doing. We want to go big when we come out. I think it helps with our team confidence."
If Duke's young team continues its high-powered defensive play, its bench should receive even more playing time due to abundant fouls. The Blue Devils may be deeper this year, but they cannot continue to send opposing teams to the charity stripe and start a foul-shooting contest.
Duke went to the line 10 more times than the Buckeyes Tuesday but only converted five more shots.
Aside from Duke's foul-shooting woes, their style of play could also suffer from their more aggressive nature.
The Blue Devils' freedom on the court in the past has been one of their greatest strengths but their recent foul problems could hinder their competitiveness late in the game when playing aggressively.
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