After a long semester abroad, some of the Cameron Crazies made their way back into Cameron Indoor Stadium for a raucous matchup against Georgetown. The Blue Devils were greeted by a full house and fed off their energy to push the ball at a mind-boggling speed up and down the court.
Just under three minutes into the opening half Chris Duhon made eye-contact with his fellow captain Dahntay Jones on the break and motioned him to go for an alley-oop. As the Georgetown players stared at Duhon's pass in mid-flight, Jones snuck up behind several Hoyas and stuffed the ball into the hoop before doing a chin-up on the rim.
"It's just instincts," Duhon said about his finest assist on the evening. "I saw Dahntay breaking and I felt like that was the play to make. That was a big time finish on Dahntay's part."
This play epitomized the Blue Devils style and versatility against Georgetown. Against a physical opponent, such as Clemson, Duke used its deep bench to hold its own against strong interior play. In the past the Blue Devils have had problems with teams that like a fast-paced and athletic game such as Georgetown.
On Wednesday, the Blue Devils managed to beat the Hoyas at their own brand of ball. Using its speed and depth, Duke was simply the more fit team on the evening. Despite a subpar first half in which J.J. Redick, Duke's leading scorer, did not manage to put a single point on the stat sheet, the Blue Devils were able to keep the game in check before halftime. After the break, the Blue Devils played suffocating defense and forced Georgetown into several turnovers and timeouts.
"They are a pressure team," Duhon said. "We were trying to get the ball out quick and see what we could get in transition. We wanted to keep wearing them down until we could make our move."
At the onset of the second period, it was apparent Duke would not relinquish its dominance in the transition game. Duhon pulled up for one of his trademark three-pointers from a yard behind the line and buried it.
After a Georgetown turnover, Redick immediately spotted up behind the arc and called for the ball. On one of his nine assists of the night, Duhon found his freshman teammate for a decisive trey that forced a Hoya timeout.
"I think behind the scenes it was coach's energy that won the game for us," Redick said after a 13 point second half. "He was very energetic. We played down in the first half and in the second half it was basically our defense that won us the ball game."
The Blue Devils playmaker and backcourt wizard, Duhon, set the tempo at a wicked pace the entire game. Daniel Ewing, who led the team with 19 bench points, was right in tune with the style of Wednesday's game. On several occasions, Ewing was able to lure the defense to sleep in transition and go back door for an easy score.
"They made us push it more than we would but we want to push the ball like that," Ewing said. "We have great wings who can get out and run. We got some easy buckets from it."
The aggressive nature of the Blue Devils on offense also led to some interior rebounding in the second half which propelled them to a victory. Freshman Shelden Williams was able to pull down 11 boards against an All-American caliber player Mike Sweetney. The fast transition game led to quick shots and long rebounds, which Duke was first to most of the night.
Jones, who also contributed 11 rebounds for the game, is known as one of the most emotional Blue Devils. He was in full force on the break slashing through the lane for layups and spotting up behind the arc for rare three-pointers.
His new found shooting touch is just the answer for some critics who have been suspect about Jones' outside game.
More criticism came against his Blue Devil team for being too soft. The senior captain took it personal and was playing with something to prove.
"People say I'm not a shooter so I come out and take those shots," Jones said. "In the Clemson game they said our frontcourt wasn't strong enough and they said we couldn't handle pressure. Those guys played great in that game and tonight it as the same thing. They proved a lot of people wrong. The guys on our team will do anything to win a basketball game."
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