In a game that many expected the Blue Devils to cruise through while riding an emotional high from Sunday's last-second victory over Virginia Tech, Duke struggled out of the gate and was never able to pull away from the pesky Quakers (3-3). It was far from picturesque, but No. 1 Duke (8-0) defeated the University of Pennsylvania 72-59 Wednesday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils' two senior stars led the way for Duke once again. J.J. Redick notched 24 points, shooting 4-for-9 from beyond the arc, and Shelden Williams delivered 20 points, including a 10-for-11 performance at the free throw line. But overall Duke's offense had difficulty finding a rhythm.
Instead, the Blue Devils took control of the game at the other end of the court, forcing the Quakers to turn the ball over 26 times and to shoot just 39 percent from the field.
"We played well defensively tonight," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It was just the opposite at the offensive end. I was proud of our guys that they were able to keep up defensively."
On offense, Duke had one of its weaker performances of the season. The home team shot the ball well at nearly 49 percent for the game, but 17 turnovers kept the team out of sync.
Redick led the team in assists with four and the team as a whole notched only 11. Freshman point guard Greg Paulus struggled immensely, turning the ball over five times and fouling out with almost four minutes remaining in the game.
"We've just got to do a better job of taking care of the ball," Paulus said. "Offensively, we struggled a little bit. As long as you are playing good defense, you'll always win the game. If you can hold the other team from scoring, you'll always have a chance."
But many of the times that the Blue Devils did prevent the Quakers from scoring on their first chance, Penn was able to grab its own missed shots.
Against a team that features 6-foot-8, 215-pound Steve Danley and 6-foot-6, 210-pound Mark Zoller down low, Duke struggled to reel in rebounds and keep the Quakers out of the paint. Penn grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, leading to 11 second-chance points.
The Blue Devils were led by freshman forward Josh McRoberts and senior guard Sean Dockery on the glass with seven rebounds each. But Duke managed to record only six offensive rebounds, three of which Dockery grabbed. Shelden Williams, who entered the game leading the team with 10 rebounds per game, pulled down only five against Penn.
"We're not used to getting that many offensive rebounds, to be honest," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said.
Along with his rebounding performance, Dockery had a strong second half for the second game in a row, carrying his personal momentum from his game-winning shot Sunday night. The point guard notched 11 points-nine after the break-and five steals in addition to his career-high rebound total.
Duke never was able to pull away from the Quakers, even though it seemed likely at several points throughout the second half
More than 10 minutes into the period, the Blue Devils stretched the lead to 18 points on a thunderous Williams dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Penn was not fazed, however, knocking down three three-pointers as part of a 12-4 run over the next four minutes that cut the lead to 10.
"They definitely had some momentum-stoppers tonight," senior Lee Melchionni said. "They hit some tough shots. And when they do that, it's hard to get a run going. It definitely takes the crowd out of the game."
NOTES:
Redick moved into ninth place on Duke's all-time scoring list with 1,988 points, passing Trajan Langdon, Art Heyman and Shane Battier.... The senior also climbed into a 19th-place tie on the NCAA's all-time 3-pointers made list, one three behind Langdon.... Wednesday's game marked the ninth career time Dockery has reached double-digit points. The Blue Devils are 9-0 in those games.... With tonight's win, Krzyzewski improves to 251-6 when his team holds its opponent to sub-40 percent field goal shooting.
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