As the Blue Devils trudged off the court following Sunday night's 81-67 win over Cornell, their expressions told a vastly different story than the scoreboard did.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski's face was set and his lips were pursed as he stared straight ahead, even though the win had pulled him even with Lefty Driesell for sixth place on the all-time wins list. His players followed behind him, none of them - not even DeMarcus Nelson, who scored 23 and reached 1,000 points for his career - cracking a smile.
The message was clear: No. 9 Duke won this one, but with conference play only one week away, there were plenty of things they needed to do better.
"We just didn't come out with the type of intensity and defensive intensity that we wanted to," guard Gerald Henderson said. "That was a game that Cornell could've won.. The result of the game - we won the game - but we didn't play with the kind of excitement and intensity that we wanted to come out with."
Duke had gone 17 days without playing between a loss to Pittsburgh Dec. 20 and Sunday night's victory. The Blue Devils' rust showed - Krzyzewski and the players pointed to the team's lack of communication on defense. Cornell's big men were able to slip away from Duke's defense for several uncontested layups.
"We've had a long break," Krzyzewski said, noting that the hiatus was partially a result of this year's season being two weeks longer than that of most years. "I don't know if we're in game shape or game talk yet. We weren't communicating very well out on the court.. We just weren't sharp. Not so much X's and O's, but we've got to get back to playing basketball."
Despite Duke's communication shortcomings, the outcome never truly seemed in doubt. After Cornell (6-5) took a 27-24 lead with 6:25 to play in the first half, the Blue Devils (11-1) outscored the Big Red 17-5 over the remainder of the half to take a nine-point lead into intermission.
In the second half, a fast start by the Big Red cut the deficit to just four only 50 seconds into the period. But a 9-0 run by the Blue Devils - capped off by Nelson's steal and one-handed dunk for his 1,000th career point - pushed the lead to 13.
"It was a pretty good play to do it on," the senior captain said. "I was about to pass it to Nolan [Smith] to do a give-and-go but the guy was kind of shading to his side, so I just took another dribble and went airborne."
Still, the Big Red hung on. After Nelson's dunk, with the Cameron Crazies whipped into a frenzy, Cornell did not fold. They fed it inside to big man Jeff Foote, who was fouled. His free throw stopped a 4:20 scoring drought and also some of Duke's momentum.
Though Duke eventually pushed its lead to 15, Cornell never again trailed by less than eight. Every time the Blue Devils seemed ready to turn the game into a rout, the Big Red responded. And every time the Cornell drew close, Duke pushed them away.
For the game, the Blue Devils shot 44.6 percent, but were only 6-of-23 from three-point range, including a 2-for-11 effort in the second half. But Krzyzewski said that his team's poor 3-point shooting - on the heels of a 4-for-19 effort against Pitt - concerned him less than its missed lay-ups.
"We missed six or seven shots today that were right there," Krzyzewski said. "When you miss a three, that's one thing, but when you miss something close, it gives your opponent energy. You have to finish at the line and finish close to the bucket. That's what championship teams do."
Notes: Recently hired football coach David Cutcliffe attended the game, sitting behind Athletic Director Joe Alleva in Cameron Indoor Stadium's upper level. Former Duke Basketball forward Nate James sat behind Duke's bench.. Nelson became the 55th player in Duke history to reach 1,000 points.. Four Blue Devils - Henderson, Nelson, Greg Paulus and Kyle Singler - scored in double figures, and eight played double digit minutes.. The loss dropped Cornell to 4-57 all time against ranked teams.
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