Holding an opponent to fewer than 60 points for the first time since defeating Florida State Jan. 16, Duke ended its two-game losing streak with an 86-56 victory against St. John's in Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The No. 5 Blue Devils played more like the team that defeated North Carolina and Maryland than the one that dropped back-to-back road games at Wake Forest and Miami last week. Duke (23-3) clamped down on defense and shot 40 percent from the 3-point line in the confidence-building win.
"We're 23-3. We weren't ready to jump off a bridge with two losses," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We've had to fight for everything this year. It's not like we've been blowing teams out in the league. We just have to stay on our course, and sometimes that course means you're going to get beat.
"What you do after you get beat and how you get better are questions we have to answer."
After committing 22 turnovers against the Demon Deacons and 23 against the Hurricanes, Duke only surrendered the ball 14 times and shot 46.2 percent from the floor against the Red Storm (10-16).
The combined 23 points in the first half from freshman Kyle Singler and sophomore Jon Scheyer-who finished the game with 16 and 12 points, respectively-helped Duke build a 47-29 halftime lead. The 18-point margin would prove insurmountable for the Red Storm.
In the game's opening minutes, however, the Blue Devils struggled to get into the flow of the game, falling behind 7-0. St. John's tight man-to-man defense disrupted the Blue Devils' offense as Duke entered familiar territory, down early to an unranked opponent for the third straight game.
But unlike in its losses to unranked Wake Forest and Miami, Duke did not allow the Red Storm to hang around. Energized by seven consecutive points off the bench from sophomore Gerald Henderson, who did not start for the first time this season, Duke took a 13-12 lead with 12:45 remaining. The scoring spurt by Henderson sparked a 32-9 Blue Devil run that took the young Red Red Storm, which played eight freshmen in its rotation, out of its rhythm.
"It was a little bit slower of a start," said Paulus, who only played four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. "We were tentative on offense, but once we settled down and got more stops defensively, we were able to get more comfortable and pick up our play as the game went on."
Along with Henderson, who has been adjusting to playing with a sprained wrist, sophomore Brian Zoubek emerged off the bench to post a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. After missing nine games midway through the season because of an injury to his foot, Zoubek played a season-high 20 minutes. Chasing down loose balls and battling St. John's post players Anthony Mason Jr. and Justin Burrell, Zoubek was integral in taking St. John's out of its game. The center helped Duke finish with a 45-39 rebounding advantage.
"This is huge for my confidence," Zoubek said. "It was great to know that my body can take that, that my foot can take that. I just tried to throw myself in there like Coach says, and the less I worry about how I'm playing, the less I'll worry about my injury."
Although Duke was never in danger of surrendering its lead in the second half, the offense went on a four-minute scoring drought between the 15- and 11-minute marks. A 3-pointer by Paulus with 11:17 to go and an alley-oop tap-in by Henderson off a feed from Paulus a minute later, though, reignited the offense and put Duke ahead 66-43 with 10 minutes left. St. John's would not get within 20 points for the rest of the contest.
Notes:
For the second straight season, Duke played St. John's in the middle of its conference schedule. Last year, Duke entered the game coming off of back-to-back wins and won on the road 67-50. The victory would be Duke's last of the season, as the team dropped its remaining conference games and lost in both the first rounds of the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.... Henderson wore a brace to protect his injured right wrist, and Krzyzewski said the sophomore will have surgery after the season.
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