NEW YORK - One by one, the Blue Devils emerged from Madison Square Garden's locker room, walked up four steps and traded hugs and handshakes with their family and friends as employees cleaned up the arena and took down the baskets on the floor after Duke's 71-56 win Friday night. They might not have been so merry, though, if not for an unexpected hour of methodical practice Friday morning that was solely prompted by Michigan's stingy 1-3-1 zone defense.
Safely ensconced in their hotel rooms Thursday, Duke's players watched Michigan confound UCLA, with the knowledge that if their next opponent's unique zone was sharp enough to upset the No. 4 team in the country, it could certainly baffle the No. 10 team.
But Duke, which dismantled the Wolverines' zone last year in a 95-67 win, countered the defense differently than did the Bruins. Instead of relying only on passes off penetration, the Blue Devils employed an arsenal of offensive schemes that made a celebrated defense look common.
"It was a combination," senior Greg Paulus said. "If we see a driving lane, let's drive. If they collapse, let's kick. If not, let's finish. If we're reversing the ball and have a chance to swing it one more time, that's what we need to do."
The multidimensional approach dulled the Wolverines' scheme, who forced the same amount of turnovers and compiled more steals Friday than they did Thursday. The difference, in the end, was Duke's array of scoring weapons. UCLA only posted 52 points in its loss. Duke tallied 71 in its win, but if Michigan could have limited the Blue Devils to UCLA's total, the 2K Sports Classic trophy would have traded hands.
Instead, the Blue Devils did exactly what UCLA didn't: They went after the zone before the zone could do any damage.
"We were trying to attack it by making quick passes and penetrating the gaps," said junior Gerald Henderson, who utilized his slashing ability but also ran the baseline to find open looks in the corner and down low. "If we continuously get in some of their gaps, they're going to close in a little bit and our threes are going to open up."
And while Paulus said most of Duke's players remembered how to counter the zone from their matchup with Michigan last year, the extra hour of practice couldn't have hurt. In addition to physically preparing strategies-including a pseudo-triangle offense that allowed center Brian Zoubek to earn three easy buckets-the Blue Devils made use of their spare time by talking out schemes to beat the zone.
With a 24-hour layover between games, they didn't have many other options.
"I think we were the only team [Friday] that came in for a practice," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We knew without that preparation, we had a good shot of losing this game. With that preparation, we had a good chance of winning.... We didn't have a great shooting night, but I thought our attack was good. It was a winning attack, let's just put it that way."
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