It seemed like every head in the place turned to the same spot.
There was Nolan Smith, the catalyst of Duke's offense and its head defensive stopper, staggering beside the Blue Devils' bench after going up for a rebound and falling on the court while Duke's medical staff swarmed him.
The significance of the moment was not lost on Duke fans-it appeared to be an injury to the same knee he hyperextended against Maryland last year.
The news wasn't as poor as what Duke fans dreaded, though, as Smith emerged with what seems to be just a bruised knee. And the No. 5 Blue Devils fared well even while playing most of the game without him, easily handling Loyola 92-51 Wednesday in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"The initial prognosis is good," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "The thing I worry about for a kid is that it's going to be a season-ending injury. They only have four seasons to play. I don't think it's that, and that's relieving to me."
Without the injury to Smith, the win against the Greyhounds (4-9) went about as well as Duke (11-1) could have anticipated.
Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson paced the Blue Devils with 20 and 19 points, respectively. Singler led Duke on the defensive end as well, ending up with 6 steals.
Many of the Blue Devil baskets were a result of getting those steals from their stingy full-court defense. Duke ended the game with 34 points off of 24 Loyola turnovers.
"They play such good pressure defense," said Greyhound head coach Jimmy Patsos. "We played our game... but they have depth and play really good defense. They're really good."
It didn't take long in the game for Loyola to see just how good Duke can be.
Duke jumped ahead early to a 20-10 lead after two made free throws from Jon Scheyer due to a Patsos technical foul. A Henderson 3 pointer around the nine-minute mark pushed the lead to 30-12, and with two minutes left in the half, the Blue Devils sat with a comfortable 41-21 lead.
It would be Henderson who put the exclamation mark on Duke's first half performance. With 1:33 left before the break, he went up for a layup, drawing a hard foul, yet somehow, while remaining in the air, falling away from the basket and forcing in the shot. He would make the free throw, and the Blue Devils had a 23 point advantage.
They never gave Loyola a break in the game, and the Greyhounds never got the opportunity to repeat their performance from Monday night in almost beating N.C. State.
Duke would finish the game having four of its players score in double digits. It also ended up shooting 55 percent from the floor, despite only hitting one of its 12 3-point attempts. Krzyzewski wasn't that worried that the Blue Devils are coming into league play cold from one of the most crucial parts of their game.
"I think it goes to show that we don't rely on the three," he said. "When you go 7-for-33, like we did with Michigan, that's bad. 1-for-12 sometimes isn't that bad, because maybe it opens up drives for you. Coming off a break, shooting goes by the wayside. Your legs aren't the same."
Duke now turns its attention to ACC play, which begins Sunday against Virginia Tech in Cameron.
"I think ACC games are definitely a little higher intensity, especially the first one," Henderson said. "It's going to be a different kind of game. In [non-ACC] games, you're trying to win obviously, but there's nothing really at stake. In the ACC, there's something more at stake."
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