LIVE BLOG: Duke 72, Virginia Tech 65

DUKE 72 VA. TECH 65 -- FINAL -- C'mon! One point off on the score this time. Time to hit the interview room...it's conceivable that I'll check in before we leave, but more likely not. I'm just being honest.

For those scoring at home, this makes me 2-5 in ACC road contests as a reporter, and 8-7 all-time. Phew.

DUKE 68 VA. TECH 65 -- 18.0 SECOND HALF --Va. Tech made it way too easy to get it in to Scheyer, but it didn't foul him, and Scheyer was forced to call a timeout--Duke's last. Same plan this time. Remember, Blue Devils have the arrow, so don't worry about a jump ball.

DUKE 68 VA. TECH 65 -- 23.7 SECOND HALF -- Paulus gets a big fast-break layup (nobody noticed him behind everyone on the foul line) to push it to five before Vassallo, now with 21 in the second half, calmly hits two. You want to get the ball into the hands of Scheyer here ideally, with Henderson and Singler (the inbounder) as secondary options. Paulus and Williams are the last resorts.

DUKE 64 VA. TECH 61 -- 1:04 SECOND HALF -- Big jump ball forced by the Hokies, who convert with a layup for Allen off the inbounds (off, hey, an overzealous switch that led to the open layup).

Duke, meanwhile, ran a beautiful play off the elbow set on a slip by Singler to the bucket for a lefty layup. Singler has been setting a hard screen for Henderson at the elbow all day, and had the Hokies set up perfectly for the slip.

Before that, Malcolm Delaney was called for a moving screen on another questionable call. Probably should have been a play-on.

Duke's got to be doing a two-man with Henderson and Singler now, right?

DUKE 56 VA. TECH 53 -- 8:30 SECOND HALF -- On its biggest offensive possession of the game, Va. Tech doesn't get it to Vassallo, and J.T. Thompson turns it over on the Hokies' fifth charge of the game (more legit this time). Without Allen, Duke has been able to crash the offensive glass, but hasn't turned it into points. I'd say it's a time for Zoubek to take advantage of the interior, but he's been so lost on both ends of the court, it's hard to say that's a good idea.

Looks like it'll be Henderson and Scheyer trying to carry this one until the end, with Singler playing a supporting role. The three have 45 of Duke's 56 points.

DUKE 56 VA. TECH 53 -- 8:30 SECOND HALF -- We've got ourselves a game again, thanks largely to A.D. Vassallo, who has scored the Hokies' last 10 points in a span of 3:30. Vassallo hit consecutive threes, then posted up Paulus for a layup and had another breakaway dunk to cut it to three. Henderson is checking back in out of the timeout. Allen is not.

DUKE 52 VA. TECH 43 -- 11:32 SECOND HALF -- The Hokies got it down to six, energized by an A.D. Vassallo coast-to-coast dunk--any Blue Devil heard of stopping the ball?--but Jon Scheyer buried a corner three out of a timeout to give Duke a nine-point cushion. (Looked like it was an elbow set for Henderson, who penetrated, caused the D to collapse and kicked for the three.) Greg Paulus missed an open three the next time down, an opportunity for a backbreaker missed.

Allen just picked up his fourth on a drive to the hoop by Henderson, so he'll probably be on the bench until the under-8 timeout, depending on the size of the deficit. Key to Duke's defense so far: keeping Malcolm Delaney out of the lane.

DUKE 46 VA. TECH 38 -- 15:55 SECOND HALF -- Best sign of the day goes to the girl (I assume) with the "Jon Scheyer: Will you go to prom with me?" sign. And she looks a little older than I thought from here. Then again, my vision is rapidly deteriorating as I age.

Heard someone in the crowd spewing epithets at Mickie Krzyzewski. Low blow.

And just in case you were wondering, Nolan Smith looks pretty out of it on the sideline. He's holding his head in both hands a lot; in other words, he looks a lot like Blake Griffin did during that Kansas-Oklahoma game last Monday.

DUKE 46 VA. TECH 36 -- 16:29 SECOND HALF -- Singler Comes Alive! The forward must have read the blog at halftime (what else could he have been doing?), as he's come out much more aggressively in the second half, earning two trips to the foul line, driving baseline for a nice reverse and swishing a three over Delaney. (Still would have liked to see him exploit the mismatch with Delaney in the post.)

Singler also drew the third foul on Jeff Allen, forcing Seth Greenberg to sub in Lewis Witcher for Allen. Witcher, who started the game, was on the bench to begin the half as J.T. Thompson got the nod. Thompson has four more after intermission, giving him a team-high 11 for the Hokies.

I think it's time to pose the question: Best dunking Duke team ever?

DUKE 36 VA. TECH 25 -- HALFTIME -- Important final minute for the Blue Devils, who stretch the lead back out to double digits. Henderson ended a scoreless drought of more than five minutes with a breakaway dunk, and then hit a fadeaway jumper with four seconds left in the half for the 11-point margin.

Henderson now has 17 in the game, and just in case you think players are telling the truth when they say they block out the crowd, Henderson responded to a fan yelling at him with a smile and some clapping.

Duke's offense has been a two-man show between Scheyer and Henderson (28 of 36, which according to my quick math is 78 percent or so) while Virginia Tech has gotten a lift from J.T. Thompson (seven points) off the bench. Vassallo has just five and Delaney four, although the latter got his first field goal in the half's final 30 seconds.

Frank Beamer and the Orange Bowl-winning Virginia Tech Hokies' football team (what? You don't remember that thriller with Cincinnati?) just implored the crowd to get into it in the second half. More tangible adjustments for the home team might include pressuring the ball on the perimeter. Duke is running its offense with ease from the three-point line and in. Offensively, the Hokies should look inside-out with Allen (also seven points) taking advantage of Singler and/or Thomas (each with two fouls) and then kicking out for the three or penetration from Vassallo and Delaney.

For the Blue Devils, continuing to cut off that penetration by drawing charges--four in the first half: one legit, one questionable, and two downright terrible calls--would put an end to that kind of offensive attack.

Oh, and one of the "High-Techs" cheerleaders--although who knows, it may be the dance squad--in an attempt to throw a T-shirt into the crowd, hurled a line drive into the wall about waist-high, roughly ten feet below the arms of any students. Pretty good metaphor for the Hokies' first-half offense, eh?

DUKE 32 VA. TECH 21 -- 3:53 FIRST HALF -- A little life for Tech, which has scored the last five, including its first three of the game, courtesy of A.D. Vassallo. Still, the backcourt of Delaney and Vassallo, which enters the game averaging over 37 points combined, has just seven thus far.

Henderson and Scheyer continue to be the Duke offense, with 24 of its 32 points. Singler has two fouls and just two points, continuing a trend of offensive disappearance these last few games by the sophomore.

I don't know if the Hokies possess the capability to press, but they might want to break one out to test Scheyer's point guard skills (and at least prevent him from taking his time and catching his breath every time he brings it up). Paulus is back in to run the point and Henderson is out, so let's see if the Blue Devils try to establish Singler and Zoubek inside.

Sidenote: Most of the people wearing white aren't even wearing the official "White Out" shirt. Is this the worst organized color-out ever?

DUKE 25 VA. TECH 16 -- 7:34 FIRST HALF -- So the guy right behind us has been calling for a technical foul on Duke all day, like, when, a Blue Devil gets fouled. He got his wish when Henderson was T'd up for his reaction following a baseline explosion to the hoop, and the referee's hand motion to Mike Krzyzewski signaled it was as much for talking as for the actual fist pump. Henderson seemed to laugh it off; K not as much.

The ensuing free throws by Delaney sparked a five-point Tech possession that has it back within single digits and over the 13-point bar it set last game. It will be interesting to see if the foul shots by Delaney get him into the action, as he hasn't done much yet. Jeff Allen has been the Hokies' offense on the block, with five points and an assist.

Henderson has 13 already.

DUKE 16 VT 5 -- 11:38 FIRST HALF -- Remember that Wake game, when Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer made most anything they threw at the rim? In case you (somehow) forgot, it's been an early reprisal today, as each has six points in the early going.

Remember that first Va. Tech game, when the Hokies scored just 13 points in the second half? In case you (probably) forgot, it's been an early reprisal this afternoon, as VT has five points through eight minutes of action. If you're keeping track, that's 18 points in 28 minutes.

It's not all bad for the Hokie faithful early, though. Greg Paulus has checked in.

DUKE 9 VT 2 -- 15:48 FIRST HALF -- Nice start for the Blue Devils, who scored on their first possession and then, after close to three scoreless minutes, have seven points in the last 75 seconds.

Elliot Williams is checking Malcolm Delaney, and if the freshman can keep Tech's star sophomore out of the lane, Duke will have a much easier time defending today. At the same time, the Blue Devils' perimeter switching may hurt them more this game than it did against Maryland, as evidenced by the Scheyer/Jeff Allen mismatch last time down.

Kyle Singler has had two tough possessions on the block, getting blocked by Allen and A.D. Vassallo. But Singler responded with a drive and finger roll last time he had the ball.

As for the atmosphere, it's a small but steep arena, and we're right next to the student section, so it's fairly loud, although not quite on par with some other ACC environments I've seen.

P.S. As expected, Nolan Smith is out today.

PREGAME -- We're comin' to you live courtside from Cassell Coliseum, right by the baseline on the right-hand side of your television set. We would have been here earlier, but the Virginia Tech people--channeling everyone's favorite '80s movie, Brazil--decided to make it as difficult as possible for us to get in the game.

Now that we're inside, we've already answered one of the day's biggest questions: How long until the Hokie crowd resorts to their favorite cheer directed toward one Greg Paulus? (I doubt I'm allowed to quote it verbatim for you.) Answer: Like five seconds.

Hey, Blacksburg, you know the only thing lamer than a white-out? A poorly executed one. The students are mostly in white, the rest of the fans are scattered in maroon and orange, and the fog machine and "Enter Sandman" are a lot more intimidating across the street in Lane Stadium.